Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Sixers, Kings Interested In Dion Waiters

June 28th, 2016 at 5:02pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Sixers and Kings are teams in need of backcourt help and both franchises may make a run at Thunder shooting guard Dion Waiters, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (on Twitter). Waiters will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer, provided Oklahoma City submits a qualifying offer worth $6,777,589. Otherwise, Waiters will hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent and OKC would not have the ability to match any offer he were to ink.

It’s unclear if the Thunder intend to re-sign Waiters this summer and his fate may very well be linked to the free agency decision of Kevin Durant. If Durant re-signs with the team, OKC won’t have enough cap space to ink a suitable replacement, which would markedly increase the likelihood of the team retaining Waiters. But, if Durant departs, the team may not be willing to commit to Waiters on a long-term pact. The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater has speculated that Waiters could command a salary in the range of $12MM to $16MM range annually on his next contract, which may be too rich a deal for the Thunder to commit to if they need to begin rebuilding in the wake of a Durant departure.

The Sixers would be an interesting fit for Waiters given their need for backcourt scoring. The guard, who hails from Philadelphia, has said in the past that he would be interested in playing for the Sixers, which would certainly aid the team’s recruitment efforts if true. Sacramento’s backcourt could also use an influx of talent, though I don’t necessarily view Waiters as much of an upgrade of Ben McLemore, who currently sits atop the Kings’ depth chart at the two.

Waiters made 78 appearances for the Thunder this past season, including 15 starts. He notched averages of 9.8 points, 2.6 rebounds an 2.0 assists in 27.6 minutes per outing while shooting .399/.358/.713.

Six Teams Solidify Meetings With Kevin Durant

June 27th, 2016 at 11:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

8:08pm: Durant will not meet with his hometown Wizards, J. Michael of CSNMidatlantic.com reports. The Wizards have already moved on with their free agency plans, as league sources told Michael that the idea of returning home “doesn’t resonate” with Durant.

MONDAY, 12:41pm: Durant and his representatives have now scheduled meetings with the Celtics, Clippers, and Heat, bringing the total number of meetings on tap for KD to six, reports ESPN’s Chris Broussard. A meeting with the Knicks also remains in play, but hasn’t yet been confirmed.

FRIDAY, 10:44pm: The Warriors, Spurs and Thunder will be the first three teams to land face-to-face recruiting meetings with Kevin Durant, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein adds that the meetings will take place next week and more teams are expected to be granted an opportunity to make a pitch. Durant’s representatives are working to solidify meetings with the Celtics, Clippers and Heat in addition to the aforementioned teams, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports.

Both the Warriors and Spurs are planning on having key members of their respective organizations in attendance, Stein adds. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will be among the attendees for Golden State’s pitch, while San Antonio will have Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan among the attendees at its meeting. Sources tell Stein that the Warriors believe their chances of landing Durant have increased as a result of losing to the Cavs in the NBA Finals. Earlier this week, a source suggested to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that the Warriors appear to be the biggest threat to land the 2013/14 MVP should he leave Oklahoma City.

Durant is expected to have his agent Rich Kleiman and a few family members and friends alongside him during the initial meetings. The meetings are expected to take place in New York, according to Wojnarowski, although teams are still awaiting official word. It was reported last week that the meetings would take place in Los Angeles, where Durant owns a home.

The Knicks and Lakers remain hopeful about getting a meeting, Stein adds. Despite no definite report of a future meeting with Durant, Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets that the Knicks are expected to get one.

The Rockets are not expected to get serious consideration, as was previously reported, and Stein adds that the Wizards are not optimistic about their chances of landing Durant.

Durant’s top priority for a destination remains competing for a championship and doing it immediately. A source tells Wojnarowski that Durant has plans to go on a publicity tour starting on July 9, and he expects to make a decision before that date.

Wall: Durant Turned Off By Wizards' Fans

June 26th, 2016 at 6:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

John Wall thinks fan overreaction may have discouraged Kevin Durant from considering the Wizards in free agency, relays J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic. Because Durant hails from the Washington, D.C., area, the Wizards were once thought to have a chance at landing him, but they aren’t among the seven teams expected to meet with Durant after free agency begins on Friday. “A lot of people will be devastated. But at the end of the day he never promised us anything,” Wall said. “Every day, everybody said KD-to-DC, coming to our games wearing all the Kevin Durant stuff, he didn’t like it at that time because you should cheer for the team that you got.”

There’s more news out of the Southeast Division:

Of the Hornets‘ five free agents, Nicolas Batum is most likely to return next season, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Bonnell sees a 70% likelihood that Batum remains with in Charlotte, and GM Rich Cho has said keeping him is the team’s top offseason priority. Bonnell believs the Hornets will need to offer a five-year deal at more than $20MM per season to be sure of re-signing Batum. For the rest of the team’s free agents, Bonnell puts the chances of keeping Marvin Williams at 50%, Jeremy Lin at 40%, Al Jefferson at 25% and Courtney Lee at 20%.
The Magic made good on their promise to be aggressive in trying to acquire veteran help when they pulled off a deal for Serge Ibaka, writes Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders. The trade may have been necessary because of the impending free agency of shooting guards Evan Fournier, who will hit the market this summer, and Victor Oladipo, who was shipped to Oklahoma City in the deal and will become a free agent in 2017. The Magic didn’t expect to re-sign both, according to Taylor, and didn’t want to lose them without getting something in return.
French shooting guard Isaia Cordinier, who was taken by Atlanta with the No. 44 pick in the draft, will probably play next season in France and join the Hawks for 2017/18, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Givony says Cordinier had a draft promise from a team in the late 30s or early 40s, but that team changed its mind and took someone else (Twitter link). Cordinier was expecting to join that franchise immediately and had asked other teams not to draft him (Twitter link).

Latest On Durant

June 26th, 2016 at 4:59pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Lakers and Wizards are not expected to be granted a meeting with Kevin Durant once free agency begins, reports Sam Amick of USA Today. Amick adds that New York is back on Durant’s radar as a result of the Derrick Rose trade. The Knicks are expected to sit down with the 2013/14 MVP, as are the Spurs, Warriors, Celtics, Heat, and Clippers in addition to the Thunder.

Thunder Still Favored To Keep Durant

June 25th, 2016 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Oklahoma City remains the favorite in the Kevin Durant free agency sweepstakes, according to Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. The Thunder have a significant advantage in the amount they can offer Durant, Slater notes, as he can make $229.5MM over the next six seasons if he opts out of a two-year deal next summer and signs a five-year max contract. OKC can also offer a guaranteed contender, as the Thunder just fell one game short of reaching the NBA Finals. Slater rates the Warriors, Spurs and Celtics as having the best chance to take Durant away, with the Heat and Clippers as long shots and the Wizards and Rockets as “delusional pipe-dreamers.”

Durant gave at least his unspoken approval to the draft-day trade that sent Serge Ibaka to the Magic, writes Sam Amick of USA Today Sports. Given the uncertainty surrounding Durant, Amick says the Thunder never would have made such a major deal if they didn’t know he was on board with it.

Unsigned Draft Picks: Northwest Division

June 25th, 2016 at 5:21pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the 2016 NBA draft now in the books, the term draft-and-stash will be mentioned quite often in regard to international players and late second-rounders. While some of these athletes will eventually sign with an NBA team, it seems like the majority of them stay overseas and never make it to the league. Those players in the latter category aren’t without value as they become trade assets for the teams holding their rights.

While many players fail to work out the way teams expect them to, they can at least become tradeable assets for teams that don’t want to part with a future second-round pick in a deal. Each team must give up something in a trade, which is why many swaps include top-55 protected second-round picks. Older draft rights held players who clearly will never come over to the NBA are essentially the same as flipping those heavily protected second-rounders, for all intents and purposes.

Listed below are the current unsigned draftees for the teams of the Northwest Division. These listings don’t include players selected in this year’s draft:

Denver Nuggets

Nikola Radicevic — Selected No. 57 overall in 2015.
Izzet Turkyilmaz — Selected No. 50 overall in 2012.
Cenk Akyol — Selected No. 59 overall in 2005.
Sani Becirovic — Selected No. 46 overall in 2003.
Xue Yuyang — Selected No. 57 overall in 2003.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Bojan Dubljevic — Selected No. 59 overall in 2013.
Paulao Prestes — Selected No. 45 overall in 2010.
Henk Norel — Selected No. 47 overall in 2009.
Lior Eliyahu — Selected No. 44 overall in 2006.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Dakari Johnson — Selected No. 48 overall in 2015.
Semaj Christon — Selected No. 55 overall in 2014.
Alex Abrines — Selected No. 32 overall in 2013.
Tomislav Zubcic — Selected No. 56 overall in 2012.
DeVon Hardin — Selected No. 50 overall in 2008.
Yotam Halperin — Selected No. 53 overall in 2006.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis — Selected No. 34 overall in 2003.
Szymon Szewczyk — Selected No. 35 overall in 2003.
Paccelis Morlende — Selected No. 50 overall in 2003.
Abdul Shamsid-Deen — Selected No. 53 overall in 1990.

Portland Trail Blazers

Daniel Diez — Selected No. 54 overall in 2015.
Nedzad Sinanovic — Selected No. 54 overall in 2003.
Federico Kammerichs — Selected No. 51 overall in 2002.
Doron Sheffer — Selected No. 36 overall in 1996.
Marcelo Nicola — Selected No. 50 overall in 1993.

Utah Jazz

Olivier Hanlan — Selected No. 41 overall in 2015.
Ante Tomic — Selected No. 44 overall in 2008.
Shan Foster — Selected No. 51 overall in 2008.
Mario Austin — Selected No. 36 overall in 2003.
Peter Fehse — Selected No. 49 overall in 2002.

Multiple Teams Interested In Lance Thomas

June 24th, 2016 at 10:06pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Knicks would like to bring back Lance Thomas with team president Phil Jackson going so far as to say he expects to re-sign the 28-year-old, Ian Begley of ESPN.com passes along (ESPN Now link). New York won’t be the only team vying for his services, as the Thunder, Nets and Mavericks are all expected to have interested in the combo forward, sources tell Begley.

Thomas arrived in New York as part of the 2015 three-way deal that sent J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavs. The team waived him just days after the trade before signing him to a pair of 10-day contracts and then a minimum-salary deal during the 2014/15 campaign. Thomas then re-signed with New York on a one-year, $1.65MM deal last offseason. He’s in line for a hefty raise on that figure and Begley notes that he’ll likely benefit from the historic salary cap increase.

Thomas established his 3-point shot this past season, making 40.4% of his attempts from long-range. He also sported a career high 10.4 player efficiency rating.

More Details On Serge Ibaka Trade

June 24th, 2016 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

While some observers questioned whether Oklahoma City’s decision to trade Serge Ibaka would have a negative impact on Kevin Durant‘s free agent decision, GM Sam Presti and the Thunder believes it strengthens their position, showing KD that they didn’t want to assume moving forward with the status quo was satisfactory. Royce Young of ESPN.com outlines the Thunder’s thinking, explaining why it made sense for the club to move Ibaka, who perhaps wasn’t a perfect fit for the current roster in OKC.

Young and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com both suggest that Ibaka didn’t love his evolving role with the Thunder, which saw him essentially playing the part of a stretch four this past season. Although he hadn’t requested a trade, Ibaka was considered likely to leave Oklahoma City in free agency a year from now, according to Berger. The CBSSports.com scribe also agrees that the move doesn’t make Durant any more likely to leave the Thunder, pointing out that the team is smartly surrounding him with depth and controllable players, rather than trying to clear cap space and promising free agent pursuits that may or may not pan out.

Thunder To Guarantee Ersan Ilyasova’s Salary

June 24th, 2016 at 7:22am CST by Luke Adams

As part of the package they received in exchange for Serge Ibaka on Thursday night, the Thunder acquired stretch four Ersan Ilyasova, whose contract is mostly non-guaranteed for the 2016/17 season. Although Oklahoma City could save $8MM by cutting Ilyasova before July 1st, leaving just $400K on the cap, the team likes him and intends to guarantee his full $8.4MM salary, according to Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman (Twitter link).

[RELATED: Thunder trade Serge Ibaka to Magic]

General manager Sam Presti confirmed as much when he spoke to reporters after the draft, pointing out that Ilyasova led the league in charges taken last season, tweets Slater. In 74 contests last season for the Pistons and Magic, Ilyasova also chipped in 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while shooting 37.1% on three-point attempts.

While the Thunder will rely on all three players – Ilyasova, Victor Oladipo, and No. 11 pick Domantas Sabonis – to help fill the void left by Ibaka’s departure, Ilyasova is perhaps the player most ready-made to step in for the departing OKC big man, at least on offense. He lacks Ibaka’s athleticism and ability to protect the rim, but Ilyasova is a frontcourt player who can stretch the floor, giving Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook room to operate.

With Oklahoma City poised to keep Ilyasova, Thursday night’s trade actually added a few million dollars in salary to the team’s books for 2016/17. Ibaka will earn $12,250,000 next season, while Ilyasova, Oladipo, and Sabonis will combine to make $17,393,160, assuming the rookie signs for his full 120% scale amount. In the long term though, OKC may find it more affordable to keep its new players – especially Sabonis – than it would have been to re-sign Ibaka, who is headed for a big payday in 2017.

Thunder Trade Serge Ibaka To Magic

June 24th, 2016 at 12:48am CST by Arthur Hill

Oklahoma City has traded power forward Serge Ibaka to Orlando, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The Thunder received Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and the rights to Domantas Sabonis, the 11th overall pick, in return (Twitter link). Both teams have formally confirmed the deal.

Ibaka had spent his entire seven-year career with OKC after being drafted 24th in 2008. The 26-year-old has one season left on his contract at $12.25MM. He appeared in 78 games for Oklahoma City this season, averaging 12.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. The Thunder reportedly have been gauging the trade market for Ibaka in advance of the draft.

Oladipo, 24, will be eligible for a contract extension next month for the first time in his NBA career. He is scheduled to make about $6.55MM next season in the final year of his rookie deal. The combo guard averaged 16.0 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Magic in 2015/16 while shooting .438 from the field.

Ilyasova, 29, has an $8.4MM contract for next season, but only $400K of that is guaranteed. He split this season between the Pistons and Magic, averaging 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 74 games.

Earlier in the evening, the Raptors offered their No. 9 pick to the Thunder for Ibaka, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com, but Oklahoma City turned down the deal. Toronto is searching for a replacement for 35-year-old Luis Scola, who started 76 games this season. Scola will be a free agent after earning $3MM during 2015/16. Toronto wound up keeping the ninth pick and taking center Jakob Poetl out of Utah.