Moses Brown’s new contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder may have been announced the day after the first 20/20 game of his career, but conversations for a standard contract began weeks before that.
Head coach Mark Daigneault said the organization started discussing a deal with the 7-foot-2 center when he returned from playing in the G League with the OKC Blue.
“When he got back from the bubble, this conversation kind of started,” Daigneault said. “It had been apparent that he was a worker and he’s a really good kid and that he’s somebody that had showed improvement by that point.”
Brown, who only played in 33 minutes as a rookie with the Portland Trail Blazers, joined Oklahoma City on a two-way deal. He got spot minutes for the team in the first half of the season before going to play for the Blue.
In Orlando, he broke out, averaging 18.5 points, 13.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. He earned a Player of the Week honor there and was named to both the All-G League First Team and the Defensive Team.
By the time Brown returned, the Thunder were ready to get a look at him in the NBA. They thought the 21-year-old could continue to improve at the professional level.
“That’s why we put him on the court the way we did right away coming out of All-Star break, and he’s progressed nicely,” Daigneault said. “It’s only the beginning, hopefully, of his time here.”
This is the third year in a row that the Thunder have converted a two-way deal into a standard contract midway through the season. Last year, Lu Dort received a contract from OKC, and the season before it was Deonte Burton.
Burton is no longer rostered, but Dort’s final two seasons were guaranteed by the team last month.
Brown will now have the opportunity to receive the same. His contract is worth $6.8 million over four years, according to ESPN’s Royce Young, and only the first year is fully guaranteed.
“Our scouting, our guys pound the pavement scouting all over the world. They do an unbelievable job. And scouting’s kind of a thankless job … 99% of their evaluations are not guys that end up playing for us,” Daigneault said. “It’s great when we can pick up the development of that player. It shows great alignment, great synergy in the organization.”
