In this continuing series, Thunder Wire assigns three goals to each of the 21 players, per Spotrac, that make up the Oklahoma City Thunder roster.
The Thunder’s season kicks off on Oct. 25 against the Chicago Bulls. After a surprising 40-42 campaign that ended a win shy of the playoffs, OKC enters this year with playoff aspirations.
Buy Thunder TicketsLet’s assign three goals for Lindy Waters III. The sharpshooter enters his third season with the Thunder. After being signed to a standard deal, OKC waived him and then brought him back on a two-way deal.
Over the last two seasons, Waters III has been one of the Thunder’s better 3-point shooters.
Sign another standard deal
The Thunder signed Waters III to a standard deal in February after spending the previous two-ish seasons as a two-way player.
The contract awarded Waters III a massive pay bump and no longer limited him to just 50 games. This offseason, the Thunder waived him and then brought him back as a two-way player.
The hope is that Waters III can get another standard deal this season. If that happens, developments have gone very well for him and he established himself as someone OKC clearly trusts in competitive situations.
Dominate G League
Being a two-way player, Waters III will likely spend significant time in the G League once again with the OKC Blue.
As he’s shown the last two seasons, Waters III will need to continue to dominate against inferior competition. At this point, he’s grown accustomed to playing for the Blue.
If that happens, he’ll be knocking on the door for more NBA opportunities.
Continue 3-point shooting
Over his last two seasons, Waters III has been one of OKC’s better 3-point shooters. In two seasons, he’s shot 36% from 3 on 4.7 attempts — pretty impressive numbers for someone who didn’t even get drafted.
If Waters III continues to shoot the ball from outside on a similar clip, then it’s hard to justify not letting him be at least a second-string wing OKC could use to provide spacing. Putting up 3-point shooting numbers like that is a highly-demanding skill set sought throughout the league.
When his number has been called, Waters III has done an admirable job for the Thunder. Let’s see if he can continue to do that on inconsistent playing time.
