The 2022-23 Oklahoma City Thunder’s season ended with the play-in tournament loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, which means it’s time for reflection.
Being one of the biggest overachievers in the league, the Thunder finished with a 40-42 record after being predicted by many to have high lottery odds.
Now that the season is in the books, let’s go back and evaluate all 19 players who suited up for the Thunder this past season. Grades will be handed out to every player in terms of what their expectations were heading into the season and how they lived up to them.
The 17th player in this installment is Eugene Omoruyi, who went from a two-way player to a standard NBA deal during his time with the Thunder before eventually being waived.
(Editor’s note: We are starting individual grades for all players from the 2022-23 Oklahoma City Thunder. To access other reviews as part of this ongoing series, click here.)
2022-23 statistics:
- 7 points
- 2.8 rebounds
- 0.7 assists
- 44.3% shooting
- 28.1% 3-point shooting
- 68% free-throw shooting
Advanced stats:
- True-shooting percentage: 53.3%
- Usage rate: 19.3%
- Win shares: 0.6
Significant Percentile Finishes:
- Transition scorer: 45.2 percentile
- Spot up: 13.3 percentile
- Cutter: 29.2 percentile
- Putbacks: 17.4 percentile
Contract:
- 2023-24: $1.9 million (team option)
Thoughts:
Brought in as a two-way player, Omoruyi slowly worked his way up to a standard NBA deal before eventually being waived. In his 23 appearances with the Thunder, he served as a small center who can finish a bit inside and played very hard in his limited action.
This was essentially Omoruyi’s rookie season as he played just 18 total minutes last season with the Dallas Mavericks.
In his five months with the Thunder, Omoruyi did a decent job considering expectations. He’d regularly go back and forth between the Thunder and G League’s OKC Blue since two-way players are limited to 50 NBA appearances.
Omoruyi’s most notable game came against the Toronto Raptors in November, where he scored a career-high 22 points and went 5-of-6 from 3. Although outside of that game, he didn’t really utilize an outside shot, as he went just 8-of-31 (25.8%) from 3 in his entire tenure with OKC.
After he was waived by the Thunder, Omoruyi signed with the Detroit Pistons to finish his 2022-23 season, where he played in 17 games and had four starts.
Moving Forward:
At 26 years old, it’s hard to envision more sustainable growth for Omoruyi. His ceiling is likely a bubble roster guy who goes back and forth between the NBA and G League.
He’s a bit undersized for a center and not a good enough shooter for a wing, so he’s basically stuck in the middle as to what type of role he could serve in an NBA offense. With that said though, I thought he was pretty good given reasonable expectations as a two-way player. He ate on the boards and was a rebounding machine in certain games for OKC — which probably helped him earn a full-time NBA deal.
I don’t think the Pistons will pick up his $1.9 million team option for next season, which means he’ll be a free agent once again this summer.
Perhaps Omoruyi can latch onto another NBA team as an end-of-roster player and if he can’t in the immediate future, he should easily make it on some G League roster.
