After completing a three-for-two trade with the Bulls on Thursday, the Thunder now have a roster spot open, and they’re expected to be active in the buyout market, reports ESPN’s Royce Young (Twitter link). Although Oklahoma City hasn’t been linked to notable released players or buyout candidates like Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut, the team will certainly be looking for “impact players,” says Young (Twitter link).
As Young observes, if the Thunder don’t land a top target, Kendrick Perkins could be a Plan B for the team. The former OKC big man said last week that he’d love to return to the team, and GM Sam Presti didn’t rule out that scenario on Thursday, though he didn’t make any commitments either, per Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman.
“Perk’s been here,” Presti said. “The door is always open to our former players, and so he’s part of the family. Him being here, I understand that, but I don’t want to speculate on who might be the 15th.”
Here’s more on the Thunder:
- After trading Cameron Payne to Chicago, the Thunder feel “pretty comfortable” with Semaj Christon and Victor Oladipo as backup options behind Russell Westbrook, but Presti didn’t rule out the possibility of using the open roster spot to add another point guard, writes Dawson.
- The Bulls wanted to acquire Andre Roberson from Oklahoma City in Thursday’s trade, but the Thunder are committed to re-signing him in restricted free agency this summer, tweets Royce Young. Still, Roberson’s future remains somewhat uncertain, writes Erik Horne of The Oklahoman.
- In a separate piece for The Oklahoman, Horne examines what the acquisitions of Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott mean for the Thunder this season and beyond.
Roberson is a beast, he should start at SF and McDermott can come off the bench firing 3’s
May want to have Doug starting for floor spacing now that Gibson is starting and sabonis can’t space the floor
Roberson might be the worst offensive player in the NBA. He should not start for any competitive team.
finally someone says something that makes sense. While watching the thunder’s game vs the Knicks it was mentioned that Roberson is the 2nd worst 3pt shooter in the entire NBA. he is 3 for his last 32 threes over the last 16 games, and the thunder apparently want to resign him.
finally someone says something that makes sense. While watching the thunder’s game against the Knicks it was mentioned that Roberson is the 2nd worst 3pt shooter in the entire NBA. he is 3 for his last 32 threes over the last 16 games, and the thunder apparently want to resign him.