Thunder Adding Talib Zanna For Camp

By Randy Renner

Thunder general manager Sam Presti and his staff have added a familiar player to the team's training camp roster according to a report from Real GM's Shams Charania.

6-9 power forward Talib Zanna, who played for the D-League's Oklahoma City Blue last season has been signed to his second straight Thunder training camp deal.

Zanna went undrafted out of Pittsburgh in 2014 and was a teammate of Thunder center Steven Adams the year before with the Panthers. 

He played for both the Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers in July's summer league action, averaging a combined 6.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in about 16 minutes of playing time per game.

Last season with the Blue, Zanna dominated at times while averaging a double-double, scoring 13.3 points and pulling down 11.0 rebounds a game. In college at Pitt he never averaged more than 8.6 rebounds so his skills at pulling in missed shots continues to improve.

The Thunder also have camp deals in place with guards Dez Wells and Michael Qualls bringing their roster to 18. The Thunder could sign another couple of players since NBA allows teams to carry as many as 20 players in the off-season and during training camp but rosters have to be down to 15 by Opening Night.

The Thunder are already carrying 15 players under fully guaranteed deals so if Presti and Billy Donovan decide to hang on to one of the camp players, which is pretty doubtful at this point, a move would have to be made.

Most likely the Thunder would prefer to have Zanna, Wells and Qualls play for the Blue, but all three have also gotten some interest from other teams so it's possible one them could be picked up by another NBA squad once rosters are cut down.