The OKC Thunder have a massive roster crunch to take care of during their 2023 preseason, needing to make at least five cuts before the start of the 2023-24 NBA regular season will be no easy task. After acquiring Garuba from the Atlanta Hawks in the second salary dump trade the young big man was a part of last month, many cast him as a roster casualty without a second thought.
Then, his fellow former Rocket, TyTy Washington, played in NBA Summer League with the OKC Thunder. At the same time, Garuba missed the event, which led to some unnecessary speculation about what the difference between the two could mean.