Burton inks two-way contract with NBA’s Thunder

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Max Goldberg/Iowa State Daily

Redshirt senior Deonte Burton goes up for a dunl during a game against #9 Baylor, Saturday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum. After being tied at halftime, the Cyclones pulled off the upset, winning 72-69, and improved to 19-9 overall (11-5 in conference).

Aaron Marner

Last year, four former Cyclones made NBA rosters. Three of them — Georges Niang and Naz Mitrou-Long of the Utah Jazz, and Monte Morris of the Denver Nuggets — spent time in the G-League as part of a two-way deal.

Now, a fourth Cyclone will join them in the NBA.

Deonte Burton, who played at Iowa State from 2015-17, agreed to a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2018-19 season.

This is only the second year since the NBA instituted the two-way contract, which is designed to give NBA teams up to two extra players. Those two players can spend as many as 45 days with the NBA team, and the rest of the time must be spent in the G-League.

Burton will likely be with the Oklahoma City Blue for much of the season. The Thunder have one of the highest payrolls in the NBA for 2018-19 and currently have two former All-NBA forwards in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, meaning competition at Burton’s position will likely be tough.

Burton came to Iowa State after playing two seasons at Marquette. He was part of the 2016-17 team that won the Big 12 Tournament. In his two seasons, Burton averaged 12.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He started all 35 games of his senior year.

He showed up big when it mattered most, including Iowa State’s historic win at Kansas in February 2017. Burton dropped 29 points, eight rebounds and six steals in the overtime win.

In the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament against Purdue, Burton led all scorers with 25 points.