Oklahoma City Thunder forward Mitch McGary has been suspended for the first five games of the 2016-17 season by the NBA for a failed drug test, as first reported by Anthony Slater of NewsOk.com.
McGary, the Thunder’s first-round pick in 2014, has been limited to 52 games over his first two seasons due to injury issues. He also took a leave of absence from the team for a couple of weeks at the end of the 2015-16 season due to a “personal reasons.” In college, McGary was suspended for a year by the NCAA for testing positive for marijuana, which he avoided by going pro.
Despite his off-court issues, the 24-year-old big man has shown promise. McGary averaged 15.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in three summer league games this past week in Orlando. It’s only a five-game suspension over the course of an 82-game season, but we’ll see how this affects his progress going into his third season with the Thunder.