Thunder waive 4, roster down to 15

The Oklahoma City Thunder trimmed their roster down to 15 players on Thursday, and did so without any surprises.

The team waived Michael Qualls, Talib Zanna, Julyan Stone, and Dez Wells, who were all in training camp on non-guaranteed contracts. None of those players were ever expected to make the team, as the Thunder have a full 15-man roster of guaranteed contracts and are well into the luxury tax, making the possibility of eating salary a non-starter.

Qualls didn't appear in a preseason game and was largely signed to eventually become a D-League affiliate player. The Arkansas product tore his ACL in a pre-draft workout with the Phoenix Suns, and after he went undrafted the Thunder signed him in order to monitor his rehabilitation within the organization, and perhaps get a look at him late in the D-League season once he's healthy.

Zanna was appearing in his second consecutive camp with the Thunder, and the Nigerian-born forward spent last season with the Thunder's D-League squad after being waived. He averaged 13.3 points and 11 rebounds in 50 games there, and saw a little bit of preseason action this season, scoring eight points with six rebounds in 24 minutes.

Wells and Stone saw far less action in the preseason, playing five and four minutes respectively. Undrafted out of Maryland, Wells could be headed to the D-League, while the 26-year-old Stone may opt to join him or head back overseas. After playing parts of three NBA seasons, Stone failed to catch on with a team last year, and ultimately signed in Italy.