THURSDAY, 12:18pm: The Thunder issued a press release confirming that they have acquired Ridnour and a conditional 2016 second round pick from the Hornets in exchange for Lamb.
11:41am: The deal involves OKC trading Lamb to the Hornets for Luke Ridnour and a 2016 second-round choice, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The Hornets acquired Ridnour when they agreed to move Barnes to Memphis.
WEDNESDAY, 6:36pm: The Hornets continue to be active prior to the NBA Draft, and the team is set to acquire guard Jeremy Lamb from the Thunder, Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer reports (Twitter link). The transaction will involve the contract of Matt Barnes, who was acquired by Charlotte from the Clippers in the Spencer Hawes for Lance Stephenson trade, though Barnes isn’t expected to end up in Oklahoma City, Bonnell adds. It’s unclear if that means a third team is involved, or if Barnes will be waived by the Thunder. Charlotte, who was reported earlier to be seeking a wing player, is also set to acquire Nicolas Batum from the Blazers in a separate deal.
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In Lamb, the Hornets acquire a 23-year-old shooting guard with upside, who never quite lived up to his status as a lottery pick with the Thunder. Lamb is under contract for 2015/16 at a salary of $3,034,356, and would be eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer. In 47 appearances last season he averaged 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists. His career numbers through 148 games are 7.0 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.1 APG, with a slash line of .422/.348/.857.
Barnes, 35, was a candidate to be waived if he remained in Charlotte. His salary is partially guaranteed for $1MM through July 1st, but is fully guaranteed for almost $3.543MM after. The veteran appeared in 76 games for the Clippers last season, notching 10.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.5 APG in 29.9 minutes per night.
Michael Jordan balling out! Wow. Really love these last couple of moves for the hornets. They should be much improved. Jeremy Lamb was one of a couple of players misused/underused by Scott Brooks. I personally think he still has good upside, and at the least he should help improve their shooting, along with Batum and Hawes
On a side note, after these couple of trades, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the hornets draft myles turner instead of Devin booker. That’s just speculation on my part. With Batum being a free agent next year, I could still see them taking Booker, Payne, or one of the available wing players though