JT Thor participated for South Sudan in the men's basketball competition at the Olympics in Paris after three seasons in the NBA, although he was not guaranteed a contract for the upcoming campaign. However, Thor is returning to the NBA a week after the gold-medal game, having inked a two-way deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. An NBA club may carry three players beyond the 15-man roster limit thanks to a two-way contract.
The 37th pick overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, Thor was acquired by the Charlotte Hornets. The 6-foot-10 frontcourt player played in 165 games over three seasons with Charlotte, starting eleven of them, and averaging 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds. Thor played a career-long 41:06 minutes in the season's last game, leading Charlotte to a 120-110 victory against the Cavaliers with career-highs of 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.