Thunder season is quickly approaching and as we are only 25 days away from tip-off, let’s take a look at some more of Oklahoma City’s young talent.
Daniel Hamilton played high school basketball in Los Angeles. During his senior year he averaged an outstanding 20.5 points, 9 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.3 steals. He would go on to lead his team to a state championship later that year.
He committed to play college ball for the Connecticut Huskies. After arriving as a freshman, he saw immediate playing time. He averaged nearly 11 points and was named the AAC Rookie of the Year.
Hamilton had an even better second year at Connecticut, averaging 12.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1 steal. Recording those types of numbers landed him on the AAC All-Conference Second Team. He was also awarded the Most Outstanding Player of the 2016 AAC Championship. At the end of the season, he was one of only two players to record more than 450 points, 300 rebounds, and 150 assists (the other was Ben Simmons).
Following his sophomore year in college, Hamilton decided to enter the NBA draft. He was selected by the Denver Nuggets in 2016. However, the same day he was drafted, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After ending up with the Thunder, Hamilton played for OKC during Summer League. He played well enough during the summer that he was given a spot on the OKC Blue.
Recently, the NBA has allowed a 16th roster spot for a “two-way contract”. Daniel Hamilton was awarded the first two-way contract in Thunder history. Meaning we will see Hamilton play for both the Blue and the Thunder throughout the 2017-2018 season.
We may not see him play any meaningful minutes this year, but that does not mean he isn’t a valuable asset for OKC. Hamilton is another young talent on the rise playing with the Thunder. Check him out in the video below:
Article written by Craig Hofeld. Follow @TheThunderGuys on Twitter and Instagram.