The Oklahoma City Thunder may have landed themselves a project worth watching in Josh Dix.
He’s on a two-way contract this season, and early signs point to a player who could grow into something useful if the Thunder handle him the right way. The cleanest comparison is Boston’s Sam Hauser - another undrafted wing who turned a modest start into a high-end three-point role with the Celtics.
Dix and Hauser are not carbon copies, but the similarities jump out. Both are tall wings with real shooting upside, the kind of players who can punish defenses when they get space. Dix flashed exactly that in one of Oklahoma City’s recent preseason games, scoring 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting overall and hitting 4-of-10 from beyond the arc against the Atlanta Hawks.
There’s a long road between that kind of preseason burst and becoming what Hauser is now, though. Hauser began his NBA run on a two-way deal with Boston, just like Dix is doing with the Thunder. The difference is that Oklahoma City’s rotation figures to be far more crowded, which makes minutes harder to come by.
Hauser needed about a year before he earned regular rotation work, and even then he was not a major part of Boston’s 2024 Championship playoff rotation. Now, he’s an important piece for the Celtics.
Dix is nowhere near that stage yet, and the most likely outcome is that he never becomes a real rotation player in OKC. Still, the door isn’t closed. If the Thunder can develop him properly, they might be able to follow the same blueprint Boston used.
The biggest question with Dix is the shooting profile. Hauser came into the league after knocking down 40 percent of his threes every season in college.
Dix had that kind of track record at Iowa for three years, but his senior season at Creighton was different. Last year, he shot 33.8 percent from deep on 6.0 attempts per game.
So which version is the real one? The answer probably lives somewhere in the middle. One season of weaker numbers doesn’t erase three years of elite shooting, but it does leave enough uncertainty to keep the wait-and-see approach alive.
If Oklahoma City takes the patient route, Dix has a chance to become a steady three-point threat like Hauser. And if that happens, he could turn into a dangerous piece for the Thunder when the time comes.
In Other News...
Thunder Title Hopes Now Ride On One Uncomfortable Reality
The Thunder remain the leagues early favorite for the 2026-27 title, but the price of staying on top has already become part of the conversation in Oklahoma City. Cost-saving trades sent Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins elsewhere, stripping away three useful pieces from a roster that had been built to win with balance, versatility and depth.
Sam Presti has already acknowledged how hard those departures are to absorb, and the bigger concern is the thinner margin for error that now comes with every injury, every cold stretch and every lineup decision. The core trio still gives Oklahoma City a real championship path, but with depth reduced and plenty of strong competition around the league, the Thunders hopes may hinge on how well the remaining supporting cast can hold up when the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Defense Just Sent A Clear Message About This Season
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Holmgrens placement comes after a season that already put him among the leagues elite defenders, following a second-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting and All-NBA Defensive First Team honors. With Caruso and Wallace also recognized near the top of the list, Oklahoma City is carrying into the new year the kind of defensive depth that can shape a contender, and the only real question is how far that collective edge can take them once the games start counting again. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Williams Turned One Thunder Playoff Memory Into A Lakers Dig
Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell revisited Oklahoma Citys 2026 playoff run on the Young Man and the Three podcast, and the conversation naturally drifted to one of the Thunders most memorable postseason stretches. Mitchell had a strong showing against the Lakers before his injury later in the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs, while Williams was watching that first-round series from the sidelines because of a hamstring injury. Even away from the floor, Williams said he got a kick out of the way fans reacted online as the Thunder worked through that matchup.
The playoff run is still fresh enough to color how Oklahoma City talks about what comes next, especially with the 2026-27 season set to open against the Spurs in a rematch that already carries some edge. For Williams, the Lakers series remains one of those moments where the noise around the game, and the way it played out for the Thunder, became part of the memory. The podcast appearance offered a reminder that even an injury absence can still turn into a front-row seat for the kind of trash talk and fan chatter that follows a team all spring. [Read more 🡒]