Thunder sign son of legendary Syracuse basketball coach

The Thunder have made a pair of roster moves, announcing Wednesday that they’ve signed forward Buddy Boeheim and waived forward Alex Reese. Oklahoma City is still carrying 20 players on its preseason roster, one below the limit.

The Thunder and Boeheim agreed to terms on an Exhibit 10 contract all the way back at the start of July, just a couple days after he was waived by the Pistons.

The son of longtime Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, Buddy spent most of the 2023-24 season with the Motor City Cruise, Detroit’s G League affiliate, before being promoted to the Pistons on a two-way contract in February.

The younger Boeheim made just 10 NBA appearances last season and saw limited minutes, but played a significant role for the Cruise, averaging 15.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 26.8 minutes per game across 47 Showcase Cup and regular-season outings. He made an impressive 41.9% of 8.0 three-point tries per game while also knocking down 86.0% of his free throws.

The Oklahoma City Blue — the Thunder’s G League affiliate — acquired Boeheim’s returning rights in a trade with the Cruise this offseason, so it appears the plan is to waive him before the NBA season begins and have him report to the Blue. That also figures to be the next step for Reese. Both players will earn Exhibit 10 bonuses worth up to $77.5K if they spend at least 60 days with OKC’s NBAGL team.