Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Former Warriors Exec Bob Myers Likely To Get Job Offers

July 29th, 2023 at 9:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bob Myers indicated that he wanted some time away from the game when he stepped down as president of basketball operations and general manager of the Warriors, but fans should expect to hear his name mentioned in connection to any openings that arise in the next few months, writes Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

The most obvious team for Myers, according to Fischer, is the Clippers because of his longtime association with team consultant Jerry West and the working relationship they developed during their time together with Golden State. Myers spent more than a decade with the Warriors and helped to win four championships, so Fischer believes he’ll be among the first names that any team will call if it decides to shake up its front office.

Fischer identifies a few other former general managers who may be in line for a second chance, including ex-Utah GM Dennis Lindsey, who is currently working in the Mavericks‘ front office, Kings assistant GM Wes Wilcox, who has rebuilt his reputation after his experience in Atlanta, and former Orlando GM Rob Hennigan, who is VP of basketball operations with the Thunder.

Fischer passes along more information about rising stars in NBA front offices:

Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon was among the candidates to become the Wizards’ president of basketball operations and he’ll likely be considered for similar jobs in the future, Fischer writes. Raptors GM Bobby Webster, Cavaliers GM Mike Gansey and new Clippers GM Trent Redden all appear headed for team president roles someday, Fischer adds.
Jeff Peterson, the Nets‘ assistant GM, is considered one of the league’s best young executives, according to Fischer. Peterson interviewed for the Pistons’ GM slot in 2020, and Fischer hears that he’s viewed as one of the favorites to take over the Hornets if they decide to replace Mitch Kupchak, who’s in the final year of his contract. Pelicans assistant GM Bryson Graham could be first in line to replace Langdon if he leaves, but league sources tell Fischer that he might get an opportunity with another team before that happens.
Tayshaun Prince is a valuable member of the Grizzlies‘ front office and has received overtures about running other teams, according to Fischer. Among other former NBA players, Jameer Nelson has built a strong reputation in the Sixers‘ front office for his work with their G League affiliate, and Acie Law appears headed for a promotion with the Thunder after Will Dawkins was hired by the Wizards.
Fischer identifies CAA’s Austin Brown as an agent who might move into a front office role, noting that he was a candidate to run the Bulls in 2020. Fischer also singles out agents Jason Glushon and Todd Ramasar, along with Kirk Berger, a legal counsel with the players’ union.

How New CBA Has Impacted Summer Roster Moves

July 29th, 2023 at 9:23am CST by Luke Adams

The restrictions placed on teams above the second tax apron in the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement didn’t dissuade the Suns from further increasing their payroll in both the short and long term by acquiring Bradley Beal and his four-year, maximum-salary contract. However, the effects of the new CBA were felt by several of the league’s other top spenders, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, and Tim Bontemps outline in an Insider-only story.

Bontemps points out that the Clippers‘ decision to waive Eric Gordon before his 2023/24 cap hit became guaranteed saved the club $100MM+ in salary and tax penalties. Gordon ended up signing with the rival Suns, which wasn’t an ideal outcome for L.A.

The Celtics, meanwhile, were in position to keep Grant Williams at a fairly reasonable rate, but opted to sign-and-trade him to Dallas rather than bring him back on a four-year deal worth around $14MM per year.

The Warriors reduced their future financial commitments by trading Jordan Poole and his lucrative new four-year extension in a deal for Chris Paul, who is on a pseudo-expiring contract (his 2024/25 salary is non-guaranteed).

As Bontemps writes, forcing high-payroll teams to make difficult decisions on role players was exactly what the NBA intended when it introduced a more punitive second tax apron in the new CBA. Even the Suns, Bontemps notes, were impacted a little by those new rules, given that they opted to fill out their roster with minimum-salary players rather than using their Early Bird rights to re-sign some of their own free agents, like Torrey Craig and Jock Landale.

Here are a few more ways the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has influenced roster moves around the league this summer, per ESPN’s trio:

The new CBA requires teams to spend at least to the minimum salary floor (90% of the cap) before the regular season begins — if they don’t, they’ll forfeit a portion of their share of the end-of-season luxury tax payments (50% in 2023/24; the entire amount in future seasons). As a result, all eight teams that operated under the cap in July have already reached the minimum floor, as Bontemps and Marks observe. Free agents across the board didn’t necessarily reap the benefits of that change, since several teams used their cap room in other ways (trades, renegotiations, etc.), but Bruce Brown was one beneficiary, Pelton writes. The Pacers were able to get Brown on a short-term contract (two years with a second-year team option) by making him their highest-paid player ($22MM) for 2023/24.
The new second-round pick exception looks like a win for both teams and players. According to Marks, this year’s second-round picks have received a total of $47.1MM in guaranteed money so far, up from $36.4MM in 2022. And because the second-round exception requires a team option in either the third or fourth year, there’s no longer a risk for teams of losing a second-rounder to unrestricted free agency (the way the Mavericks lost Jalen Brunson).
The Kings and Thunder took advantage of the fact that the room exception for under-the-cap teams was upgraded to allow for a third year (instead of just two) and a much higher starting salary (it got a 30% bump, separate from its year-to-year increase). In past seasons, Sacramento and Oklahoma City wouldn’t have been able to sign Sasha Vezenkov and Vasilije Micic to three-year contracts worth between $6-8MM per year without using cap room (or the mid-level exception for over-the-cap teams) to do so. This year, they were able to use that cap space in other ways.
The Cavaliers and Rockets took advantage of more lenient salary-matching rules for non-taxpaying teams to give Max Strus and Dillon Brooks bigger starting salaries than they previously would have been eligible for based on the outgoing salaries involved in those sign-and-trade deals.
Hawks guard Dejounte Murray and Kings center Domantas Sabonis were the first two players who took advantage of the fact that veterans signing extensions can now receive a first-year raise up to 40% instead of 20%. It’s possible neither player would have agreed to an extension this offseason without that rule tweak. Knicks forward Josh Hart could be the next player to benefit from that change, according to Marks.

Western Notes: Jackson, Smart, Hughes, Pokusevski, Thunder

July 28th, 2023 at 9:59pm CST by Rory Maher

Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, says he’s excited to team up with Marcus Smart, who won the award in 2022, writes Jerry Jiang of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Smart was acquired from the Celtics last month in a three-team trade, and Jackson reached out to him when the news broke.

“That doesn’t happen pretty often or ever,” Jackson said, referring to a team having two DPOY winners at the same time. “I just know what he brings to Boston. I’ve seen it before I was in the league and it’s crazy.”

Here’s more from the West:

The Mavericks intend to hire Eric Hughes as an assistant coach, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Hughes got his NBA start as an assistant with Toronto and previously worked under head coach Jason Kidd with the Nets and Bucks, MacMahon notes. He has been with the Sixers for the past four seasons.
Thunder big man Aleksej Pokusevski won’t be able to represent his native Serbia in the FIBA World Cup next month, according to Eurohoops.net. The 17th pick of the 2020 draft, Pokusevski suffered a broken arm during an offseason workout at the end of May and won’t receive medical clearance to train with a basketball until late August, the report states. The World Cup starts August 25 and runs through September 10. The 21-year-old was hoping to secure a spot on the Serbian national team’s 12-man roster.
In a mailbag for The Oklahoman, Joe Mussatto predicts that Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Victor Oladipo, Jack White, Usman Garuba and TyTy Washington are the the most likely players to be on the chopping block due to the Thunder‘s roster crunch. However, Mussatto notes that OKC has a few months to figure things out and more trades could be in order rather than outright waiving all five players.

Contract Details: Noel, Dowtin, White, Jordan, Matthews, More

July 26th, 2023 at 2:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The one-year, minimum-salary contract that Nerlens Noel signed with the Kings is currently only partially guaranteed for $300K, Hoops Rumors has learned. Noel would see his partial guarantee increase to $600K if he hasn’t been waived by the first game of the regular season this fall. In order to receive his full salary, he’d need to remain under contract through at least January 7.

Here are more details on a few recently signed NBA contracts:

Jeff Dowtin‘s one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Raptors is fully non-guaranteed for the time being. However, the guard would receive a partial guarantee worth $900K if he’s not waived on or before October 21, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link).
The Thunder signed Jack White to a two-year, minimum-salary contract that includes a $600K partial guarantee in year one and a team option for 2024/25, Hoops Rumors has learned.
The one-year, minimum-salary deals signed by DeAndre Jordan (Nuggets) and Wesley Matthews (Hawks) are fully guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned.
The two-way contracts signed by Omari Moore (Bucks) and Leaky Black (Hornets) cover two years rather than just one, Hoops Rumors has learned.
Sixers center Montrezl Harrell and Nuggets guard Reggie Jackson waived their right to veto trades during their 2023/24 season, Hoops Rumors has learned. As we detailed earlier today, players who re-sign with their previous teams on one-year deals (or two-year deals with a second-year option) get trade veto rights by default, but can choose to give up those rights.

NBA Teams Facing Potential Fall Roster Crunches

July 26th, 2023 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

With two months to go until NBA teams report to training camps, there’s no need for a club to have its 21-man offseason roster – let alone its 15-man standard roster for the regular season – set in stone at this point.

Still, many rosters around the league are clearly taking shape, with several teams carrying 14 or 15 players on standard guaranteed contracts and seemingly unlikely to make any more major changes this offseason.

There are also a handful of teams carrying more than 15 standard contracts who will have to trade or waive at least one or two of those players before the regular season begins in order to adhere to the NBA’s regular season roster limit.

Here are some of the teams who will be facing possible roster crunches in the coming months:

Oklahoma City Thunder

(20 standard contracts)

The Thunder have been a willing trade partner for teams looking to dump unwanted contracts this offseason, and it has resulted in Oklahoma City becoming the first club to reach its full 21-man roster limit (its 21st player, Keyontae Johnson, is on a two-way contract).

Of the Thunder’s 20 players on standard deals, at least 17 have guaranteed salaries for 2023/24. That group doesn’t include Jack White, whose full contract details have yet to be reported, or Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, both of whom are on non-guaranteed contracts after playing well in rotation roles in ’22/23.

If the Thunder intend to keep White, Joe, and Wiggins into the regular season, they’ll have to trade or waive five players on guaranteed salaries. The players recently acquired in those salary-dump deals – including Victor Oladipo, Davis Bertans, TyTy Washington, and Usman Garuba – would probably be most at risk. Of the Thunder’s returning players, Tre Mann and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are among those whose roster spots may not be fully secure.

Memphis Grizzlies

(17 standard contracts)

Like the Thunder, the Grizzlies took on some unwanted contracts in offseason trades in order to acquire other assets.

The two players Memphis received in those deals – Josh Christopher and Isaiah Todd – are the most likely odd men out for the 15-man regular season roster, since none of Memphis’ other 15 players are obvious trade or release candidates.

San Antonio Spurs

(17 standard contracts)

The Spurs actually only have 16 players on standard contracts for the time being, but are reportedly bringing back Sandro Mamukelashvili on a one-year deal. He has yet to officially re-sign and the exact details of his contract are unclear.

Assuming San Antonio plans to have Mamukelashvili on its 15-man regular season roster, the team will need to trade or waive two other players before opening night. That number could grow if the Spurs want to sign Dominick Barlow or Sidy Cissoko to a standard contract, but they do have two-way slots available for both.

Cameron Payne, Cedi Osman, Reggie Bullock, Devonte’ Graham, and Khem Birch are a few of the veterans on expiring or pseusdo-expiring contracts who probably aren’t in the Spurs’ long-term plans. But some of those guys would be useful contributors on the court this season and might have a little trade value, so San Antonio might not be done dealing.

Washington Wizards

(16 standard contracts)

The Wizards have a new front office in place for this season, so some of the reserves on expiring contracts who were brought in by the old regime could be candidates to be traded or waived. That group includes Delon Wright, whose name has come up in trade rumors this summer, Xavier Cooks, whose multiyear deal is only guaranteed for 2023/24, and Anthony Gill.

The new regime has also acquired a few players this offseason who may have been traded for financial or salary-matching reasons more than for how they fit into the Wizards’ plans going forward. Of those players, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala are on expiring contracts, while Patrick Baldwin and Landry Shamet aren’t currently owed guaranteed money beyond 2023/24 (Ryan Rollins has a $600K partial guarantee in ’24/25).

It wouldn’t shock me if the Wizards end up moving off multiple players on the current roster and making another addition or two before the regular season begins.

Others to watch

The Hawks are currently carrying 16 players on standard contracts, but only 15 are guaranteed, making Vit Krejci and his non-guaranteed salary the probable odd man out. Atlanta also reportedly remains active in trade talks, which could further shake up the roster.

The Hornets only have 12 players on guaranteed salaries, but they also have a pair (JT Thor and Kobi Simmons) on non-guaranteed deals, plus a pair of restricted free agents (P.J. Washington and Theo Maledon) and a No. 31 overall pick (James Nnaji) who remain unsigned. Charlotte can comfortably manage the 15-man limit, especially if Nnaji spends the season overseas, but may have to deal with a minor roster crunch if Washington and Maledon both return.

The Clippers, like the Hawks, have 15 players on guaranteed salaries and a 16th (Jason Preston) on a non-guaranteed deal. Los Angeles pushed back Preston’s guarantee date, which suggests the team may be open to hanging onto him if a roster spot becomes available (perhaps in multi-player James Harden trade?).

The Trail Blazers and Sixers are worth monitoring, since they would likely take back more players than they send out in any trade involving Damian Lillard or Harden. For now though, both teams have plenty of roster space — Portland has 13 players on standard contracts (12 fully guaranteed), while Philadelphia has 14 (13 fully guaranteed).

Northwest Notes: Anderson, Yurtseven, Williams, Waters

July 24th, 2023 at 7:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson is set to play for Team China at next month’s FIBA World Cup after becoming a naturalized Chinese citizen, per Reuters.

Anderson represents the first American basketball player to acquire Chinese citizenship via naturalization, though plenty of other athletes in other disciplines have obtained it that way recently. He would also be able to compete for China in next year’s Olympics.

“I’m so happy to announce that I will be representing China at the World Cup,” Anderson said through a Weibo video. “Really proud and honored to wear the Team China jersey.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

New reserve Jazz center Omer Yurtseven has yet to talk the team about his role for the 2023/24 season, he tells Alex Vejar of The Salt Lake Tribune. “Not yet,” Yurtseven said. “But I met with coach [Will] Hardy and talked with [CEO] Danny Ainge as well. We haven’t talked, but we have some time during the summer. We’ll stay in contact and kind of go from there where I’ll be able to understand exactly what they want from me and execute.”
Trail Blazers shooting guard Jeenathan Williams is likely to be released before his contract can become guaranteed on August 1, reports Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Twitter link). Williams, 24, went undrafted out of Buffalo last summer, and spent most of the 2022/23 season with the Jazz’s NBAGL affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. The 6’6″ wing latched on with Portland in April. In his five contests with the Trail Blazers last year, he averaged 10.6 PPG on .615/.375/.667 shooting splits, along with 3.0 RPG, 2.0 APG and 0.6 SPG.
Lindy Waters III is a “strong candidate” to return to the Thunder on a two-way contract, opines Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link). Oklahoma City converted his 2022/23 two-way deal to a standard roster contract, but declined his $1.9MM team option for this season earlier this summer.

OKC Mayor Doesn't Want Tax Hike For New Arena

July 23rd, 2023 at 6:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Oklahoma City mayor David Holt doesn’t want to raise taxes to help pay for a new arena for the Thunder, according to Jana Hayes of The Oklahoman. He’d prefer to extend a temporary sales tax. “We just know that we won’t make a proposal that raises the tax rate,” he said. Negotiations are ongoing, including the potential cost of the arena and terms of the lease agreement.

Nikola Jokic Reportedly Won’t Play In 2023 World Cup

July 23rd, 2023 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

Following a championship run with the Nuggets this spring, star center Nikola Jokic won’t suit up for Serbia in this summer’s World Cup, according to a report from Dejan Stankovic of Mozzart Sport.

As Stankovic details, there had been skepticism that Jokic would be available for Serbia at the World Cup after he played into mid-June with Denver. Mozzart Sport’s reporting indicates that the two-time NBA MVP has informed the Serbian national team of his decision and will get some extra rest in advance of training camp.

New Thunder guard Vasilije Micic – who signed a three-year contract with Oklahoma City earlier this month – may also skip the World Cup as he prepares for his first season in the NBA. There’s less certainty about Micic’s status at this point, but Stankovic suggests the longtime EuroLeague star will likely follow Jokic’s lead and decline to participate, leaving Serbia without another key piece of its projected rotation.

The FIBA World Cup is generally viewed as a less prestigious international event than the Olympics, so stars who miss this summer’s event in Asia may still end up playing for their national teams in 2024 in Paris. The U.S. World Cup team, for instance, is headlined by a younger group of stars such as Brandon Ingram, Anthony Edwards, and Tyrese Haliburton, but Team USA will likely have more big-name players available in France next year.

Still, non-U.S. stars are often more inclined to compete in non-Olympic international events than top American players are, so the fact that Serbia will likely be missing two of its best players is a tough blow for the team.

Serbia didn’t qualify for the previous Olympics in Tokyo and isn’t a shoo-in for Paris either — the club will be looking to improve upon its fifth-place finish in the 2019 World Cup. Serbia would have to finish as one of the top two European teams at this year’s World Cup in order to automatically qualify for the 2024 Olympics.

Northwest Notes: Wallace, Yurtseven, Kamagate, Jones

July 20th, 2023 at 9:59pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Thunder rookie shooting guard Cason Wallace learned a lot about basketball from his years playing football, as he told Sam Yip of HoopsHype.

“…I was like, playing safety, linebacker,” Wallace said. “You read the quarterback… you’re reading what the offense is going to do. So just being able to pick up on stuff like that and just see it before it happens.”

Wallace was selected with the No. 10 overall pick out of Kentucky by the Mavericks, and was subsequently dealt, on draft night, to Oklahoma City. The 6’4″ swingman also spoke about how he could fit in on his new club heading into the regular season.

“[If] I need to play on the wing, I’m capable,” Wallace said. “So just letting the ball flow, just playing basketball.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

New Jazz reserve center Omer Yurtseven feels that his years of seasoning with the Heat will benefit him in his new NBA home, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News. Yurtseven inked a new two-year deal with Utah earlier in the offseason, though it’s only partially guaranteed. “[The Heat] had a really competitive environment, which allowed competitive players to thrive and I really appreciated that,” Yurtseven said. “I kind of took that with me in terms of applying that to everything — every drill, every day, every game. But I think more so I’m looking forward to what I’ll be able to learn and grow more into here.”
Center Ismael Kamagate, whose draft rights the Nuggets acquired after he was selected with the No. 46 pick in 2022, has officially inked a new contract with Italian EuroLeague club Olimpia Milano, the team announced in a press release. The 6’11” big man remains under Denver control should he eventually attempt to play in the NBA.
After more than 30 years of NBA experience as a player and coach, Nuggets assistant Popeye Jones is reveling in his first-ever league championship, writes Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. Jones has worked as a coach for five different clubs across his 17 seasons on the bench. “Once it was over, I think you just reflect back on your whole career — not just your coaching career but your playing career, everything that you’ve been through, from a little kid all the way through middle school to high school to college,” Jones said. “It was just a great feeling.”

Thunder Sign Jack White To Two-Year Deal

July 20th, 2023 at 5:21pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 20: The Thunder have announced in a press statement that the team has officially signed White. Oklahoma City waived veteran forward Rudy Gay to open up a roster spot.

JULY 1: The Thunder are signing free agent forward Jack White to a two-year contract, agent Sammy Wloszczowski tells Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

White had been a restricted free agent after being issued a qualifying offer by the Nuggets. Based on Charania’s wording, it sounds like the Thunder are confident they won’t face resistance on the deal, whether that means Denver won’t match an offer sheet or the Nuggets are dropping the QO, making White unrestricted.

A 6’7″ forward out of Australia, White played four college seasons at Duke from 2016-20 but didn’t have a significant role. He had a bigger opportunity playing for Melbourne United of the NBL, which he used to garner NBA attention.

White played for Denver’s Summer League team last year and impressed, earning a two-way contract from the Nuggets. While he only made 17 appearances for 66 minutes in 2022/23 as a rookie for the reigning champions, he’ll get his ring and now lands a standard contract with OKC.

The 25-year-old had a strong showing for the Grand Rapids Gold (Denver’s G League affiliate) in the ’22/23 regular season, averaging 19.5 PPG, 8.9 RPG and 0.9 SPG on a .544/.409/.737 shooting line in 15 games (31.3 MPG). He was even more efficient during the fall Showcase cup, averaging 17.2 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.0 BPG and 0.9 SPG on .600/.500/.818 shooting in 12 games (32.5 MPG).