Latest On Durant
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Thunder Deal For 56th Pick, Draft Daniel Hamilton
The Nuggets sent pick No. 56 to Oklahoma City, which selected Daniel Hamilton, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. Denver received cash in return, adds The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The 56th pick originally belonged to the Thunder before they traded it to the Nuggets.
The 6’8″ sophomore out of Connecticut projects as a shooting guard in the NBA. He averaged 12.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists this season with the Huskies. He is a productive scorer and playmaker, but tends to be a streaky shooter and struggles on defense.
Hamilton was considered questionable to be drafted, with ESPN’s Chad Ford ranking him 72nd overall and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress listing him 79th.
Thunder Shop Serge Ibaka
In advance of tonight’s NBA Draft, the Thunder are exploring the trade market for Serge Ibaka, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reports (ESPN Now link). It’s unclear who or what Oklahoma City is seeking in return for the talented forward.
Ibaka, 26, has one season remaining on his current deal and is set to earn $12,250,000 in 2016/17. The former No. 24 overall pick has been a valuable performer for the Thunder during his career, but his numbers did take a slight dip this past season. In 78 appearances, all as a starter, Ibaka averaged 12.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 32.9 minutes per outing. He shot .479/.326/.752 from the field.
If Ibaka is indeed dealt, it will be interesting to observe how it alters Kevin Durant‘s free agency plans this summer. Unless the team parlays Ibaka into multiple assets who will contribute immediately, it’s difficult to imagine such a move pleasing Durant. The primary motivating factor for OKC is likely Ibaka being set to hit unrestricted free agency next summer and the team not being willing to pony up a maximum salary contract for the forward. Especially given that Russell Westbrook will also hit the open market next summer and re-signing him will almost certainly take precedence over retaining Ibaka. Durant, if he re-signs on a short-term pact, could also become a free agent, thus making future cap flexibility a necessity for the team.
Latest On Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant released his new KD9 signature shoe on Monday, and with reporters in attendance, the conversation eventually turned to Durant’s looming free agency. As Royce Young of ESPN.com details, the former MVP said that his free agency will be a “basketball decision.” Asked to clarify that answer, Durant explained that it’s not necessarily about moving to a bigger market, or landing the biggest contract.
[RELATED: Offseason Outlook: Oklahoma City Thunder]
“Just who I’m going to be playing with and the people I’m going to be around every single day, that’s what it’s all about for me,” Durant told ESPN.com. “You tend to hear about the market and the opportunities you can get off the basketball court, but I’m blessed, man, to be making what I make as a basketball player.
“And I’m doing this in Oklahoma City,” Durant continued. “I don’t care about commercials, I don’t really care about this s—, I just want to hoop. But this comes with it and I got all this being in Oklahoma City. So all that stuff doesn’t really matter to me. It’s all about who I’m gonna play with, what type of people I’m going to be around every single day and I’ll go from there.”
While Durant hasn’t been looking ahead to July 1st to figure out his plan for free agency, a number of teams around the NBA are hoping to make face-to-face pitches to him at that point, and it sounds like at least a few will have that opportunity. A source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that Durant, who had considered holding meetings in New York, will likely meet with suitors in Los Angeles once the recruiting period begins.
That same source suggests to Isola that if Durant decides not to re-sign with the Thunder, the Warriors look like the biggest threat to land him. Isola also writes that OKC viewed the Knicks as a major threat for Durant at one point, but haven’t been as concerned about New York since Derek Fisher was ousted as the team’s head coach.
Wherever he lands in free agency, Durant plans on being a part of USA Basketball’s Olympic squad later in the summer, as we heard over the weekend.