Upon Thunder GM Sam Presti’s decision to ink forward Josh Hall to his second-consecutive two-way contract, fans were quick to point out the team’s roster limitations — carrying just one full contract up for grabs. Following Friday evening, the roster conversation has taken a halt, for now.
As per team press release, the Oklahoma City Thunder have signed guard Vit Krejci to a multi-year deal. The full contents of Krejci’s contract have yet to be publicized. However, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Schlecht, the deal will reportedly extend to four years with year one fully guaranteed, year two partially guaranteed ($800 thousand), and years three-and-four non-guaranteed with team options.
Although mysterious to some, Vit Krejci has had a longstanding relationship with the Thunder organization.
The Oklahoma City Thunder originally acquired the 21-year-old last offseason in a draft-day deal that sent the rights to Cassius Winston (53rd pick) and a 2024 second-round selection to the Washington Wizards in exchange for the rights to Vit Krejci (37th pick) and Admiral Schofield.
Beyond Presti moving up to take Krejci, the Czech Republic native opted to move to Oklahoma City in January to further rehab a torn ACL injury, before subsequently signing a deal with the Thunder’s G-League affiliate Oklahoma City Blue. Krejci never transitioned to Orlando for G-League play in efforts to rehab, but his connection with the organization remained constant upon his arrival. Krejci had been spotted at Thunder home games in April, attended team birthday parties, and took part in assisting pre-draft workouts for the franchise.
Krejci’s plans with the Thunder had been splattered on the walls in July as the organization elected to buyout Krejci’s overseas deal with Liga ACB club Basket Zaragoza. Now, the guard is finally tied to Bricktown.
Krejci joins the Thunder as extra ammunition for Presti’s evergrowing “oversized guard” role within the roster. The 21-year-old clocks in as a 6-foot-8 guard who prior to this point, has found himself reserved to playing strictly point guard. Krejci’s on-court appearances were minimal in Liga ACB-play across his three seasons with Zaragoza, but the guard did flash potential as a ball-handler, passer, finisher around the basket, and as a shooter in a paltry serving of reps.
With an already jam-packed backcourt emerging in Oklahoma City, expect Vit Krejci to allot a grand portion of his time with the Oklahoma City Blue this season, similar to that of Ty Jerome and Aleksej Pokusevski last season. In doing so, Krejci will have an outlet to show off his scope of abilities while also gaining in-game experience post-ACL injury.