Kameron Woods

Northwest Notes: Thunder, Micic, Grant, Tillman

General manager Sam Presti said the Thunder came “pretty close” to signing Serbian star Vasilije Micic, writes Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. Micic has won back-to-back EuroLeague titles and Final Four MVPs with Turkish club Anadolu Efes.

“He’s really taken off since the time in which we acquired his rights,” Presti said, referring to the trade in 2020 that sent Micic’s rights to Oklahoma City from Philadelphia. “All I can tell you is I thought we were pretty close at one time. He is on a contract, and he’s committed over there. But I wouldn’t rule anything out. It’s probably a year-to-year thing.”

Micic’s representatives were rumored to be pushing the Thunder to trade his rights, with several teams said to be interested in his services. However, he was still under contract in Europe and ultimately decided to stay with Efes for another season.

Here’s more from the Northwest:

  • The Thunder recently announced some changes to their coaching staff for the 2022/23 season. In addition to formalizing an agreement with longtime Spurs assistant Chip Engelland, the Thunder have also named Grant Gibbs an assistant coach. Gibbs has been the head coach of the Oklahoma City Blue, the team’s G League affiliate, for the past three seasons, and will be replaced by Kameron Woods, who was an assistant with the Thunder last season.
  • The Trail Blazers need Jerami Grant to improve upon his Pistons play if they hope to contend this season, according to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian, who writes that Grant should see a bump in offensive efficiency playing on a more talented roster. The Blazers are interested in reaching a long-term extension with Grant, whose $20.96MM contract expires after ’22/23, Fentress adds.
  • Justin Tillman is not on the Nuggets‘ training camp roster but is still expected to play for their G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, our JD Shaw reports (via Twitter). Tillman, who is still signed to an Exhibit 10 deal, will likely be waived and replaced by another Exhibit 10 player within the next few days, per Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link). Tillman spent last season in the G League with the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s affiliate.

Thunder Notes: Coaching Staff, Burton, Gray

The Thunder officially announced Mark Daigneault‘s coaching staff today, confirming in a press release that Mike Wilks, Dave Bliss, and David Akinyooye will return to the team as assistants, while Zach Peterson and Kameron Woods will be back as player development coaches.

The team also confirmed that former Knicks interim coach Mike Miller has been hired as an assistant, as reported earlier today. However, otherwise the group looks similar to last year — which makes sense, considering Daigneault himself was a Thunder assistant in 2019/20 before receiving a promotion this fall.

“This group has proven to be great collaborators during their time with the Thunder, complementing their ability to help develop our team and players,” Daigneault said. “They all share a deep commitment and understanding for the values of the organization and are dedicated to being continuous learners. I’m looking forward to welcoming Mike to the Thunder and our coaching staff as we work to maximize our team and program.”

Here’s more on the Thunder:

  • Although he had his team option turned down last week by the team, free agent wing Deonte Burton remains on the Thunder’s radar, says Ian Begley of SNY.tv. According to Begley, scouts who watched Burton last season were impressed by his defense and athleticism, and believe he has some upside. He’s drawing interest from other teams besides Oklahoma City, Begley adds.
  • A source tells John Hollinger of The Athletic that Josh Gray – who was signed-and-traded from the Pelicans to the Thunder in the Steven Adams deal – was just days away from agreeing to sign with a Turkish team for a “tiny fraction” of the $1.62MM he got as a result of the sign-and-trade. It’s not clear whether or not Gray is in OKC’s plans for 2020/21, but he’ll get paid either way — his first-year salary had to be guaranteed as part of the transaction to make salary-matching work.
  • In case you missed it last night, the Thunder generated another huge trade exception (worth $19.5MM) by getting involved in the Hawks’ Danilo Gallinari signing to turn it into a sign-and-trade.

Atlantic Notes: Saric, Celtics, Daniels, Holmes

Dario Saric‘s buyout with Anadolu Efes after next season would cost about 800K euros, as USA Today and DraftExpress contributor Derek Bodner hears. That’s about $900K at today’s exchange rate, but much less than the $2MM-plus it would apparently take to buy Saric out of his deal for this coming season, as the Sixers are reportedly trying to do. Bodner breaks down the numbers involved with Saric’s potential buyout and his rookie scale contract, concluding that it would be most financially rewarding for Saric to stay overseas for two more years and sign with the Sixers in 2017, when he’d no longer be bound by the rookie scale. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

  • Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge denied to reporters today that the team has had any substantial talks about trading picks, notes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. The C’s have reportedly been offering around their first-round picks, at Nos. 16 and 28, to move into the lottery. Still, Ainge admitted the team is at least exploring the idea of trading some of the four total picks it has in this month’s draft, among other options that would keep the team from having to bring four rookies onto the roster.
  • Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell, Florida’s Chris Walker, Wisconsin’s Duje Dukan, Butler’s Kameron Woods, and Georgetown’s Greg Whittington all worked out for the Celtics today, Forsberg notes (on Twitter). Jamal Jones, who spent last season in the D-League but remains draft-eligible, is also part of the workout, as Forsberg relays.
  • Draft-and-stash prospect DeAndre Daniels is hopeful that the Raptors will sign him for next season, and the team, which still sees him as part of its future, won’t rule out the idea, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca reports (Twitter links). The small forward who was last year’s 37th overall pick spent this past season with the Perth Wildcats of Australia.
  • The Knicks will soon work out Bowling Green forward Richaun Holmes, sources told Shams Charania of RealGM. Holmes spoke to Zach Links of Hoops Rumors recently about his improved shooting and his goal to make the same strides in ball handling.

Eastern Notes: Hawks, Wade, Woods

With the sale of the Hawks nearly completed, the situation regarding embattled GM Danny Ferry is still waiting a definitive resolution, Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal Constitution writes. Schultz predicts the most likely outcome is that Ferry simply resigns and Atlanta gives coach Mike Budenholzer a new contract and more autonomy, and places assistant GM Wes Wilcox in charge of the basketball operations department, at least for the 2015/16 campaign.

Here’s the latest from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Cavaliers announced that point guard Kyrie Irving suffered a fractured left kneecap during the first game of the NBA Finals, and he will require surgery to repair the damage that will keep him out of action for a minimum of three to four months.
  • In his weekly mailbag, a reader asked Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel if he felt that the Heat‘s personnel mistakes have fueled Dwyane Wade‘s concern moving forward. Winderman believes that Wade has lost a good amount of trust in the front office and if the team was winning now, salary might not be such a sticking point for him. The question is whether the Heat are “all in” for 2015/16 and, at present, Winderman isn’t sure that’s the case.
  • The Magic have expressed interest in Butler big man Kameron Woods, who is not projected to be picked in the upcoming NBA Draft, David Woods of The Indianapolis Star writes. The team interviewed Woods last week, and could be looking to sign the forward as a free agent after the draft, the Indy Star scribe adds.
  • The Pistons are holding workouts today for Bobby Portis (Arkansas), Kevon Looney (UCLA), Sir’Dominic Pointer (St. John’s), D.J. Newbill (Penn State), Will Cummings (Temple), and Juwan Howard Jr. (Detroit), Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops tweets.

Zach Links contributed to this post.