The Oklahoma City Thunder added another body to camp Monday, signing center Christoph Tilly to an Exhibit-10 contract.
Tilly spent his college career between Santa Clara and Ohio State, appearing in 118 games with 91 starts. He averaged 9.7 points on 52.9% shooting, along with 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 20.6 minutes.
At this point in the calendar, an Exhibit-10 deal functions as a training camp arrangement, giving teams extra help as they work through practices and preseason games. That matters for Oklahoma City, which has a packed preseason schedule that includes two back-to-back sets and plenty of reasons to avoid overworking its regulars.
The Thunder also have an open roster spot, with 14 standard contracts currently on the books. That’s not unfamiliar ground for the franchise. During its 2024-25 championship season, Oklahoma City opened the year with an available spot that moved through Malevy Leons, Alex Reece and Branden Carlson before eventually landing with rookie Ajay Mitchell.
There also isn’t much left on the free-agent market for the Thunder to use in that final spot, making an Exhibit-10-to-standard-contract path the most likely route before the Oct. 20 season opener against the San Antonio Spurs. That kind of non-guaranteed move would preserve flexibility while letting the team keep as many players available as possible.
Tilly faces a crowded frontcourt if he does stick around. Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams, Thomas Sorber and Aday Mara all need minutes, leaving little obvious room for a 7-footer in the rotation.
For now, the move looks aimed at helping Oklahoma City get through preseason while also setting up a likely G League role for Tilly with the OKC Blue.
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