Tonight, the Thunder are taking on the Heat in what some consider to be a preview of the Finals. Close to 60 percent of Hoops Rumors readers, however, feel that at least one of the teams will falter before June. Let's take a look at some of the news out of Oklahoma City:
- The Thunder offered only two years and didn't provide as much of a chance for Shane Battier to get crunch-time minutes, and that's why he signed his three-year, $9.4MM deal with the Heat instead, Battier told Ethan J. Skolnick of The Palm Beach Post.
- ESPN's Marc Stein has the details on Derek Fisher's contract, passing along that the deal is worth $2.3MM for the rest of the season.
- Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman tweets that Thunder coach Scott Brooks envisions new backup point guard Derek Fisher playing 13 to 20 minutes a night, which suggests we could see more D-League stints for Reggie Jackson.
- While 10 members of the Heat were acquired via free agency, Fisher and Royal Ivey are the only free agent acquisitions on the Thunder, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN, via Twitter.