The Oklahoma City Thunder are riding high right now. The team just won it’s first NBA title after defeating the Indiana Pacers in seven games, and they have the good fortune of returning almost their entire roster for the 2025 season.
One of the more unheralded players on the roster is guard Ajay Mitchell. In the 2024 NBA Draft, Mitchell was originally selected by the New York Knicks before immediately being shipped to the Thunder.
Mitchell signed a two-way contract with the Thunder, and split his time between the main roster and the Oklahoma City Blue of the G League. The guard ended up appearing in 12 games during the 2025 postseason and averaged just under four points per game.
However, Mitchell did enough to earn a contract extension from the Thunder, and many were excited to see the guard in the 2025 Summer League.
It’s safe to say that Mitchell exceeded expectations this summer. The guard averaged 19.8 points, 5.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in six games, while shooting 46.9% from the field and 40% from deep.
As a result, Mitchell earned a spot on the 2025 Summer League Second Team. The other Summer League Second Team members were Kon Knueppel, Ron Holland II, KJ Simpson and Isaac Jones. The Summer League First Team members were SL MVP Kyle Filipowski, Terrence Shannon Jr., Jordan Miller, Nique Clifford and David Jones-Garcia.
The Thunder are surely hoping Mitchell can build off of this momentum and carve out a role for himself in the 2025-26 season.
However, that may be hard to do considering the Thunder have probably the deepest roster in the league. Other than Mitchell, the Thunder have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe, Nikola Topic, and Cason Wallace as guards on the roster.
The Thunder went 4-0 in Las Vegas this summer and successfully secured a spot in the four-team playoff. However, it was announced that Mitchell and fellow 2024 draft pick Topic will not play in the Summer League playoffs.
If the Thunder successfully win the Las Vegas Summer League, they will become the first team to do so immediately after winning the NBA title.
