Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Mozgov, Pistons, Bulls

January 25th, 2015 at 11:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Cavaliers are suddenly the hottest team in the Central Division, and with their sixth straight win Sunday, over the Thunder, they own the NBA’s longest winning streak aside from the Hawks and their 16 wins in a row. Here’s the latest from Cleveland and the rest of the Central:

The record will show that the Cavs gave up two first-round picks in their deal to acquire Timofey Mozgov, but in the original structure of the trade, Cleveland never would have held one of those first-rounders, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group details. The Mozgov swap was supposed to have been part of the team’s three-way deal with the Knicks and Thunder involving Dion Waiters, Haynes reports. A scheduling conflict on Denver’s end broke what would have been one four-team transaction into separate trades, and the Thunder’s protected 2015 first-rounder that was destined for Denver wound up with the Cavs for the two-day period in between swaps, according to Haynes.
Stan Van Gundy acknowledged that the Pistons are looking for a third point guard to go with D.J. Augustin and Spencer Dinwiddie in the wake of the season-ending Achilles injury to Brandon Jennings, TSN’s Josh Lewenberg tweets. Detroit is looking either to swing a trade or sign a D-Leaguer, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The D-League option would jibe with the team’s reported interest in Lorenzo Brown.
Van Gundy’s brother, ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy, accused Bulls management on Friday of trying to undermine coach Tom Thibodeau, and Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson shot back Sunday, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes. “Tom Thibodeau isn’t being undermined at all,” Paxson said. “What’s being undermined is the entire Bulls organization by [Jeff] Van Gundy, who has an agenda against our organization for whatever reason and has for years. I guess he thinks he’s trying to protect his friend, but he’s doing just the opposite. It’s pretty pathetic when you think about it, and truth be told he owes Jerry Reinsdorf an apology for his disparaging remarks.”

Northwest Notes: Blazers, Wolves, Nuggets

January 25th, 2015 at 1:05pm CST by ChrisCrouse

LaMarcus Aldridge‘s surprise decision to play through an injured thumb, that was reportedly going to sideline the power forward for six to eight weeks, was partially made with the team in mind, as he tells Mike Richman of The Oregonian. “With me not being out there and not having [Nicolas Batum] definitely hurts us even more. So I just wanted to do some things today. Things went well. And I did some things yesterday late and it felt decent so we feel like we have a little plan to wrap it and strap it in and we’ll see, ” Aldridge told Richman. Aldridge played 36 minutes in his first game back from the injury and accumulated 26 points, nine rebounds and two steals in the victory over the Wizards on Saturday night.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The time has come for the Wolves to start looking to next season and maintain their good lottery odds, opines Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Zgoda takes a look at the top prospects in the upcoming draft including Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. Minnesota is 7-35 on the season, which puts the team atop our reverse order rankings. If the season ended today, the Wolves would be guaranteed a top four pick in the 2015 draft.
Ty Lawson remains in the Nuggets‘ future plans at the present time, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Lawson will return to the court after sitting out Friday’s game against the Celtics because of his arrest for suspicion of drinking and driving. The Nuggets sit at 18-25 on the season and remain a long shot, at best, to make the playoffs. Some of the Denver’s key players have been discussed in trade conversations with an eye on the future, including Wilson Chandler, who our own Chuck Myron looked at as a trade candidate.
Kendrick Perkins is an advocate of his new Thunder teammate Dion Waiters, writes Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders. “It doesn’t matter what you heard [in the media],” Perkins said of Waiters. “I’ve been impressed with his ability on the defensive end. The way he gets physical on the defensive end. The way he locks in. I have been more impressed with that. We already know he can score the ball. But I have been impressed with the commitment he’s shown on the defensive end.” Oklahoma City is 5-3 since Waiters’ arrival and in my latest poll, Hoops Rumors readers believe the move was the least impactful of the major Western Conference trades this season.

Western Notes: Bryant, Jerrett, Stokes

January 24th, 2015 at 10:03am CST by Eddie Scarito

There has been speculation that Kobe Bryant‘s shoulder injury could mark the end of his career, something that Lakers coach Byron Scott doubts will be the case, Greg Beacham of The Associated Press writes. “He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around as far as dealing with injuries and things like that, and being able to come back,” Scott said. “Everybody said he was done after the Achilles, and he came back pretty strong. Knowing him the way I know him, I know he doesn’t want to go out this way. I think he will rehab it if that’s the case, and then we’ll wait and see.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

The Thunder have re-assigned Grant Jerrett to the Oklahoma City Blue, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced (Twitter link). This will be Jerrett’s eighth sojourn to the D-League this season. The 21-year-old has only made four NBA appearances thus far this season, and has averaged 1.8 points in 6.0 minutes per contest for the Thunder.
Blazers GM Neil Olshey insisted that he won’t rush to make up for the absence of LaMarcus Aldridge, and that any deals the team makes at the trade deadline will be with the playoffs and not the regular season in mind, Grantland’s Zach Lowe notes.
Grizzlies rookie Jarnell Stokes is still trying to adjust to not seeing regular minutes after having been the star on every team that he played for prior to arriving in Memphis, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “It was hard for me at first,” Stokes said of not playing. “The first couple games, even just in the preseason, I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to have to do this all year?’ It was tough. I was coming home just mad and I had to learn that this is the way it’s going to be and that I can learn from this and that God has me in this position for a reason. I’ll have my opportunity [eventually] and I feel like there are some things I can work on now, so I can get better. I’m just working on those things so I’m ready the next time my name is called.” Stokes spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors last August.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Chris Singleton Joins Thunder’s D-League Team

January 23rd, 2015 at 3:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

The D-League affiliate of the Thunder has acquired former Wizards forward Chris Singleton, the team announced. Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reported earlier this week that the former 18th overall pick was expected to sign with the D-League, so it appears that he did so and that the Oklahoma City Blue claimed him from the D-League player pool that new signees enter when they join the league. The 25-year-old remains free to sign with any NBA team.

Singleton signed with the Pacers this past offseason after hiring agent Todd Ramasar, but he failed to make the opening-night roster. The Heat were also interested, but it became clear that the Wizards no longer had him in their plans after three seasons in which he saw declining minutes per game each year.

He averaged 3.0 points per game in just 10.0 MPG across 25 appearances last season after notching 21.7 MPG in all 66 games during his lockout-shortened rookie season. The Wizards decided in the fall of 2013 to decline the fourth-year team option on his rookie scale contract, setting him up for unrestricted free agency this past summer.

Poll: Best Western Conference Move?

January 23rd, 2015 at 11:00am CST by ChrisCrouse

Four Western Conference playoff contenders have made major acquisitions over the past several weeks, and 50 wins might be mandatory for entry into postseason in the West this year with the way some of the contenders playing. The West was already stacked, and it’s only becoming more so.

The Mavericks made perhaps the season’s first major move by trading Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, Jameer Nelson and a pair of draft picks for Rajon Rondo and Dwight Powell. Almost two-thirds of Hoops Rumors readers believed Dallas would make it to at least the conference finals when they voted in my late December poll, and the team is 11-5 since making the trade. Dallas still lacks depth but the team boasts one of the best starting lineups in the league and is capable of making a deep postseason run.

The Rockets responded by making a couple of moves of their own. Houston acquired Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved in a three way trade with the Wolves and the Sixers. The Rockets then signed with Josh Smith after the Pistons released him via the stretch provision. The team is 9-7 since acquiring the trio, and six of those seven losses are against teams that made the postseason last year. However, any team with superstars on it, like James Harden and Dwight Howard, shouldn’t be counted out once postseason play begins.

The Thunder sustained injuries to their biggest stars to begin the season and as a result, they ended up falling behind in the playoff race. They hope Dion Waiters, acquired from the Cavs in a three way trade, will help put the team in position to make a late-season push and make the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. By many accounts, Waiters has fit in nicely with the Thunder. They’re 5-2 and Waiters is averaging 11.9 points in 28.3 minutes per game since his arrival in Oklahoma City.

In another three-team trade, the Grizzlies acquired Jeff Green from the Celtics and Russ Smith from the Pelicans in exchange for Tayshaun Prince, a first-round pick and cash. They also sent Quincy Pondexter and a second-round pick to New Orleans in the trade. Green was averaging a career-high 17.6 points per game as the No. 1 scoring option in Boston, but he has only scored 13.0 PPG so far in five games for the Grizzlies. Memphis is 4-1 since Green came to town, but the Grizzlies won’t consider the move a success until the postseason arrives and they win a few playoff rounds. They were 26-11 before the trade and as Grantland’s Zach Lowe points out, when you’re already that good, marginal upgrades become that much harder to accomplish. While giving up that first-round pick hurts, especially since the team already didn’t control its 2015 first-rounder, Memphis has the talent and the right opportunity to go all in on this season.

The Western Conference race is wide open. Which team put itself in the best position to contend after its recent acquisition(s)? Let us know with a vote, and elaborate on your choice in the comments.

Which Contender Made The Best Move?

Mavericks 49.89% (467 votes)

Grizzlies 22.01% (206 votes)

Rockets 17.74% (166 votes)

Thunder 10.36% (97 votes)

Total Votes: 936

Northwest Notes: Thunder, Nuggets, Wolves

January 22nd, 2015 at 10:02pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Thunder may be under pressure to win now because of Kevin Durant‘s impending free agency in the summer of 2016, but coach Scott Brooks doesn’t think about the possibility of losing his star forward, as he tells Jared Zwelling of Bleacher Report. “That’s so many days away. I understand it, but it’s not something I’m even focused on. All coaches focus on day to day, and we worry about what we can do today and keep chopping away,” Brooks said. Oklahoma City sits at 22-20 after a rough start to the season and the team recently acquired Dion Waiters with the purpose of strengthening its bench unit. It’s uncertain whether the Thunder are done dealing this season but Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors looks at how the team could benefit from trading Reggie Jackson in his trade candidate piece.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

The Timofey Mozgov trade will definitely help the Nuggets in the long run, argues Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. Although Dempsey understands that those acquired draft picks will most likely not be lottery selections, he is hopeful that the Nuggets can use the picks in the future as part of a bigger deal that nets them a game changer.
Erick Green is a very capable player but with Ty Lawson and new addition Jameer Nelson on the Nuggets, playing time will be hard to come by for the Virginia Tech product, writes Dempsey in the same piece. Green is currently on D-League assignment, playing for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
The Wolves are concerned about Ricky Rubio‘s ankle sprain but the team believes the point guard is doing everything he can to return to the court, writes Jon Krawczynski of Associated Press. ”It’s a very unique ankle sprain,” coach Flip Saunders said. ”They said at the time it’s going to be worse than a high ankle sprain, and everyone knows those go eight to 12 weeks. So it has nothing to do with him not wanting to play.”

And-Ones: Durant, Heat, Raptors, Bynum, Heslip

January 22nd, 2015 at 1:38pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wizards seem like prime contenders for Washington native Kevin Durant when he hits free agency in 2016, but the thought of a homecoming isn’t on the reigning MVP’s mind, at least yet, as he told reporters, including Royce Young of ESPN.com.

“I’ve never thought about it, to be honest,” Durant said. “I mean, I hear it in the summertime. I heard it for the first time this summer. That’s when it started heating up. I love playing for Oklahoma City, man. There’s just a certain level of pride that I have when I play with that Oklahoma City on my chest.”

The Thunder picked up a key victory Wednesday against the Wizards as they fight to grab a playoff spot and salvage this year’s chance to win a title while Durant remains under contract. Here’s more from around the league:

Miami won’t re-sign Tyler Johnson to another 10-day contract, at least for the time being, a source tells Hoops Rumors. The Heat want to maximize their flexibility in case of a trade, but it’s possible that they’ll re-sign him later, perhaps as soon as a week from now, the source added. Johnson’s original 10-day pact with the Heat expired after Wednesday.
The Raptors had interest in Tyrus Thomas before he reached a deal to sign a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
NBA interest is growing in former Pistons point guard Will Bynum, whose Chinese team has won 22 games in a row since he joined the club last month, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Still, the Chinese Basketball Association playoffs threaten to keep him off-limits to NBA teams until March, Wojnarowski notes.
Wolves camp invitee Brady Heslip will sign with BC Igokea in Bosnia, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt reports (on Twitter). Gino Pilato of D-League Digest first reported that Heslip had left the D-League affiliate of the Kings, with whom he had been playing since Minnesota cut him loose (Twitter link).
Providence junior small forward Tyler Harris plans to enter this year’s NBA draft, sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM. Harris is the 65th-best NBA prospect among juniors, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Chad Ford of ESPN.com doesn’t have him within his rankings.

Atlantic Notes: Lopez, Kidd, Robinson

January 22nd, 2015 at 12:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Nets weren’t as close to trading Brook Lopez to the Thunder as they seemed, a league source tells Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher, adding that Brooklyn simply didn’t want Lance Stephenson, who would have come from Charlotte in a three-way proposal, or Kendrick Perkins. Still, a Lopez trade remains a possibility, Bucher writes, and the Nuggets are expected to make another run at him, according to Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post, just as they did when they reportedly spoke about a package with JaVale McGee as the centerpiece. There’s more on the Nets amid the latest from the Atlantic Division:

“High ranking sources” in the Nets organization dispute to Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News that Mikhail Prokhorov wants to sell his majority interest in the club, but those same sources tell Abramson that it’s not out of the question that Prokhorov will give up the team.
The management for Jason Kidd‘s ownership stake in the Nets has asked the NBA for more time to find a buyer, reports Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.com. Kidd owns one-sixth of 1% of the Nets, Soshnick notes, but he’s required to divest himself of that share, worth $2.5MM based on the Forbes valuation of the franchise, since he’s now coaching the Bucks instead.
Nate Robinson gave up $689K of this season’s salary of nearly $2.107MM in his buyout agreement with the Celtics, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
The Knicks and Sixers both have dreadful records this season, but only in Philadelphia’s case is that according to any sort of plan, as Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer examines.

Western Notes: Young, Clippers, Lin, Waiters

January 21st, 2015 at 12:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

Nick Young wants to help the Lakers recruit marquee free agents this summer, but he was worried that there wouldn’t have been room for the club to re-sign him this past offseason if the Lakers had landed a star then, as he tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Young said. “I was nervous and scared. I wanted to be here, but I kept hearing all the Carmelo [Anthony] rumors and Kobe [Bryant] having dinner with Carmelo. I knew once they paid him all that money, there would be none for me.”

Young, who inked a four-year, $21.326MM deal with the Lakers in July, told Medina that the Pelicans, Mavs and Bulls also had interest in him, and agent Mark Bartelstein told Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com this summer that there had been contact with the Hawks. There’s more from L.A. amid the latest from the Western Conference:

Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers expects to use his pair of open roster spots on veterans next month, writes Arash Markazi of ESPN.com, suggesting that the team will again target the post-buyout market as it did last year.
Dion Waiters, who’s up for a rookie scale extension this summer, says he “couldn’t ask for a better situation” than the one he finds himself in since the trade that sent him to the Thunder, as he tells The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry. “They brought me in since Day One with love,” Waiters said of his new teammates. “It seems like I’ve been here forever. It seems like I’ve been playing with them forever, too. When I came here, we clicked right away.”
Jeremy Lin has his moments for the Lakers, but he continues to struggle to live up to the backloaded three-year, $25.124MM deal he signed with the Rockets in 2012, much less his dazzling “Lin-sanity” run with the Knicks, as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register examines. Lin is set for free agency this summer.

Trade Candidate: Reggie Jackson

January 20th, 2015 at 3:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

So much of the intrigue surrounding Reggie Jackson is about potential. Indeed, Jackson’s production alone wouldn’t have prompted some teams around the league to believe that the point guard would receive offers of between $13MM and $14MM a year in restricted free agency this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski reported at the start of the season. The 24-year-old Jackson believes he can become a star, and evidently he’s not alone. The questions the Thunder face are whether there’s truly enough evidence to suggest he’ll do that, and whether it’s worth paying a premium to see if there’s any way that Jackson and Russell Westbrook can co-exist as elite performers in the backcourt. If GM Sam Presti concludes the answer to either is a no, he’ll encounter the sticky quandary of whether it’s worth keeping him for a run at a title this spring with the knowledge that he can sign elsewhere come July. One of those teams that’s so high on Jackson could come forward with an trade offer that affords the Thunder with enough compensation in return for Jackson to make Presti think long and hard about trading yet another highly regarded backcourt reserve.

The James Harden trade haunts the Thunder, though few would have predicted that Harden would have become quite the prolific scorer he is now for the Rockets. Westbrook didn’t miss a single game during Harden’s tenure with the Thunder, but he’s missed 59 combined regular season and playoff games with Jackson on the team, giving Hinkie a glimpse at Jackson in the lead role that he never had with Harden. The Thunder are 31-27 all-time when Jackson plays and Westbrook doesn’t, though to be fair, Kevin Durant wasn’t around for all of those games, and with a healthy Durant in tow, Oklahoma City was 25-11 with Jackson and without Westbrook last season.

Still, the Thunder would almost certainly plan on having both Jackson and Westbrook around if they were to retain Jackson long-term, since Westbrook’s deal doesn’t expire until the summer of 2017. The Thunder have a net rating of plus 4.4 when Westbrook and Jackson share the floor this season, according NBA.com, and they’re only a plus 1.0 as a team, though the latter figure includes the prolonged absences of Westbrook and Durant. Last season, the Thunder were a plus 7.1 and an eye-popping plus 17.8 with Westbrook and Jackson together, though that’s a sample size of less than 400 total minutes. They only played 161 minutes together across 82 games in 2012/13, and the Thunder’s net rating with both of them on the floor was plus 7.5 compared to plus 11.0 overall.

The track record isn’t vast, and it isn’t conclusive, although Jackson figured Presti had already drawn his conclusion when the point guard thought he was part of the Thunder’s three-team trade with the Cavs and Knicks amid erroneous reports. That swap nonetheless had significant implications for Jackson, since it brought Dion Waiters to town. Waiters, though more of a shooting guard, seems primed to take over the sixth-man role that Jackson has held, and there’s been speculation that Waiters, who’ll still be under his rookie scale contract in 2015/16, is insurance in case Jackson bolts. Durant had some harsh words in response to the assertion that he should help Jackson adjust in the wake of the trade, implying that Jackson should take a mature, professional approach to the reality that confronts him. The most recent dispatch regarding the ever-headstrong Jackson indicates that the Aaron Mintz client is open to signing his qualifying offer this summer to reach unrestricted free agency in 2016.

That wouldn’t necessarily be the worst-case scenario for the Thunder, since that would keep Jackson around for no more than $4.434MM next season and align his free agency with Durant’s, allowing the team cap flexibility in case Durant leaves. Still, the threat of a bloated, player-friendly offer sheet from another team looms, even if the Thunder threaten to match any offer, so Presti can’t count on having Jackson back under any particular terms.

The Knicks, who tried to make Jackson part of the three-team swap, are expected to again attempt to acquire him, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com recently reported, adding that the Thunder are resisting the idea of trading the guard. That could change as the February 19th deadline draws closer, though the Knicks probably don’t have the assets to make it worth Oklahoma City’s while. Another large-market team with a need at point guard possesses a few more assets, but the Lakers don’t appear to be especially likely trading partners, particularly if it would mean helping out the Thunder, a team the Lakers envision competing with should they return to contention anytime soon. The Rockets are without a long-term solution at the point, but the optics of trading another sixth man to GM Daryl Morey‘s team would probably be too much for Presti to bear.

The Nets, with whom the Thunder had serious talks regarding Brook Lopez, provide a better avenue. Brooklyn reportedly left negotiations with Oklahoma City unwilling to give up Lopez for a package with Kendrick Perkins as its centerpiece, but Jackson and Perkins together might make the Nets think again. Jackson would serve as a ready replacement at point guard should the team trade Deron Williams, and the Thunder could upgrade without tinkering with their starting five. Still, Jackson’s name hasn’t come up in Lopez talks, so it seems Presti would first have to warm to the idea.

The sticking point for the Nets would probably involve Jackson’s upcoming free agency and the amount of money it would take to retain him, and that’d surely be an issue in any trade the Thunder might explore involving him. It’s tough to get a fair return for a player who might be no more than a rental, even given the right to match offers that’s incumbent with restricted free agency. That’s why Presti has to weigh the needs of maximizing this season against maximizing what he can reap from Jackson in a trade. Oklahoma City still hasn’t risen into the top eight teams in the Western Conference, and while any franchise with Durant, Westbrook and Serge Ibaka has a realistic shot at a title, it’d be an especially difficult task this time around. The Thunder are probably better off taking back a decent return for Jackson if there’s one to be had and if it can enhance their chances of winning it all next season, even if it makes their title odds that much longer for this year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.