McGary Suspended Again

Thunder forward Mitch McGary speaks to reporters during the team's exit interviews at the end of last season. (Photo By Randy Renner for InsideThunder.com)

By Randy Renner, Senior Writer

If Mitch McGary wasn’t already done with the Thunder he certainly is now. The NBA has suspended him another 10 games for “non-compliance” with the league’s anti-drug policy a story first reported by The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

That makes 15 games total, at least as of now, that McGary will miss at the start of the regular season taking him out of any action until OKC’s November 23rd game at Sacramento.

Realistically though McGary likely won’t be on the roster then and probably won’t be when the season starts and at this rate may not be officially on the roster even when training camp begins.

Wojnarowski’s sources say this suspension is the result of a failure to follow all the procedural guidelines if his original suspension which could mean that he declined a request to be tested or failed to show up for a previously scheduled test.

The NBA’s marijuana policy allows a player to enter into a program without fine or suspension on the first violation, a second positive test results in a $25,000 fine and a third provokes a 5-game suspension. Each additional violation tacks on 5 more games to the previous suspension.

Thunder GM Sam Presti has been trying to work a deal for McGary since before his first suspension but hasn’t found a taker willing to give up anything of value. The chances of a team doing that now are even less.

However, unlike the NFL, a suspended player can continue to work out with his team and can play in preseason games. So the Thunder could choose to play him hoping to entice a team into making a deal. McGary was outstanding in the games he played in Summer League before being suspended.

More than likely though the Thunder won’t bother with that. McGary has had numerous chances and has appeared to fail to live up to his end of the bargain.