Kyle Singler

[...] Then as of yesterday came the easiest move of all. Kyle Singler, who received a five-year contract for some reason back in 2015 (presumably to outbid the hot competition for his services), was under contract for $4,996,000 next season, fully guaranteed, with a fully unguaranteed $5,333,500 season after it. By virtue of the stretch provision, however, the Thunder could stretch that level of guaranteed base salary over five years, at a cost of $999,200 per annum. And this, they did.

With that, they were down to $145,582,564 in committed salary, $75,077,297 by my maths in luxury tax, for a $220,659,861 total commitment. With the seven-year stretch for Nader, they would be down to $144,268,608 in salary, $68,044,138 in tax, $212,302,746 in tandem, with 14 guaranteed contracts in place. In cutting surplus players who didn't play anyway in the forms of Johnson and Singler, retaining their star and their only good bench player from last season, while adding productive players in the forms of Schroeder and Noel, Oklahoma City have added much needed talent while just about keeping their payroll manageable. [...]

[...] That said, the struggles without him were only partly due to Roberson's own impact. In large part, they were also due to the lacklustre options that replaced him. Abrines was a timid shooter who had too many nothing games, Terrence Ferguson took even fewer dribbles than he, and although he was the best defender of the bench, Josh Huestis was somehow even less of an offensive threat that Roberson, while not being the tour de force on defence. Singler wasn't trusted at all, and ultimately, two point guard line-ups featuring Felton became a turned-to option, such was the plight at the position sans Roberson. Brewer shined in relative terms by virtue of being able to play both ends of the court capably, not because he was especially good. [...]

Kyle Singler
SF, 6’8, 228lbs, 29 years old, 5 years of experience

A “little things” player in the sense that he does not do any big things. A net negative the previous couple of years, Singler was pushed a far way down the bench this season, and did not perform well from there. The majority of his offensive game is still the three-point shot, on which he shot all of 18.9% this season, and, in being a liability in isolation defence as well, it is hard to know what it is that he is supposed to do any more. Needs a fresh start, says Mark, generously.

Player Plan: Three years and a shade under $15 million remaining, the first two years of which are guaranteed. It’s a problem contract that bulks up an already big payroll, and it is probably worth giving up a draft asset to get rid of it. Who knew a five year contract to Kyle Singler would prove a burden?

Pick 33: Kyle Singler, largely assumed to be a first rounder, slumped to the second, but not for long. Detroit picks him at #33, a move which probably closes the door on Dajuan Summers's really rather unproductive Pistons career.

The first play in Singler's highlight montage is a hustle play, in which Singler fails to save the ball from going out of bounds and jumps into the lap of a fat guy that looks a bit like John Daly. Heart. Hustle. Desire. Love. Passion. Duke. White. Etc. The same highlight film then evolves into a series of shots of Singler hitting trick shots, involving shooting while jumping off a diving board and from the top of an apartment complex, linked by a short segway clip of Kyle driving a truck filled with bricks. This actually happened and you can draw your own conclusions.

Jay Bilas follows this up by calling Singler a "complete player" who is not a knockdown shooter. This is the exact opposite of how his NBA career will be. Jeff Van Gundy then doubts the veracity of the Singler video, to Jay's mock outrage. Jon Barry stays quiet.

Kyle Singler - As a four year white guy from Duke, it has proven to be inevitable that Singler has been compared to every good white shooting forward ever, from Danny Ferry to Mike Miller. Deadspin has compiled a rather amusing list of such comparisons from various places around the world. Most of them are attempts to be either very favourable, or very harsh, depending on perspective. But nowhere in that list did the name appear which, if we're honest, may be the most apt of all.

Pat Garrity.

(Not really. But the jumpshooting is the only obvious skill that will translate. Singler is tough enough, but it remains to be seen how the improved NBA spacing will affect the rest of his game.)