Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Hayward, Durant, Miller, Rivers

October 24th, 2013 at 11:52am CST by Luke Adams

With the countdown until the NBA’s opening night down to five days, let’s round up a few Thursday items out of the Western Conference….

The Jazz and Gordon Hayward are working toward a lucrative extension, but if no deal gets done, he figures to have no shortage of suitors. Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who’s also in charge of player personnel, says he has a “man-crush” on the 6’8″ swingman, notes Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Kevin Durant laughed off Jalen Rose’s prediction that the star forward would join the Rockets when his deal with the Thunder expires, as Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman writes. Durant told Mayberry that he’s not thinking “that far down the line” and that he loves playing in OKC.
At one point it looked like back issues might force Mike Miller into early retirement, but now he says he feels as good as he has in five years, according to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. After having been amnestied by the Heat in July, Miller acknowledges that his old team remains the frontrunner heading into the season, but adds that he and the Grizzlies have championship aspirations as well.
Doc Rivers has yet to coach a regular season game for the Clippers, but he already has the respect and trust of his players, as Arash Markazi details in a piece for ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Heat, Smith, Kidd, Wiggins

October 22nd, 2013 at 12:39pm CST by Zachary Links

The Heat were picked as the clear favorite to win the 2013/14 title in this year’s GM survey, writes John Schuhmann of NBA.com. There were a few dissenters with the Spurs and Pacers receiving 6.9% of the vote and the Bulls, Clippers, and Thunder also getting nods. LeBron James was the overwhelming pick to win the MVP trophy and Pelicans big man Anthony Davis was pegged as the breakout player of the year. Magic guard Victor Oladipo was picked to win the Rookie of the Year award and GMs feel that he’ll be the best player out of this class five years from now. Here’s more from around the Association..

Pistons forward Josh Smith spoke to Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld about his decision to leave the Hawks this summer. “It wasn’t as hard as other people saw it,” Smith said. “It was time for me to experience a different thing in my life, a new situation, new opportunity and I’m happy where I’m at.” It also didn’t hurt that Detroit gave him a four-year, $54MM deal.
David Aldridge of NBA.com sat down with new Nets head coach Jason Kidd for a Q&A. The discussion covered his learning curve and former coaches that the point guard has apologized to now that he has discovered the difficulty of the job.
Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Dante Exum, Jabari Parker, and Aaron Gordon are all candidates to go No. 1 overall in next June’s draft, in Kyler’s view (Twitter link). Not everyone would agree with that assessment as Wiggins has long been viewed as the top talent in the 2014 class.

Northwest Links: Favors, Jazz, Blazers, Orton

October 19th, 2013 at 5:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

Derrick Favors is relieved to have signed his four-year, $49MM+ extension with the Jazz, and he hopes someday to retire in Utah, as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune notes (Twitter links). Retirement is a long way off for Favors, who’ll still be two weeks shy of his 27th birthday when the extension runs out in 2018. His youth is a major plus, as GM Dennis Lindsey conveyed to Falk.

“He’s still 22,” Lindsey said. “Literally, I’m scouting 22-year-olds right now in college and internationally.”

Here’s more on the Favors extension and other Northwest-related news:

Lindsey said the Jazz’s familiarity with Favors was a factor in deciding to grant the extension, according to fellow Tribune scribe Steve Luhm, and the GM believes the big man is on par with Tyson Chandler and Joakim Noah as a defensive anchor. (All four Twitter links). “Very rarely do you get a 6’10”, 260-pound young player saying, ‘Hey, I’m a defender. I’m a rebounder. … That’s what I want,” Lindsey said. “If he can be our Bill Russell, we’d be very pleased.”
The Blazers made a nod to tradition with their acquisition of classic center type Robin Lopez to complement LaMarcus Aldridge, but if second-year man Meyers Leonard or Thomas Robinson, another new Blazer, sees more time next to Aldridge, it will represent another step in the evolution of big men, opines Sam Tongue of Blazer’s Edge.
Blazers coach Terry Stotts is “somewhat” concerned that all five starters have yet to appear together at the same time on the court this preseason, tweets the Oregonian’s Mike Tokito.
Former Thunder center Daniel Orton played more than twice as many games with Oklahoma City’s D-League affiliate as he did with the big club last season, but OKC’s decision to waive him last week may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. The 23-year-old signed with the Sixers three days ago, and he has a chance to crack the rotation, writes Michael Kaskey-Blomain of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Spencer Lund contributed to this post.

Odds & Ends: Favors, LeBron, Leslie, Smart

October 19th, 2013 at 12:35pm CST by Zachary Links

With Derrick Favors now locked up, Gordon Hayward is the next domino to fall for the Jazz, writes Tom Ziller of SBNation. Extending Hayward would further cut into Utah’s cap space for 2014, but ZIller notes that if they don’t work out a new deal with him, he’ll also affect their flexibility with an $8.6MM cap hold. Here’s more from around the Association..

A veteran NBA scout told Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel that he doesn’t see the Heat staying on top forever as he expects LeBron James to bolt at some point.
As C.J. Leslie fights for a roster spot with the Knicks, coach Mike Woodson told reporters that he views the forward as a project, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. “He is a project,” Woodson said after Leslie saw no playing time in Thursday’s preseason contest. “No doubt about that. Right now the game is somewhat quick for him in terms of catching on to what we’re doing. I’ve seen that over the years since I’ve been coaching, a lot of young guys they struggle early because you throw so many things at them, it’s too fast. So we’re trying to slow it down a little a bit, spend more time with him in the classroom.” Leslie has a reported guarantee of ~$200K.
Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart says that he’s motivated by people crowning Andrew Wiggins as the best player in college basketball before he has even played a game, writes Eric Prisbell of USA Today. Wiggins is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft while Smart is currently No. 5 on DraftExpress‘ mock draft.
Ryan Gomes is pushing for a job with the Thunder and he says that he is encouraged by the support he has gotten from GM Sam Presti, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman.

Odds & Ends: Adams, Carmelo, Wiggins, Pistons

October 18th, 2013 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Few NBA teams use their D-League affiliate more actively than the Thunder, who shuttled players like Jeremy Lamb, Daniel Orton, and Perry Jones III back and forth between OKC and Tulsa throughout the 2012/13 season. However, it doesn’t sound like the team is currently planning for rookie big man Steven Adams to spend significant time with the 66ers, as Royce Young of Daily Thunder details.

“It’s something that we never talked about,” coach Scott Brooks said of Adams and the D-League. “We just focus on what we do here. If players go down and play in the D-League in Tulsa that decision is made during that time. But right now, I’m not even going that way with any of our guys.”

Brooks’ comments leave the door open for Adams to join Tulsa at some point this season, and I’d be surprised if he didn’t make at least one D-League stop, but perhaps the team intends to get the Pittsburgh product more involved in OKC than rookies Lamb and Jones were a year ago.

Here’s more from around the NBA:

In his latest piece for SBNation.com, Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com identifies a few contract trends, concluding that teams are less inclined than they were a few years ago to tie up their cap with long-term, overpriced contracts for mid-level type players.
Carmelo Anthony made a few more comments about his potential free agency today, noting that he’s assured coach Mike Woodson it won’t bother him during the season, and adding that he doesn’t expect to receive a recruiting pitch from Kobe Bryant this year. Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com has the details.
Andrew Wiggins is an excellent prospect, but he’s not a mortal lock to be the No. 1 pick in 2014, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Insider-only link).
Mark Porcaro of Secret Rival takes a look at Nikola Mirotic, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Kostas Papanikolaou, three notable overseas prospects who have been drafted (or acquired) and stashed by the Bulls, Nets, and Rockets, respectively.
In his weekly mailbag at MLive.com, David Mayo explores whether the Pistons need to acquire more shooting, among other questions.

Western Notes: Blair, Durant, ‘Wolves

October 12th, 2013 at 8:46pm CST by Spencer Lund

With Brandan Wright out indefinitely after a left shoulder injury, free agent signee DeJuan Blair, is learning both the power forward and center assignments with the Mavs, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

The 6’7″ Blair is under-sized for a center, but as he told Sefko, “I’ve been playing five all my life against 7-footers.” Blair was largely relegated to the Spurs bench the last season. He only started 16 games and played only 76 minutes during their run to the Finals last year. So look for him to be extra motivated if given a significant opportunity in Dallas.

Here’s more from around the West tonight:

As mentioned previously, the Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry spoke with Thunder coach Scott Brooks about Kevin Durant‘s minutes with Russell Westbrook expected to miss the first quarter of the season.
Assuming Durant appears in at least 79 games this season, at 38 minutes a night, that would have him playing over 3,000 regular season minutes for the fourth time in five seasons. Ben Wallace in 2004/05 was the last player to win a title after playing over 3,000 minutes during the regular season.
But it’s a workload Brooks plans to manage with off days and practice time and Durant appears up to the challenge, as long as it helps them win.
Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman is looking for more continuity from his starters in preseason despite the second straight game without Kevin Martin, he tells Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune.
But, Zgoda tweets that Adelman has no idea if a week of rest will get Martin back on the court, though he certainly hopes so.
Zgoda goes on to say that Othyus Jeffers, A.J. Price, Robbie Hummel and Lorenzo Brown are battling for what will likely be two spots when the team waives Chris Johnson.
But Adelman says the Wolves could add players cut from other training camps once teams pare down their rosters in the final week of preseason.
Adelman is also happy former ‘Wolves assistant Bill Bayno was hired as lead assistant for the Raptors (Twitter).

Western Rumors: Ibaka, Blazers, Kings,

October 12th, 2013 at 6:40pm CST by Spencer Lund

The Thunder surprised many when they traded star sixth man James Harden to the Rockets right before the 2012/13 season start. Serge Ibaka was awarded a 4-year, $48MM contract earlier in the summer of 2012 and tells Jeff Caplan at the NBA’s Hang Time Blog that he’s worked on his ball handling and offensive game this season.

After Russell Westbrook went down with a torn meniscus against the Rockets in last year’s opening round of the Western Conference playoffs, the Thunder struggled without their playmaking point guard. Kevin Durant had to carry a heavier offensive burden, and Ibaka’s play suffered without Westbrook to alleviate defensive pressure.

The Thunder will need Ibaka to inherit a more substantial offensive workload to begin this season with Westbrook expected to miss the first couple of months recovering from a second surgery to fix issues stemming from the original surgery on his meniscus.

Here are some notes from around the Western Conference tonight:

With Westbrook out, there are concerns about how much Durant will have to do for the Thunder to survive Westbrook’s absence in the first part of the season. Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman tweets that head coach Scott Brooks says KD will play between 38-40 minutes this season.
Mayberry adds, via Twitter, that no player within the last 9 seasons has gone on to win a title after logging more than 3000 minutes in the regular season, but Brooks doesn’t place much stock in that info.
Dee Bost, Richard Howell and E.J. Singler are likely headed to the Blazers’ D-League affiliate after camp, according to Gino Pilato of D-League Digest. That’s no surprise, since they’re the only three players on Portland’s roster without fully guaranteed deals.
New Kings coach Michael Malone says rookies Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum are making the most of their minutes during the preseason (Twitter).
Malone also said, via the Kings‘ official Twitter account, that playing defense as a cohesive 5-man group is the key for this year’s Kings team to be successful.
The Clippers Blake Griffin will play tonight against the Jazz after suffering a bruised knee in practice on Tuesday, reports ESPN LA. MRI results showed no structural damage and Griffin returned to practice on Friday.

Thunder Waive Daniel Orton

October 10th, 2013 at 11:02am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have trimmed their preseason roster by one, releasing Daniel Orton from the team, according to a press release. Orton wasn’t technically a camp invitee, since he was playing on a contract that began last season. However, his minimum salary was fully non-guaranteed, so the Thunder won’t be on the hook for his cap hit.

Orton, 23, was selected by the Magic in the first round in 2010, but only lasted two seasons with the team before he became a free agent and signed a minimum deal with the Thunder. In 2012/13, the big man bounced back and forth between OKC and the club’s D-League affiliate at Tulsa. In 29 games for the 66ers, Orton averaged 12.5 PPG and 7.8 RPG.

The Thunder now have 16 players under contract, including two (Diante Garrett and Rodney McGruder) on non-guaranteed deals, and two more (Hasheem Thabeet and Ryan Gomes) with partial guarantees. The club will have to release at least one more player before opening night to reduce its roster count to the regular season maximum.

Traded 2014 First Round Picks To Watch

October 9th, 2013 at 10:31am CST by Luke Adams

As we saw in 2011 when the draft pick acquired from the Clippers by the Cavaliers ended up landing first overall, trading unprotected first-round picks is a risky proposition for NBA teams. That would explain why, heading into the 2013/14 season, only three ’14 first-round picks have been traded without protection, all by veteran teams expected to have strong years.

The Knicks’ first-round pick will be sent to the Nuggets, as part of New York’s debt from the Carmelo Anthony blockbuster. However, if the Knicks’ pick is less favorable than Denver’s own pick, the Nuggets will pass it along to Orlando, as part of last summer’s four-team Dwight Howard trade. Otherwise, the Magic will receive Denver’s pick.

The Warriors’ first-round pick will head to Utah, one of several picks Golden State sent to the Jazz in the cap-clearing summer deal that saw Andre Iguodala land with the Warriors.

The other unprotected first-rounder will come from the Nets, who agreed to send their pick to Boston in this offseason’s acquisition of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. As part of 2012’s Joe Johnson swap though, the Hawks have the opportunity to swap their own first-round pick with the Nets’ pick, leaving the Celtics with the lesser pick of the two. So if the Nets disappoint this season, it will be the Hawks, rather than the C’s, who benefit most.

Nine other teams have agreed to give up their respective 2014 first-round picks in certain scenarios, but given the protection on these picks, only a handful will actually change hands next summer. We’ll be keeping an eye on the standings all season to monitor whether or not these traded picks will fall under protection, but here’s an early look at the situations to watch this season:

Team: Charlotte Bobcats
Will be sent to: Chicago Bulls
Protection: 1-10
Forecast: Despite the addition of Al Jefferson, the Bobcats still likely project as a lottery team, meaning this pick has a good chance to stay put. That could be good news for the Bulls, since we continue to inch closer to 2016, when this pick will become unprotected.

Team: Dallas Mavericks
Will be sent to: Oklahoma City Thunder
Protection: 1-20
Forecast: Mark Cuban and the Mavs are optimistic about the new-look roster, but I’m skeptical that Dallas is a top-ten team. This pick will probably stay with Dallas.

Team: Detroit Pistons
Will be sent to: Charlotte Bobcats
Protection: 1-8
Forecast: If the Pistons were to finish as a bottom-eight team, I expect there’d be some jobs opening up in Detroit in 2014, given the expectations for the club. I have the Pistons penciled in as a low playoff seed in the East, so this pick should be ticketed for Charlotte.

Team: Indiana Pacers
Will be sent to: Phoenix Suns
Protection: 1-14
Forecast: While the Heat may be the No. 1 seed in the East again, the Pacers shouldn’t be too far behind them. As such, this pick will likely land in the mid-20s and be shipped to Phoenix.

Team: Minnesota Timberwolves
Will be sent to: Phoenix Suns
Protection: 1-13
Forecast: If the T-Wolves can avoid the injury problems that plagued them last season, they should be a playoff contender. The West will be competitive though, so there are no guarantees either way on this one.

Team: New Orleans Pelicans
Will be sent to: Philadelphia 76ers
Protection: 1-5
Forecast: I’m not bullish on the Pelicans’ postseason chances for 2013/14, but the offseason upgrades, along with continued development from Anthony Davis, should ensure that New Orleans isn’t a bottom-five team. The result could be a pair of lottery picks for the Sixers.

Team: Philadelphia 76ers
Will be sent to: Miami Heat
Protection: 1-14
Forecast: Speaking of those Sixers, it would be truly be a shocker if their own first-rounder changed hands next summer. Many pundits don’t expect the Sixers to win 20 games, let alone earn a playoff spot.

Team: Portland Trail Blazers
Will be sent to: Charlotte Bobcats
Protection: 1-12
Forecast: Like the Wolves, the Blazers expect to be in contention for the postseason, but again, it won’t be easy in the West. This is another pick I could see going either way.

Team: Sacramento Kings
Will be sent to: Cleveland Cavaliers
Protection: 1-12
Forecast: The Kings are entering the season with playoff aspirations as well, but their odds are significantly lower, in my view, than the Wolves’ or Blazers’. I expect we’ll see Sacramento keep this pick.

RealGM.com was used in the creation of this post.

Northwest Notes: Shaw, Aldridge, Robinson, Orton

October 5th, 2013 at 8:44am CST by Zachary Links

Brian Shaw was passed over for the Lakers coaching job back in 2011, but he's pretty happy with how things turned out for him, writes Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post. "It was hard for me, the way everything happened so suddenly," Shaw said. "It's hard for me, initially to accept the fact that, wow, I was in L.A. and now I'm going to Indiana. And then I got to Indiana and it was the best thing that could have happened to me. It really was, in terms of seeing a different way of doing things." Looking back on things, Shaw is grateful for his NBA coaching journey as it led him to the Nuggets' head job. Here's more from the Northwest Division..

LaMarcus Aldridge maturely handled questions on Blazers media day about the trade rumors involving him throughout the summer and Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com believes that shows he's becoming a better team leader.
Blazers forward Thomas Robinson is playing with a chip on his shoulder and isn't making any secret of it based off of his conversation with Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2012 draft is now on his third team in two years after stops in Sacramento and Houston.
The preseason will be critical for Daniel Orton, who projects as a fourth-string center and has a non-guaranteed contract with the Thunder. The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry checks in with the two-year veteran.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.