Even with an NBA championship, expect the Oklahoma City Thunder to continue to squeeze every drop of juice out of their G League affiliate. The OKC Blue have been a developmental program for years. There’s an argument to be made that no other NBA franchise fully utilizes it like OKC.
It’s where the bottom of the Thunder’s depth chart goes to log minutes and play in low-leverage situations. Players like Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Ousmane Dieng spent time there in the infancy of their careers. That’s why it’s important to note the Blue’s roster transactions.
In a relatively quiet offseason for OKC, the Blue announced a trade on Monday. They have acquired a 2026 first-round pick and the returning player rights to Steven Richardson from the Wisconsin Herd in exchange for the returning player rights to Cormac Ryan.
In the G League, returning player rights belong to the team that previously had a player on their team in the last two seasons. This allows the original affiliate a chance to refuse a player signing with another team. Considering how high the turnover rate of G League rosters are, this makes sense. Players sometimes leave the developmental league for other opportunities before returning.
The Thunder added Ryan after he went undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft. He had collegiate stops at Stanford, Notre Dame and North Carolina from 2018-24. He signed with OKC to join its 2024 Summer League squad. He then spent the 2024-25 season with the Blue.
Now, he’s likely on his way to the Herd. They’re the Milwaukee Bucks’ G League affiliate. Meanwhile, Richardson returns to the Blue. He spent part of last season in OKC before going to Wisconsin. He only appeared in seven games in the 2024-25 season. He was undrafted in 2024 out of Division II school Montana State-Billings.
The 2026 first-round pick is also a nice addition. The G League hosts a draft every year. It lasts four rounds and teams only have to make two selections. It’s a nice way to see if the Blue can find any hidden talent from a 150-player pool.
The Blue will start their 2025-26 season on Nov. 7. Sharing an arena with the Thunder, G League assignments and recalls should remain a seamless transition. Blue head coach Daniel Dixon will enter his first season after spending time as a Thunder assistant coach.
The Oklahoma City Blue has acquired a 2026 first-round pick and the returning player rights to Steven Richardson from the Wisconsin Herd in exchange for the returning player rights to Cormac Ryan, the team announced today.
— OKC BLUE (@okcblue) September 15, 2025