The Oklahoma City Thunder announced during the New Orleans Pelicans’ win that rookie guard Tre Mann had entered health and safety protocols.
This comes mere hours after teammate Darius Bazley became the first player on the Thunder to enter the protocols this season.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault mentioned after the game that Mann tested positive Sunday morning but started showing symptoms as the day progresses and would re-test again. Mann was a pregame warmup participant before being ruled out.
With COVID-19 plaguing the NBA in recent weeks, the league created a hardship exception rule where a team can sign a player on a 10-day deal if two players are in health and safety protocols. The Thunder meets this threshold for the first time this season so it is going to be interesting to see who they sign to replace Bazley and Mann.
The franchise’s G League affiliate — the Oklahoma City Blue — have plenty of options to choose from. Blue player D.J. Wilson was recently signed from the Toronto Raptors on a 10-day deal due to the amount of players they had in health and safety protocols.
It’s unsure just how many more Thunder players will enter health and safety protocols but time will tell since the team has a day off until its next game against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
