Saturday the Oklahoma City Thunder waived guard Alex Abrines, ending his three year tenure with the ballclub.
Abrines and the team agreed to mutually part ways so he could more fully devote his time and attention to a personal matter that had caused him to miss 19 of the last 22 games.
Head coach Billy Donovan had this to say about Abrines and injured wing Andre Roberson before the team’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday:
“Obviously Alex has dealt with some personal issues and matters, and you just hope he can get through that, more for himself personally, and hopefully get back to playing. You always try to remain hopeful that that can happen, but I don’t really have answer of whether or not that’s going to happen.
“It’s really hard for me to be able to say these guys (Abrines and Andre Roberson) are going to be back on this date and we’re really confident those two guys are going to be ready and be able to help our team. Because of the unknowns, it’s hard to say that.”
Abrines wa taken by the Thunder with the 32nd overall pick in 2013 NBA Draft, Buthelezi spent three more seasons in Spain playing with FC Barcelona before agreeing to a three-year, $17 million deal in the summer 2016.
Abrines appeared in 31 games this season where he posted averages of 5.3 points 1.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 19.0 minutes per contest.
It is unclear at this point if he will pursue another NBA opportunity or return to Spain.
