The rebuilding Thunder shut down big men Al Horford and Mike Muscala in the second half of the 2020/21 season, with neither veteran playing a single minute after the March trade deadline. Muscala is now facing unrestricted free agency, while Horford has two years left on his contract, including a partial guarantee in the second year.
Asked today about their respective futures, neither player sounded certain he’d be back in Oklahoma City in ’21/22, but Muscala said he’d “love to be here” going forward, as Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman tweets. Meanwhile, an offseason trade to a team closer to contention seems like a realistic next step for Horford, and he didn’t rule out that possibility.
“I’m sure that I’ll be talking with the team and we’ll figure out what’s best,” Horford said, per Mussatto (Twitter link).
Here are a few more notes from around the Northwest:
- Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns told reporters today that he won’t require offseason surgery on the wrist he dislocated at the start of the season, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
- In a story for The Athletic, Krawczynski takes a deep dive into the long, winding path that Jarred Vanderbilt took to become an NBA regular for the first time this season. The Timberwolves forward, who had logged 120 total minutes in two NBA seasons entering 2020/21, started 30 of the 64 games he played this year, averaging 5.4 PPG and 5.8 RPG on 60.6% shooting in 17.8 minutes per contest.
- The Nuggets are increasing the capacity of Ball Arena for the playoffs from 4,050 fans (22.1% capacity) to a maximum attendance of 7,750 (42.3%), according to The Denver Post. Denver is one of a handful of teams expecting more fans at postseason games, as coronavirus-related gathering limits begin to loosen in states across the nations.
KAT proved he can’t lead a team to the playoffs. Can he be the third best player on a contender? That might be his ceiling.
Sillivan would ask:
Towns 24.8 pts, 10.6 rb 4.5 ast, 39% 3pt
Butler 21.5 pts, 6.9 rb, 7.1 ast, 25% 3pt
Who is better?
Towns could very well be what Boogie Cousins would have been had he not been injured. A 6′ 11″ center who shoots almost 40% from three would be an invaluable #3 like Chris Bosh was in Miami or Draymond also was a few years ago with the Warriors before KD showed up and made him a #4.
So we agree. People should stop calling him a star. Luka and Joker are Stars – no matter who is around them, they can win games.
Its subjective, just like your opinion.
Every opinion is subjective
To be fair KAT missed a chunk of this season but in general I agree.
Ultimately, with the exception of Embiid and Jokic, it’s tough for a big to be a #1 guy the way the game is played now.
I think KAT could be a #2 on a championship team. If he ever found his way to Dallas, for example, I’d count that team as a contender for sure.
Wolves had awful luck this season health wise. When Russell and Towns played together, in addition to Edwards rise, they’ve been competitive just about every game.
That said, I agree that Towns can’t be the #1 on a championship team. I think it’s hard for any big, considering the pace of today’s game.
KAT with a broken leg still is better than Butler, right?
It seems like with that partial guarantee that Horford will be almost a lock to get flipped before next year’s TD?
$27M is a lot but I think he showed that he can still contribute, that Philly was just a bad fit.
Dallas, Portland, GSW, NYK, CHA, or even a return to Boston. Any of those teams make sense if they can make the numbers work.