Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Clarkson, Collins, Randle, Thunder

June 29th, 2025 at 9:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Jazz are looking to trade Jordan Clarkson, but are having difficulty finding takers, says Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake City Tribune (via Twitter).

Larsen says that there is “next to no interest” in Clarkson on the trade market after a couple up-and-down seasons following his best years in Utah. Clarkson played a career-low 37 games this season after having his year cut short due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Prior to that, he was averaging 16.2 points and 3.7 assists in 26.0 minutes per night, primarily off the bench.

Larsen adds that the Jazz extended Clarkson in 2023 with the hopes that they could move him later, but the market they expected to be there for him appears to have moved on.

After trading the productive Collin Sexton to the Hornets for Jusuf Nurkic, the Jazz appear to be focusing on opening up rotation minutes for their young players while positioning themselves for the 2026 draft.

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Larsen also confirms (via Twitter) that the Jazz are actively attempting to move combo forward/center John Collins this summer, saying he considers it unlikely that either Collins or Clarkson are on the roster going into next season. Collins averaged 19.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game this season while shooting 39.9% from three, but his presence may impede great roles for youngsters like Taylor Hendricks and Kyle Filipowski.
Julius Randle is expected to remain trade-eligible after agreeing to a three-year, $100MM deal with the Timberwolves, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski (Twitter links). That suggests his contract will be completed as an extension – not a free agent deal – and that the annual raises won’t exceed 5%. Krawczynski adds that the Wolves aren’t planning on moving Randle, but this deal should allow them the flexibility to do so if the right opportunity presents itself.
The Thunder didn’t change their draft strategy or identity after winning the championship, writes Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated. “Every draft that we have is an opportunity to reflect back on the others and figure out what we can do better,” head of basketball operations Sam Presti said. “But the one thing we’ve never really strayed from, and I don’t think we will, is the focus on drafting people and not players. I think the characteristics of winning players, they multiply at a greater level than just talented players. They scale up better.” After selecting Thomas Sorber and Brooks Barnhizer in the 2025 draft, the Thunder took care of a pair of their previous draftees, signing Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell to three-year extensions.

Thunder Re-Sign Ajay Mitchell To Three-Year Deal

June 29th, 2025 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

July 6: Mitchell has officially re-signed with the Thunder, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

June 29: The Thunder will decline their 2025/26 team option on Ajay Mitchell, opting instead to sign the guard to a three-year contract worth $9MM, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The new deal will start in ’25/26, replacing the $3MM option.

The 38th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Mitchell initially signed a two-way contract with Oklahoma City, but earned rotation minutes during the first half of the season, averaging 6.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 16.6 minutes per game on a strong shooting line of .495/.383/.829 across 36 appearances.

However, Mitchell’s promising rookie season was derailed in January by a turf toe injury that kept him on the shelf for more than three months. He returned in the final week of the regular season, then played a limited role during the team’s title run, mostly playing in garbage time.

Having finalized a three-year extension with Jaylin Williams as well, the Thunder will have 14 of the 15 players from their championship team back under contract for next season once Mitchell’s deal is official. While it’s still early in the offseason and more moves are possible, it looks like replacing Dillon Jones with 2025 first-rounder Thomas Sorber may be the only real change Oklahoma City makes to its roster this summer.

Sam Presti Still Prioritizes Character In The Draft

June 29th, 2025 at 12:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Winning a title didn’t change Thunder general manager Sam Presti’s approach to the draft, per Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated. Presti continued to emphasize character as he took Georgetown center Thomas Sorber at No. 15 and Northwestern guard Brooks Barnhizer at No. 44. “The one thing we’ve never really strayed from, and I don’t think we will, is the focus on drafting people and not players,” Presti said. “I think the characteristics of winning players, they multiply at a greater level than just talented players. They scale up better.”

Thunder Sign Jaylin Williams To Three-Year Extension

June 29th, 2025 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

11:37 am: Williams’ new contract is official, the Thunder announced today in a press release. The team completed the deal as a veteran extension, which is why it could be formally finalized now instead of having to wait until July.

9:47 am: The Thunder declined their minimum-salary team option on big man Jaylin Williams in order to negotiate a new deal with him, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides have agreed to a three-year, $24MM contract.

The third and final season of the deal will be a team option, Charania adds (via Twitter).

A valuable frontcourt reserve in recent years for the newly crowned NBA champions, Williams was limited to 47 appearances in 2024/25 due in large part to a hamstring injury that delayed his regular season debut until December 23. However, he was effective when healthy, averaging 5.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 16.7 minutes per night, with a .439/.399/.767 shooting line.

Williams, who is celebrating his 23rd birthday on Sunday, didn’t have a major role during the postseason, but he played rotation minutes off the bench against Denver in the second round and appeared in 17 of the Thunder’s 23 total playoff games.

While the Thunder could have kept Williams on the roster at a bargain price for another season by simply picking up his $2.2MM option for 2025/26, doing so would have put him on track for unrestricted free agency in 2026. By declining the option, Oklahoma City had the ability to make the former No. 34 overall pick a restricted free agent this summer, improving the team’s negotiating position.

The Thunder have taken this route on team-option players like Luguentz Dort and Aaron Wiggins within the past few years, declining their options in order to sign them to multiyear contracts as RFAs.

Oklahoma City’s minor salary-dump trade of Dillon Jones on Saturday will allow the team to stay out of luxury tax territory while giving Williams a pay bump for 2025/26. The tax line is projected to come in at $187.9MM, while the Thunder currently have a projected team salary of $186MM, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Wizards Acquire Dillon Jones From Thunder

June 28th, 2025 at 8:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Thunder are sending Dillon Jones and a future second-round pick to the Wizards, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Oklahoma City confirmed the deal in a press release, announcing that it received shooting guard Colby Jones in return. Jones’ $2.22MM contract for next season is non-guaranteed, and he was waived immediately.

The second-rounder headed to Washington in the deal is for 2029 and originally belonged to Houston, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Dillon Jones, a 23-year-old swingman, was originally selected by Washington with the 26th pick last year, but he was traded to New York and then to Oklahoma City on draft night. He appeared in 54 games as a rookie for OKC, averaging 2.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 10.2 minutes per night.

Jones will be part of a youth movement for the Wizards, who had two first-round picks in this year’s draft, along with three last year. Jones is the second member of the 2024 draft class that Washington has added in a trade, joining AJ Johnson, who was acquired from Milwaukee in February.

The deal unloads salary and opens a roster spot for the Thunder, who had been set to have 15 players return from this year’s championship team. The move creates an opening for rookie center Thomas Sorber, who was selected with the 15th pick on Wednesday.

Dillon Jones will make a guaranteed $2.75MM in 2025/26, with team options worth $2.88MM and $5.2MM, respectively, for the following two seasons. The Wizards will have to make a decision on that ’26/27 option (worth $2.88MM) by October 31 of this year.

Colby Jones, 23, appeared in 15 games with Washington after being acquired in a three-team deal at the trade deadline. He averaged 8.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists with the Wizards.

Because Colby’s salary was fully non-guaranteed and Dillon is earning more than the minimum, the Wizards had to use a traded player exception to complete the deal. They used the one generated in February’s trade of Patrick Baldwin, the smallest of the three TPEs they controlled.

The Thunder will create a new TPE worth the difference between the two players’ 2024/25 salaries, approximately $502K. However, that exception is almost certainly too small to ever be used.

And-Ones: 2025 Draft Grades, 2026 Class, France, Gabriel

June 28th, 2025 at 10:04am CST by Earnest Marshall

Five teams earned ‘A’ grades on Sam Vecenie’s post-draft report card for The Athletic, including four teams who had picks in the top six. The fifth team to earn an A was the Hawks, primarily for landing an unprotected 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans to drop 10 spots in the middle of the first round.

Another 18 teams earned ‘B-‘ to ‘B+’ grades, meaning they mostly met or exceeded the value expected at their respective draft slots. Multiple clubs who only had second-round picks, like the Cavaliers and Warriors, found themselves in this tier. A few teams who ended up landing players who slid from pre-draft projections also ended up in this group, with the Jazz getting Ace Bailey at No. 5, the Heat landing Kasparas Jakucionis at No. 20 and the Thunder getting Thomas Sorber at No. 15.

That left five teams to earn a mark of ‘C’ or lower from Vecenie (Houston and Denver did not make any selections). The Pelicans were marked down for the haul they gave up to move up from No. 23 to No. 13 and select Derik Queen. The Nets were questioned for making three selections – Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf – with positional overlap, while the Knicks earned a middling grade for selecting a stash player who may not make it to the league.

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The 2026 draft looks to be loaded on paper, with a strong blend of returners who would have been drafted this year and high-level incoming talent. In ESPN’s first full 2026 mock draft, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have Darryn Peterson of Kansas as the No. 1 overall pick. A.J. Dybantsa (BYU), Cameron Boozer (Duke), Nate Ament (Tennessee) and Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville) round out their top five. Among returning college players, Jayden Quaintance (No. 6, Kentucky) and Yaxel Lendeborg (No. 14, Michigan) are the highest-ranking.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report‘s top three looks identical to ESPN’s, but he has Arizona’s Koa Peat at No. 4 in his first 2026 mock draft. Another significant difference between the two boards is Baylor wing Tounde Yessoufou‘s spot — Wasserman has him at No. 6, but ESPN places him at No. 23.
France has named its 18-man preliminary roster for EuroBasket 2025, per the team (Twitter link). Bilal Coulibaly, Moussa Diabate, Ousmane Dieng, Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr and Guerschon Yabusele are the current NBA players on the roster. Former NBAers on the team include Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Frank Ntilikina and Theo Maledon, among others.
Former NBA player Wenyen Gabriel is leaving Panathinaikos to sign with Bayern Munich in Germany, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. Gabriel played his first EuroLeague season in 2024/25, averaging 6.0 points per game, and will remain in the league by signing with Bayern. The 6’9″ big man played 150 NBA games from 2019-24 across stints with the Lakers, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Kings and others. He averaged 4.4 PPG and 3.4 RPG for his career.

Thunder To Sign Zack Austin, Chris Youngblood

June 27th, 2025 at 6:38pm CST by Eli Cohen

The 2025 champion Thunder have agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with Pitt forward Zack Austin, reports Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). They will also sign Alabama guard Chris Youngblood to an Exhibit 10 deal, Blake Byler writes for BamaOnLine.

An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed agreement that could be converted to a two-way deal before the season or puts the player in line for a bonus worth up to $85K if he’s waived and then spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate.

Austin is a 6’7″ forward who played the last two seasons for Pitt after transferring from High Point University in North Carolina. He was named to the ACC All-Defensive team this season after averaging 1.1 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. He also contributed 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest while making 38.1% of his three-point attempts and 90.2% of his free throws. Those numbers were significantly up from his career averages of 33.5% from three and 78.2% from the line.

A high-level athlete with a great motor, Austin’s block percentage of 6.1% ranked 7th in the ACC, and was first among players shorter than 6’10”.

Youngblood is a 6’4″ fifth-year senior who is a career 39.3% three-point shooter with Kennesaw State, South Florida, and Alabama. He averaged 10.3 points per game for the Crimson Tide after starting slow due to an ankle injury. His defining performance for Alabama came in the Round of 16 against BYU, where he scored 19 points and made five three-pointers, helping the team advance to the Elite Eight.

The Thunder previously agreed to a deal with Iowa shooting wing Payton Sandfort.

Thunder To Sign Payton Sandfort To Exhibit 10 Deal

June 27th, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 1: Sandfort is signing an Exhibit 10 contract, Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman confirms (via Twitter).

JUNE 27: The defending champion Thunder have agreed to a deal with former Iowa standout Payton Sandfort, reports Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).

While Givony doesn’t specify the terms of the agreement, it will likely be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract. An Exhibit 10 deal would put Sandfort on track to either become an affiliate player for the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League team, or to be converted to a two-way deal before the regular season.

Sandfort, a 6’7″ wing who spent his entire four-year college career with the Hawkeyes, gradually emerged as a featured player for the team, becoming a full-time starter as a junior after being named the Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year as a sophomore.

In his senior year in 2024/25, Sandfort started all 33 games he played, averaging 16.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 31.9 minutes per contest, with a .407/.340/.891 shooting line. That three-point percentage was his worst single-season mark — he was at 36.5% in his first three college seasons.

Sandfort is the first undrafted free agent deal reported for the Thunder, who selected Thomas Sorber in the first round of the 2025 draft and Brooks Barnhizer in the second.

Lakers Trade 55th Pick, Cash To Bulls For 45th Pick

June 26th, 2025 at 11:26am CST by Rory Maher

June 30: The trade is now official, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, who tweets that the Bulls received $2.5MM in cash in the deal, along with the draft rights to No. 55 pick Lachlan Olbrich, in exchange for the rights to No. 45 pick Rocco Zikarsky.

The Lakers subsequently traded up again – using the No. 45 pick and cash – to No. 36, but that trade won’t become official until after the July moratorium.

June 26: The Lakers are trading the 55th pick of the 2025 draft and cash to the Bulls for tonight’s 45th selection, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (via Twitter).

As Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets, the Lakers will now be hard-capped at the second tax apron for the 2025/26 season because they are sending out cash in the deal.

Bulls general manager Marc Eversley said during a Wednesday night press conference that Chicago was open to moving the No. 45 pick, either to move out of the second round or to select a draft-and-stash prospect. In this case the Bulls moved back 10 spots and added cash in the process.

Los Angeles is clearly targeting a player it likes and thinks will be available at No. 45 but may not have been at No. 55. In the past, sending out cash to move up in the draft wasn’t a big deal, but changes in the new CBA mean the Lakers will be unable to surpass the second apron — projected at $207.8MM — for next season.

Although they’ll lose a little bit of roster flexibility as a result of the trade, the Lakers were unlikely to exceed the second apron in ’25/26 anyway, notes Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron (Twitter link).

According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link), the Hornets (either No. 33 or No. 34), Raptors (No. 39), Warriors (No. 41) and Thunder (No. 44) are also open to trading their second-round picks. ESPN identified Charlotte this morning as a team to monitor with one of its early second-rounders.

The Timberwolves (No. 31) are also fielding trade inquiries on the first pick of the second round, sources tell Fischer (Twitter link).

Kings Acquire No. 24 From Thunder, Draft Nique Clifford

June 25th, 2025 at 9:58pm CST by Rory Maher

11:25 pm: The trade is official, per a press release from the Kings.

9:58 pm: The Kings have agreed to acquire the No. 24 pick from the Thunder and used it to draft Colorado State’s Nique Clifford, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

According to Sacramento radio host Carmichael Dave (Twitter link), the Thunder will receive San Antonio’s 2027 first-round pick (top-16 protected) from Sacramento. If that selection falls in its protected range, Oklahoma City will instead receive two second-rounders in 2027.

Sacramento has long been rumored as a candidate to move into the first round, as the team only controlled a second-round pick — No. 42 — heading into Wednesday. The Stein Line reported this morning that No. 24 was one pick the Kings were looking at acquiring.

The Thunder are facing a minor roster crunch in 2025/26 and had no need to add two first-round picks to their championship roster. They selected Georgetown big man Thomas Sorber at No. 15.

Clifford is among the most NBA-ready players who will be drafted this week — he spent three years at Colorado and two more at Colorado State before becoming automatically draft-eligible this year at age 23.

While he didn’t post big numbers earlier in his college career, Clifford has come on strong in the past couple seasons. In 2024/25, he nearly averaged a double-double, with 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.2 steals in 35.4 minutes per game across 36 starts, with a .496/.377/.777 shooting line.

The 6’5″ swingman had one of the best rebounding seasons for a wing in NCAA history for the Rams, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, who adds that Clifford’s “instincts and competitiveness stood out.”

Clifford’s game and versatility is similar to Josh Hart‘s, according to Law Murray of The Athletic, who points out (via twitter) that new Kings GM Scott Perry traded for Hart in New York and is now acquiring Clifford as well.