Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thunder Sign Alex Reese To Standard Contract

October 19th, 2024 at 3:42pm CST by Earnest Marshall

3:42pm: The signing is official, the Thunder confirmed in a press release.

10:18am: The Thunder are signing forward Alex Reese to a standard, non-guaranteed contract, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). This move comes in the wake of Isaiah Hartenstein suffering a hand fracture.

Reese was previously on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Thunder, logging limited minutes in three preseason games. He was waived by Oklahoma City on Wednesday, but he impressed enough in training camp to earn consideration as a backup while Hartenstein recovers from his injury across what will likely be a multi-week absence.

The 6’9″ Reese played his college ball at Alabama from 2017-21, averaging 5.4 points per game in his final season. He spent a year away from basketball, primarily working as a bartender, then signed in Luxembourg in 2022/23 before playing with the Trail Blazers’ G League affiliate last season. He averaged 11.5 PPG in ’23/24 behind decent shooting and impressed enough to earn a spot on the Thunder’s training camp roster.

When the Thunder signed and waived Reese, the plan was likely that he would join OKC’s G League affiliate. However, with Hartenstein out and an open spot on the 15-man roster, that opened up an opportunity for Reese to provide depth. Outside of Hartenstein and starting center Chet Holmgren, the only players 6’9″ or taller on the Thunder’s roster are Jaylin Williams, Ousmane Dieng and Exhibit 10 signing Malevy Leons.

By signing Reese, the Thunder’s roster will stand at 19 players. They’ll have 15 players on standard deals and three players on two-way contracts. Leons is also occupying an Exhibit 10 slot and the Thunder will have to decide by Monday if they’d like to convert him to a two-way contract or cut him.

Reese signing a non-guaranteed deal indicates the Thunder may cycle through players on the back half of their roster or open up that slot later in the season for flexibility. If he impresses, the Thunder can keep him through the year. It’s also possible that Oklahoma City plans to develop him on a multi-year non-guaranteed contract. As The Athletic’s John Hollinger notes (Twitter link), if Reese is in Oklahoma City’s long-term plans, they could sign him to a two-year deal with a team option on the second year, then decline that in favor of signing him to an affordable multi-year deal next offseason.

Western Notes: Kuminga, Warriors, Fox, McDermott, Thunder

October 18th, 2024 at 10:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Warriors forward Draymond Green has high expectations for teammate Jonathan Kuminga as the 22-year-old enters his fourth NBA season, per Joaquin Ruiz of NBC Sports Bay Area. Asked by NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke what would make the season an individual success for Kuminga, Green replied, “All-Star.”

What, specifically, does Kuminga have to do to earn his first All-Star berth?

“Score the basketball,” Green said. “(He) has to be a great scorer. He needs to be above 20 points per game, six (or) seven rebounds a night, and we need to win. Especially if you want to become a first-time All-Star. We know what he’s capable of and we believe in him. … Anything less than an All-Star is a failure for him.”

Kuminga remains eligible to sign a rookie scale extension up until Monday at 5:00 pm Central time, but a Friday report indicated that he and the Warriors are still “far apart” in negotiations and that the former No. 7 overall pick is comfortable with the idea of betting on himself in 2024/25. If Kuminga ends up not getting an extension in the coming days, an All-Star season would certainly go a long way toward securing him a significant payday as a restricted free agent next summer.

We have more from around the Western Conference:

The Warriors announced this week (via Twitter) that they’ll honor the late Jerry West with a “JW” decal on their home court at Chase Center throughout the 2024/25 season.
Speaking to Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox expressed a desire to remain in Sacramento for his entire career, but stressed that he wants to be sure the team will be “competing at a high level” and “not just fighting for a playoff spot.” While Fox may end up signing an extension during the 2025 offseason, the prospect of him reaching unrestricted free agency in 2026 remains a possibility if this season doesn’t go as planned for the Kings, sources tell Amick and Slater.
Doug McDermott‘s one-year contract with the Kings is worth the veteran’s minimum and features a $750K partial guarantee, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. The deal, which would pay McDermott approximately $3.3MM for the full season and will count for about $2.09MM against Sacramento’s cap, will become fully guaranteed if the veteran sharpshooter isn’t waived on or before January 7.
Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman (subscription required) considers what Isaiah Hartenstein‘s absence will mean for the Thunder in the first few weeks of the season, noting that the team was already dealing with frontcourt injuries to Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams and will have its depth tested in the early going. “We got a great group of guys with Hartenstein and without,” Aaron Wiggins told reporters on Thursday. “Obviously the anticipation of playing with him and Alex Caruso and guys like that was high, but good things come to those who wait. We’ll get better and kind of find things with his absence, but when he returns we’ll be just as fluid and probably ready to go at that point.”
The Thunder experienced another injury scare on Thursday night when Jalen Williams rolled his ankle against Atlanta and exited the game early. However, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link) that Williams’ left ankle sprain is “not severe.”

Hornets’ Charlie Brown Jr. Among Latest NBA Cuts

October 18th, 2024 at 10:10am CST by Rory Maher

The Hornets have waived Charlie Brown Jr., Harry Giles and Keyontae Johnson, the team confirmed in a press release. Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer was first to report the moves (Twitter link).

Brown has appeared in 49 regular season games with Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Philadelphia and New York over the course of his four NBA seasons. The 27-year-old was signed-and-traded to the Hornets from the Knicks as part of the Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster.

While it’s not surprising that Brown was released given Charlotte’s roster situation, it’s still a noteworthy event because he will be owed a guaranteed $2,237,692 for the 2024/25 season. Assuming he goes unclaimed, the Hornets will carry that salary as a dead-money cap hit on their books.

Notably, veteran swingman DaQuan Jeffries — another player acquired via sign-and-trade from the Knicks — was not cut today. That could mean the Hornets plan to keep him into the start of the regular season even though he fractured a bone in his hand last week. The team didn’t give a timetable for his return.

Both Giles and Johnson were on non-guaranteed training camp deals. A North Carolina native who played college ball at Duke, Giles is a former first-round pick (No. 20 overall in 2017) whose career was derailed by a series of major knee injuries. The 26-year-old big man split last season with the Nets and Lakers.

As for Johnson, he spent 2023/24 — his rookie season — on a two-way contract with the Thunder, but they chose not to give him a two-way qualifying offer over the summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Johnson, who had Exhibit 10 language in his contract, can earn a bonus worth $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’s NBA G League affiliate. Giles’ deal didn’t include an Exhibit 10 clause, so he wouldn’t be eligible for the same bonus and therefore seems unlikely to end up with the Swarm.

The Hornets now have 17 players under contract, with 14 players on guaranteed standard deals, Taj Gibson with a significant partial guarantee on his minimum-salary deal, and a pair of players on two-way contracts. NBA teams are permitted to carry three two-way players, so the team still has one roster vacancy ahead of the regular season.

Here are a few more players who were waived on Friday — all three were on non-guaranteed training camp deals:

The Kings have waived undrafted rookie Boogie Ellis, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter). The former USC guard, who had a solid preseason showing with Sacramento, will likely be headed to the Stockton Kings to begin his first professional season. Sacramento will still have to waive at least a couple more players beyond Ellis to set its regular season roster.
The Thunder announced that they have released Buddy Boeheim and Cormac Ryan. Both players will likely be headed to the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s NBAGL affiliate. The Thunder now have 18 players under contract, which is the regular season limit.

Isaiah Hartenstein Fractures Left Hand

October 17th, 2024 at 8:49am CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, one of the summer’s top free agent acquisitions, sustained a small, non-displaced fracture in his left hand during the second half of Tuesday’s preseason game in Denver. He will be reevaluated in five-to-six weeks, the Thunder announced on Thursday.

Given that timeline, Hartenstein will be sidelined until at least late November.

The injury temporarily derails Oklahoma City’s plans for a bigger lineup pairing Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren. Oklahoma City was already dealing with frontcourt injuries — Jaylin Williams is nursing a right hamstring strain, while Kenrich Williams had a knee procedure last month.

Jalen Williams figures to reclaim the power forward starting role until Hartenstein returns.

Hartenstein had a breakout season with the Knicks in his walk year and cashed in, signing a three-year, $87MM deal with the Thunder that includes a team option for 2026/27. Hartenstein averaged 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks in 25.3 minutes per game last season. He also started 13 postseason contests with Mitchell Robinson sidelined.

Hartenstein had appeared in three preseason games with the Thunder.

Thunder Sign Buddy Boeheim, Cut Alex Reese

October 16th, 2024 at 10:14am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have made a pair of roster moves, announcing today that they’ve signed forward Buddy Boeheim and waived forward Alex Reese. Oklahoma City is still carrying 20 players on its preseason roster, one below the limit.

The Thunder and Boeheim agreed to terms on an Exhibit 10 contract all the way back at the start of July, just a couple days after he was waived by the Pistons.

The son of longtime Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, Buddy spent most of the 2023/24 season with the Motor City Cruise, Detroit’s G League affiliate, before being promoted to the Pistons on a two-way contract in February.

The younger Boeheim made just 10 NBA appearances last season and saw limited minutes, but played a significant role for the Cruise, averaging 15.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 26.8 minutes per game across 47 Showcase Cup and regular season outings. He made an impressive 41.9% of 8.0 three-point tries per game while also knocking down 86.0% of his free throws.

The Oklahoma City Blue – the Thunder’s G League affiliate – acquired Boeheim’s returning rights in a trade with the Cruise this offseason, so it appears the plan is to waive him before the NBA season begins and have him report to the Blue. That also figures to be the next step for Reese. Both players will earn Exhibit 10 bonuses worth up to $77.5K if they spend at least 60 days with OKC’s NBAGL team.

Thunder Sign, Waive Chase Jeter

October 14th, 2024 at 2:48pm CST by Rory Maher

OCTOBER 14: The Thunder have waived Jeter, the team announced today. The move puts him on track to join the OKC Blue this fall and receive an Exhibit 10 bonus, as detailed below.

OCTOBER 12: The Thunder have signed free agent big man Chase Jeter, the team announced in a press release.

Jeter, 27, played four years of college ball at Duke and Arizona prior to going undrafted in 2020. As a senior with the Wildcats in 2019/20, he appeared in 22 games, averaging 6.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 16.2 minutes per contest.

Jeter has spent the past two seasons playing professionally in Austria and Czechia, according to RealGM. During the ’23/24 campaign with BK Nova Hut Ostrava, which competes in the Czech National Basketball League, the 6’10” center averaged 13.1 points and 6.7 rebounds in 19 games (21.6 minutes).

While the terms of Jeter’s contract were not disclosed, it’s highly likely that he signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Thunder and will be waived and headed to their NBA G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue. If he spends at least 60 days with the Blue, the Exhibit 10 language in his contract would put him in line for a bonus worth up to $77.5K on top of his regular NBAGL salary.

The Thunder created an opening on their 21-man offseason roster by waiving guard Javonte Cooke on Saturday morning. After signing Jeter, OKC is now — at least temporarily — back at 21 players under contract.

And-Ones: Harrell, Parity, Projections, Season Previews

October 14th, 2024 at 1:10pm CST by Luke Adams

After reaching a deal in September with the Adelaide 36ers to join the team as a short-term replacement for injured forward Jarell Martin, veteran big man Montrezl Harrell is now in advanced talks with the Australian club to sign a rest-of-season contract that would allow him to stick around after Martin returns, reports Olgun Uluc of ESPN.

According to Uluc, the 36ers and Harrell’s agent have been talking for the past few weeks about a possible full-season deal, and the expectation is that the two sides will get something done. If they do, the 36ers will have to deactivate a local player in order to keep Harrell active.

The NBA’s former Sixth Man of the Year is off to a strong start in Adelaide, averaging a double-double (15.7 points, 10.3 rebounds) during his first five games in Australia’s National Basketball League. While Harrell is interested in returning to the NBA, there’s a sense that’s more likely to happen in February or March after the NBL season ends, Uluc explains.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

When the Celtics won the NBA title in the spring, they became the sixth different team in the last six years to claim a championship. That’s just the second time in league history that has happened, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, who takes a closer look at the current era of NBA parity, exploring why it happened and what it means going forward.
John Hollinger of The Athletic previews the season for the seven teams he projects to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, from the Wizards at No. 15 to the Hawks at No. 9. Using his BORD$ formula, Hollinger forecasts just 14 wins for Washington, seven fewer than any other team in the conference. He also has the Pistons moving up to 11th place, with the Raptors claiming the second play-in spot at No. 10.
Zach Kram of The Ringer previews the coming season by sharing one defining statistic for all 30 teams, such as 23.4 for the Thunder (the average age of their roster) and 31.2 for the Nuggets (their three-point attempts per game last season, last in the NBA).
Tim Bontemps of ESPN identifies 10 individuals who will help define the 2024/25 season, ranging from players like Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns to front office executives such as Calvin Booth of the Nuggets and Mike Dunleavy Jr. of the Warriors. Bontemps’ list also includes a top prospect (Cooper Flagg), an analyst (Charles Barkley), and a head coach (J.J. Redick), among others.

Thunder Sign, Waive Javonte Cooke

October 12th, 2024 at 9:32am CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 12: Cooke has been released, according to the Thunder, putting him in line to receive his Exhibit 10 bonus as long as he spends at least 60 days with the Blue.

OCTOBER 11: A few weeks after the deal was agreed to, the Thunder announced that they’ve signed Cooke.

SEPTEMBER 24: The Thunder have agreed to sign free agent guard Javonte Cooke to an Exhibit 10 contract, agent Jerry Dianis tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Cooke, who finished his college career at Winston-Salem State in 2022, has spent the past two seasons playing in the G League for the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s affiliate. In 48 Showcase Cup and regular season games for Iowa in 2023/24, he averaged 16.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 33.1 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .441/.363/.759.

Cooke also played in the Canadian Elite Basketball League this spring for the Brampton Honey Badgers before joining the Timberwolves’ Las Vegas Summer League team for a second consecutive July.

Iowa traded Cooke’s G League returning rights to the Oklahoma City Blue earlier this month. Assuming he returns to the NBAGL this fall and spends at least 60 days with the Blue, the 6’6″ guard will earn an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $77.5K on top of his standard G League salary.

Thunder Sign, Waive Miller Kopp

October 11th, 2024 at 9:21am CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 11: Oklahoma City has now waived Kopp, per team PR.

OCTOBER 8: The Thunder have signed free agent forward Miller Kopp, the team announced today.

Oklahoma City had an open spot on its 21-man preseason roster, so no corresponding move was necessarily to complete the signing. The club now has a full 21-man squad, with 14 players on standard contracts (13 guaranteed), four on Exhibit 10 deals, and three on two-ways.

That count assumes Kopp signed an Exhibit 10 contract, which is highly likely. He’ll almost certainly be waived before the NBA regular season begins, and his Exhibit 10 deal will ensure that he receives a bonus worth up to $77.5K as long as he spends at least 60 days with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate.

Kopp, 25, spent his rookie season with the Blue after going undrafted out of Indiana in 2023. The 6’7″ forward appeared in a total of 41 Showcase Cup and regular season games for the NBAGL club, averaging 8.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game and posting a shooting line of .414/.349/.865.

While Kopp didn’t see much action in the playoffs, averaging just 9.3 minutes in four outings, he got some championship experience, as the Blue won the 2024 G League title.

Injury Notes: Barrett, Carter, Wallace, Herro, Jaquez

October 8th, 2024 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors forward RJ Barrett will miss the rest of the preseason after being diagnosed with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder, the team announced on Tuesday in a press release. Barrett left Sunday’s game against Washington early after sustaining the injury.

As Michael Grange of Sportsnet and Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca note (via Twitter), while Barrett has only been ruled out for the preseason and will be reevaluated before opening night, it’s very possible he’ll miss some time at the start of the regular season as well.

It’s a disappointing setback for Barrett, who looked good on Sunday before getting hurt and was penciled in as Toronto’s starting small forward, and for the Raptors, who have been hit hard by the injury bug this fall. The team is also currently without Bruce Brown and rookie Ja’Kobe Walter — Brown is recovering from knee surgery, while Walter is dealing with a sprained AC joint of his own.

Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:

After turning his left ankle during Monday’s preseason opener vs. New Orleans, Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. has been diagnosed with a sprain and is considered day-to-day, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links). The timing of Carter’s return will depend on how his ankle responds to treatment, Beede adds. Monday was still a good day for the big man, who signed a three-year, $58.7MM extension with Orlando before the game.
Thunder guard Cason Wallace sprained his ankle in Monday’s preseason opener against San Antonio, but the sprain is considered a mild one, according to Bally Sports Oklahoma sideline reporter Nick Gallo (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Wallace will be available for Wednesday’s game vs. Houston, but it doesn’t at this point as if his availability for the start of the season is in jeopardy.
Tyler Herro (right groin strain) and Jaime Jaquez (left groin strain) of the Heat didn’t participate in an intrasquad scrimmage on Monday, and Jaquez underwent an MRI on his injury, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. However, imaging on Jaquez didn’t reveal anything concerning, Chiang says, and Herro didn’t even get an MRI because his strain is considered mild. “Everybody can take a big breath. Everything is OK,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said, referring to Herro and Jaquez as day-to-day. “This is not a storyline about new protocols. This is just the appropriate thing right now. … I expect Tyler and Jaime to be back in full contact soon. But they’re already doing a lot of stuff.”