JULY 10th, 10:52pm: Patterson has officially signed with the team, according to a Thunder press release.
JULY 4th, 9:07pm: The Thunder have reached an agreement with free agent big man Patrick Patterson, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides will do a three-year, $16.4MM deal. The third year on the contract will be a player option, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Patterson, 28, had been with the Raptors since arriving in Toronto during the 2013/14 season as part of the team’s Rudy Gay trade with Sacramento. He was a reliable part of the Raptors’ rotation over the last three and a half years, providing rebounding, guarding opposing bigs, and making shots from outside (.372 3PT% in 2016/17).
Based on the reported terms of Patterson’s new deal with the Thunder, he’ll be receiving the club’s full taxpayer mid-level exception, which is worth $16,354,800 over three years. Oklahoma City technically isn’t into tax territory yet, but the club is getting close to that threshold, and hasn’t yet re-signed restricted free agent Andre Roberson. Using the taxpayer MLE allows the Thunder to avoid being hard-capped for 2017/18, giving the club the flexibility to retain Roberson.
Oklahoma City is parting with Domantas Sabonis in its deal for Paul George, and lost Taj Gibson to the Timberwolves this week, so Patterson will help replenish the depth in the club’s frontcourt. Within his report on the agreement, Wojnarowski suggests that the Thunder envision Patterson as a starter, meaning the veteran figures to play alongside center Steven Adams, with Enes Kanter continuing to come off the bench.
Prior to their agreement with Patterson, the Thunder had been exploring a deal with Rudy Gay. ESPN’s Royce Young tweeted today that OKC appeared to be Gay’s preferred landing spot, but there was a “sizable gap” between his asking price and what the Thunder could offer. With Patterson now in the mix using the MLE, the Thunder may be out of the running on Gay, since acquiring anyone via a sign-and-trade would create a hard cap.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I feel like thats a little bit too much money for him, but he’s a nice player for the Thunder. I think it’s a good signing.
Very team friendly deal imo
Paul Gasol would have been better.
Who’s Paul gasol ?
Marv Gasol’s brother.
Who’s Marc Gasol?
Sorry had 2 make the joke :( luckily now nobody can hit you with the Marv Gasol jokes
Nice signing for OKC. If they can pick up Rudy Gay and add possibly Jamal Crawford or Nick Young this team will be formidable
They can’t afford Gay anymore but one of the other 2 is feasible. If not both.
That’s a great fit. They still need some bench depth at the guard spot but the Thunder have put together a nice offseason so far.
Wow. That’s a really low deal for him. He is going to be a tough loss for Toronto, especially since they also lost PJ Tucker. He’s a good 2 way 4, and can shoot it. Maybe he took less to be on that team. It’s a good move to shore up that position for OKC, but I feel like they already had a bunch of 4s. They need guards/wings that can shoot, and a backup C. They have to magically get rid of Kanter and Singler though…don’t know how they’ll do that
Kanter is their backup C.. + plus they lost their 2 PF last week in sabonis (trade) and Gibson (t-wolves) Very good move for the thunder. Hopefully knicks can get Rudy gay now haha
Kanter is the worst defender I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m talking about them needing a backup 5 that can defend and give them energy. Grant, McDermott, Paul George in some lineups, Josh Huestis, and Kyle Singler all play the 4. They also like to stupidly play Kanter and Adams together.
Finding a new home for Kanter would be a big win for OKC. His D killed them – Adams played strong in the paint as per usual, but they got gouged inside when he left the court. Plus, moving his contract would be great for their cap. No doubt they are trying to swing a trade of him – not sure any teams will look past the D (or lack of) as well as the off court stuff.
Calling Patterson a capable defender flies in the face of all the evidence to the contrary.
I havent looked at the numbers recently, so my memory may be off, but I’m pretty sure he holds opponents he’s guarding to one of the lowest FG% in the league.
Let’s get one thing straight, no one shoots behind Westbrook. There are no shots left.