The Cleveland Cavaliers showcased their strength last week with an impressive victory over the NBA’s defending champions, the Boston Celtics. After their trip to TD Garden on Friday night, they returned home to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. However, in between these games, the Cavaliers made a surprising move by waiving former Auburn Tiger forward JT Thor on Saturday.
Soon after, the Texas Longhorns picked up Thor, and on Monday, the team announced that he would join them on a two-way contract for the remainder of the season. A two-way contract allows teams to carry additional players beyond the typical 15 players under contract and enables players to move between the NBA and their G-League affiliate. While Thor could appear in Longhorns games during the rest of the season, fans might also see him on the court for the Austin Spurs.
Thor’s time with the Cavaliers this season was limited to nine games, but he spent more time with the Cavaliers’ G-League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge. In 24 games with the Charge, Thor averaged 14.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.6 blocks. His career has been an eventful one since leaving Auburn after just one season of college basketball. After averaging nine points and five rebounds for Auburn in the 2020-2021 season, Thor was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 37th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
While the Longhorns are still a few seasons away from playoff contention, they may look to utilize Thor more often, rather than keeping him as a temporary addition, as some other NBA teams have done with him in the past.