Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thunder Rumors: Brooks, Fisher, Presti

April 25th, 2014 at 5:33pm CST by Cray Allred

The Thunder are in a 1-2 hole against the Grizzlies, fueling speculation about the organization that expected to reach the Finals with a healthy Russell Westbrook for the playoffs. A few quick wins could quiet the chatter, otherwise it will only grow louder. Here’s a roundup of Oklahoma City notes:

Westbrook spoke in support of Scott Brooks on Friday after Westbrook’s brother took to Twitter to call for the Thunder coach’s ouster, as Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman observes. “Me and Scotty have a great relationship,” the point guard said. “I’ve never once mentioned that I want Scotty to leave ever since I’ve been here. We created a bond with each other that’s grown.”
Multiple executives tell Marc Berman of the New York Post that they believe Steve Kerr and Thunder guard Derek Fisher are the most intriguing coaching candidates in Knicks president Phil Jackson‘s eyes. Still, Fisher, who’s set to retire at season’s end, has said coaching the Knicks or any other team isn’t on his mind.
SB Nation’s Tom Ziller looks ahead at the tough decisions that await GM Sam Presti if the Thunder come up empty in the playoffs again, as Kevin Durant‘s ability to become a free agent in 2016 looms.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Spurs, Thunder, Bledsoe, Arthur

April 18th, 2014 at 10:26pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Spurs owner Peter Holt is stepping down as chairman of the NBA’s Board of Governors, notes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Timberwolves owner and former chairman Glen Taylor will replace him on an interim basis until a new chairman is selected in October (Twitter links)

Northwest Rumors: Hayward, Rubio, Saunders

April 18th, 2014 at 11:29am CST by Chuck Myron

Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey isn’t promising that restricted free agent Gordon Hayward will be back with the team, but Lindsey said Thursday that he wants to have Hayward remain in Utah for the rest of his career, observes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Hayward’s teammates are confident he’ll stay with the Jazz, though Hayward didn’t offer much in the way of hints.

“Utah has been great for me,” Hayward said. “But it’s a business.”

Hayward and the Jazz have nonetheless indicated plenty of mutual interest, as I detailed when I examined the small forward’s free agent stock. Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:

Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune expects Ricky Rubio and agent Dan Fegan to ask for an extension that’s closer to the maximum, with an average annual value probably in the neighborhood of $15.5MM, than to Stephen Curry‘s four-year, $44MM deal.
The sale of the Bucks will likely be a boon to Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders, as Zgoda writes in the same piece. Saunders’ share of the Wolves will be 6% by the end of his five-year contract, and if the $550MM price of the Bucks dictates the value of the Minnesota franchise, Saunders’ stake will be worth about $33MM.
The NBA has approved the sale of a minority stake in the Thunder to Tulsa energy company executive George B. Kaiser, the team announced in a press release. It’s the portion of the team that fellow energy executive Tom L. Ward had owned. Kaiser’s net worth is $10.1 billion, according to Forbes.com. Minority owner G. Jeffrey Records also transferred some, but not all, of his share to others within the ownership group.

Coaching Rumors: Knicks, Calipari, Ollie

April 8th, 2014 at 4:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks reached out in January through a third party to canvass John Calipari‘s interest in coaching the team next season, a source tells Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. The Kentucky coach was intrigued with the idea of working with fellow Creative Artists Agency client Carmelo Anthony, Begley adds, but the talks never proceeded from there. It’s “highly unlikely” a well-known coach like Calipari would take the job since, with Phil Jackson around, the team’s next coach won’t have any control over player personnel, Begley writes. There’s more insight on Calipari and another college coach perhaps more likely to come to the NBA, and we’ll round it up here:

Most NBA front office types see Calipari as a fine college coach, but they have their doubts about whether he’d perform well in the NBA, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. Calipari went 72-112 in parts of three seasons with the Nets in the late 1990s.
Multiple NBA executives tell Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, who writes in an Insider-only piece, that they expect Connecticut’s Kevin Ollie to become an NBA head coaching candidate. One exec suggests that the coach’s ties to former teammate Kevin Durant could prompt an NBA team to make a lucrative offer to bring Ollie to the pro sidelines.
Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni downplayed the notion that he and Marshall University, his alma mater, have mutual interest in him coaching the school’s team next season, as he tells Sam Amick of USA Today. “I love Marshall, and I’ve been so close to them for a long time – especially with the new [athletic director] and the new president, and people there,” D’Antoni said. “It’s a great thing. But my heart is here, and my head is here [with the Lakers]. This is what I know, so I don’t want to get distracted with that. I never have been. It always comes up when they’re looking, but they’re looking and I’m fine.”

Thunder Sign Grant Jerrett

April 7th, 2014 at 7:00pm CST by Zachary Links

The Thunder have signed Grant Jerrett for the remainder of the season, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. The club has confirmed the signing via press release.

Jerrett, the 40th overall pick in last year’s draft, has played the entire season in the NBA Development League with OKC’s affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers. In 27 games with the 66ers, Jerrett has averaged 15.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 29.3 minutes. The 6-foot-10 power forward has shown some solid range with his shot and has hit 36.4 percent of his 3-pointers this season. The deal means that Jerrett will finish out the regular season with the Thunder and will also be with the club during the playoffs.

Mayberry notes that the Thunder have made similar late-season additions with Robert Vaden, a 2010 second-round pick who was signed in April 2011, and Mustafa Shakur in March 2010. While neither player saw minutes during those deals, the Thunder gave Shakur a 10-day deal earlier this year and gave him a bit of playing time.

Thunder, Reggie Williams Part Ways

April 7th, 2014 at 12:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Thunder have decided against re-signing Reggie Williams for the season after his second 10-day contract with the team expired last night, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Williams’ pair of deals with Oklahoma City were sandwiched around Mustafa Shakur‘s 10-day contract with the team, but it’s unclear whether the Thunder are considering a reunion with Shakur.

The 27-year-old Williams only made it into three games for a total of 17 minutes in his time with the Thunder, scoring 11 points on 5 for 9 shooting. He’s otherwise spent the season outside the NBA after the Rockets waived him at the end of the preseason, in spite of his partially guaranteed contract. The swingman had been with Oklahoma City’s D-League affiliate at the time of his first 10-day signing, and he returned there before signing his second 10-day deal. That won’t happen this time around, since the season is over for the Tulsa 66ers, who didn’t make the D-League playoffs.

The Bulls and Grizzlies had interest in the Interperformances client earlier this season, so perhaps he’ll wind up with another NBA club before the season is through. The roster is full in Memphis, but Chicago, which brought him in for a workout in November, still has two open roster spots after signing Ronnie Brewer today.

Northwest Notes: Burke, Dieng, Fisher

April 5th, 2014 at 5:12pm CST by Charlie Adams

Trey Burke‘s rookie season for the Jazz hasn’t featured much winning, but he’s trying to stay positive and make the best of his situation, reports Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. “There were a lot of good moments for us this year through all the bad,” Burke said. “It’s pretty tough, coming from high school or college you were winning for the most part, but we’re finding ways to grow as a team and the chemistry is continuing to get better and better.’’ Here’s more on the Jazz and the Northwest:

The Jazz have given Richard Jefferson an opportunity to play, and he’s proving he’s still capable of contributing, writes Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune. The 13th-year forward says he “definitely wouldn’t mind staying” another year in Utah.
Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune doesn’t believe that Tyrone Corbin will be coaching for the Jazz next season, but he does have faith that Utath will re-sign restricted free agent Gordon Hayward.
Gorgui Dieng‘s recent strong play has proven he’s capable of starting in the NBA, and as a result, David Thorpe of ESPN.com thinks the Wolves might be wise to try and move Nikola Pekovic (Insider link). Specifically, Thorpe thinks a deal that would send Pekovic to the Thunder for Russell Westbrook would make sense for both teams.
Although he’s likely playing in his last year, Derek Fisher says he hasn’t thought about coaching next season, writes Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. When asked about the possibility of coaching for the Knicks, Fisher didn’t sound interested. “That is not on my radar or in my scope or anything that I’ve thought about, even coaching in general.“

Northwest Notes: Fisher, Garrett, Cunningham

April 2nd, 2014 at 7:16pm CST by Cray Allred

Trail Blazers center Robin Lopez has been surprised at how great a fit the city of Portland has been for him this year, both on and off the court, he told listeners of The Jim Rome Show today. “It’s funny, when I was playing in Phoenix, Channing Frye, who had been in Portland, told me if I visited there, if I went there, I was just going to love it. And I was a little reluctant to believe him just because Channing talks a lot of stuff. But it turns out he’s been 100 percent right. I can’t believe how perfectly the fit has been,” said Lopez (transcription via Sean Meagher of Oregon Live). Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

After going undrafted in 2011, bouncing around Europe and the D-League, and making short-lived stops with the Suns and Thunder, Jazz backup point guard Diante Garrett tells Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune he’s hoping to prove himself and find some permanency in Utah. “You try and not think about it all the time because it will weigh you down,” said Garrett, who has an unguaranteed contract for next season at less than $1MM. “Just go out there and do what you’ve been doing all year and put even more effort into it, because there are going to be a lot of eyes watching, a lot of people watching, a lot of people talking.”
Speculation has tied Thunder guard Derek Fisher to the Knicks head coaching position, but he tells Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman that he hasn’t spoken with Phil Jackson about the gig, and reiterates that he’s not looking to coach next season.
Caron Butler tells Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman he came to the Thunder following his buyout with the Bucks because he wanted a chance to play a significant part in a championship run. “I wanted to play,” Butler said. “I wanted to be effective. I wanted to have my fingerprints even more on the success of the team.” Butler won a championship with the Mavs in 2011, but sat out that postseason with an injury.
Dante Cunningham is the only Timberwolves rotation fixture set to become an unrestricted free agent next year, and Andy Greder of St. Paul Pioneer Press wonders if Minnesota will value the forward’s intangibles enough to re-sign him despite his poor on-the-court statistics.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Nash, Vasquez, Bucks

April 1st, 2014 at 10:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

John Zitzler of Basketball Insiders looks at the steps the Bucks should take in the offseason to get their rebuilding process heading in the proper direction. He believes the team needs to select the best player available in the draft, regardless of position, and shape the rest of the roster around Giannis Antetokounmpo. Zitzler also opines that the Bucks need to retain and develop some of their other young players, such as John Henson, Brandon Knight, Khris Middleton, and Nate Wolters.

Contract Details: Butler, World Peace, Suns

March 31st, 2014 at 9:38am CST by Chuck Myron

Mark Deeks has updated his salary databases at ShamSports, and, as usual, he’s revealed several nuances about the latest contracts signed around the NBA. We’ll pass along the details we hadn’t previously heard about here:

Caron Butler gave up $1MM in his buyout deal with the Bucks. He signed for that same amount for the remainder of this season with the Thunder, who dipped into their mid-level exception to accommodate Butler’s $1MM salary.
Metta World Peace gave up $305,166 of this season’s $1.59MM salary in his buyout deal with the Knicks. All contracts with player options include a clause indicating whether or not the player receives the money for his option year in the event that he’s waived before deciding on the option. It looks as if the clause in World Peace’s deal stated that he would not receive the option-year pay, since Deeks doesn’t list any of World Peace’s $1,931,550 salary for 2014/15 on New York’s books.
Shavlik Randolph‘s contract with the Suns includes a non-guaranteed year for 2014/15, rather than a team option, as we suspected.
If the Hawks exercise their team option on the fourth season of Mike Muscala‘s deal, the contract will nonetheless remain non-guaranteed until the leaguewide guarantee date. It’s similar to the structure of the contracts a handful of Sixers have, including recent signee Jarvis Varnado.
Chris Johnson also has such a deal with the Celtics, although there are a pair of guarantee dates attached to the third and fourth seasons. The third year becomes fully guaranteed providing he’s not waived on or before September 1st, 2015, and the fourth year becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before September 1st, 2016.
The Celtics also arranged for a couple of guarantee dates on Phil Pressey‘s three-year contract. Next season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before July 15th, but if the Celtics keep him beyond that date, it’s fully guaranteed. The same happens for the third year of the deal on July 15, 2015.
The Rockets have a team option on Troy Daniels worth the minimum salary for next season.
Luke Babbitt‘s two-year deal with the Pelicans is for the minimum salary. Next season isn’t guaranteed, but it becomes partially guaranteed for $100K if he isn’t waived on or before July 22nd.
The Magic used cap room to sign Dewayne Dedmon to a three-year contract that gives him $300K for the rest of this season, slightly more than what he would have made on a prorated minimum-salary deal. Dedmon is set to make the minimum salary in the other two seasons covered in the pact. Next season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before opening night, when it becomes partially guaranteed for $250K. The final season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before August 1st, 2015, when it becomes fully guaranteed.