As if the transfer path from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Charlotte Hornets couldn’t get any bigger, there is another player who made the move in the last year.

Yesterday, former Thunder Keyontae Johnson left the free agent market for good after officially signing a contract with the Hornets. With new additions Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein as well as new draft picks, Oklahoma City could not find a place for the forward in its future plans.

With the No. 1 seed Thunder making the playoffs, the 24-year-old struggled to find any role on the main roster, averaging just 7.3 minutes per game. However, with G-League affiliate OKC Blue, he averaged 17.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists on 53% shooting from the field and 39% shooting from beyond the three-point line.

Charlotte and Oklahoma City crossed paths quite a bit last year, thanks to the deadline trade that brought Gordon Hayward to the Thunder. That trade brought four former players to the Hornets: Aleksej Pokusevski, Tre Mann, Vasilije Micic and Davis Bertans.

Only Mann and Micic will remain in Charlotte next season, but the signing of Johnson brings the total back up. It’s currently unclear whether or not he’ll spend time in the G League initially, but he’ll certainly have a better chance of playing on the main roster of a newly formed Hornets team alongside some familiar faces.

Both Mann and Micic were more successful in the second half of last season, as both received larger roles in the rotation and increased offensive workloads. Mann improved from 3.8 points in nine minutes per game to 11.9 points in 31 minutes, while Micic increased his 3.3 points in 12 minutes per game to 10.8 points in 27.2 minutes.

Even though things didn’t work out for Johnson in Oklahoma City, he found another opportunity where he can showcase his talent in a bigger role. With Charlotte likely out of the playoffs, developing young talent will be the biggest task, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to get on the court.

Do you want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with all the latest news from Thunder. You can also Meet the team behind the reporting.