Five takeaways from Thunder's loss to Pelicans in NBA Summer League finale
Abdul Gaddy is a basketball journeyman.
The 6-foot-3 guard hails from Tacoma, Washington, and he played college ball for his home-state Huskies. He’s played professionally in Italy and Israel, Latvia and Germany and in Greece and the G League.
One of Gaddy’s G League stops was in Oklahoma City with the Blue.
Sunday night, the 30-year-old started for the Thunder in its final Summer League game. Gaddy is one of the oldest players competing in Las Vegas, playing alongside guys 10 years his junior.
Gaddy scored five points and dished four assists in the Thunder’s 107-71 loss to the Pelicans.
Gaddy is a flashy passer. Maybe there’s something about the Gaddy/Giddey last names.
In the second quarter, Gaddy slung a no-look pass from the top of the arc to Gabe Brown in the left corner. Brown splashed the catch-and-shoot triple.
Who knows where Gaddy will wind up next.
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Brown has green light
Brown has an unorthodox left-handed release, but hey, it works.
The rookie out of Michigan State shot 8-of-15 from the field for a team-high 23 points. Brown was 5-of-12 from 3-point range.
Brown has had some flashes in Summer League. As a 6-foot-7 wing with a jump shot, there’s a chance he sticks around.
Brown won’t make the Thunder’s roster, but he could be G League bound for the Blue.
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Butler’s pursuit of perfection
Pelicans forward John Butler Jr. put on a show in the Summer League finale.
Butler shot a perfect 9-of-9 from the field, including 6-of-6 from 3-point range.
Oh, by the way, he’s 7-foot-1!
Butler went one-and-done at Florida State. He shot 39% from 3-point range on 2.7 attempts per game last season as a freshman with the Seminoles.
How did a guy like that go undrafted?
The knock on Butler is his rail-thin 175-pound frame. For reference, Butler is one inch taller than Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren, and 20 pounds skinnier than Holmgren. That doesn’t even seem possible.
Who cares, though. There’s a place for Butler in the NBA if he keeps knocking down threes.
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Young stars sit
Rookie draft picks Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Ousmane Dieng sat for the Thunder.
So did sophomores Josh Giddey, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins.
Two-way contract players Lindy Waters III and Eugene Omoruyi also had the day off.
Only seven players were available for the Thunder, and only two of them are under contract with the big-league club: Jaylin Williams and Vit Krejci.
Williams and Krejci started alongside Gaddy, Brown and Jaden Shackelford. Kevin Kangu and Robert Baker came off the Thunder’s bench.
The Pelicans led by as many as 38 points.
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Thunder tip-ins
∎ Pelicans rookie Dyson Daniels was interviewed during the game. Daniels, drafted eighth overall, injured his ankle in his first Summer League game and has been sidelined ever since.
∎ New Orleans has had brutal injury luck. Second-round pick E.J. Liddell suffered a torn ACL during a Summer League game.
∎ Thunder center Jaylin Williams took a charge. What’s new? He was also 0-of-5 from the floor, which isn’t a good sign for a center.
∎ Noah Eagle, the son of veteran broadcaster Ian Eagle, called the game on NBA TV alongside analyst Jim Jackson.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder loses to New Orleans Pelicans in NBA Summer League finale
