The Oklahoma City Thunder have made light work of filling up their open roster slot, acquiring free agent Norris Cole on a short-term contract until the summer.

The deal comes after OKC made a deadline-day move for two Chicago Bulls players, adding Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott, giving up Cameron PayneAnthony Morrow and Joffrey Lauvergne in exchange.

In doing so, the Thunder were left with only Semaj Christon as a back-up point guard to Russell Westbrook, leading to intense speculation that the Western Conference side would make a move sooner rather than later.

A handful of different guards were linked with the Thunder, who currently sit in the seventh seed, before The Vertical announced that Cole was OKC's man.

A Look at Norris Cole

The point guard most recently played in China for the Shandong Golden Stars, featuring in just nine games before being released by the CBA side.

Before that, the 28-year-old spent five seasons in the NBA, having been drafted as the 28th pick of the first round by the Miami Heat.

Cole won an NBA championship in both his rookie and sophomore seasons playing with the Heat, but failed to average more than 20 minutes per game across the two years.

The guard's role in the Heat hierarchy increased in his fourth and final season with the side, starting on 23 of his 47 appearances, before being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in February of 2015.

Cole taking a jump-shot against the Thunder's former back-up point guard, Cameron Payne. | USA-TODAY Sports

During his only full season with the Pelicans, Cole averaged career-high figures across the board, scoring 10.6 points, as well as grabbing 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. He also converted exactly 80 percent of his free throws.

All-in-all, the point guard boasts a stat-line of 7.1 points, 2.8 assists and 2.0 boards from his 347 games in the NBA.

The Thunder's next game is at home to the Utah Jazz tonight, although Cole isn't likely to feature until the side's next match-up - a road trip to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Chris Hughes
Chris Hughes is a third-year Sports Journalism at Southampton Solent University who is the co-editor of VAVEL USAs NBA section. He also contributes to Fansideds Thunderous Intentions.