Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Westbrook, Hartenstein, Rabb, Ball, Grizzlies

July 15th, 2019 at 8:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Loyalty and friendship were a big part of the equation in the Rockets’ acquisition of Russell Westbrook, Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports. The Thunder wanted to grant Westbrook his preferred destination once OKC decided to go into full rebuild mode. His friendship with James Harden proved vital, according to Iko, and put Houston over the top compared to the Heat, the other main bidder for Westbrook. The Rockets’ front office believes the Westbrook and Harden pairing will work out, especially since they’ll be surrounded by shooters, a luxury that Westbrook didn’t have with the Thunder.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Rockets reserve big man Isaiah Hartenstein will pass on the FIBA World Cup this summer in order to focus on next season, Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas tweets. Hartenstein, a 21-year-old 7-footer, informed the German national team that he has prioritized his NBA career. “I will need to prove I can belong here,” he told Urbonas.
Power forward Ivan Rabb and the Grizzlies have mutually agreed to push back his contract guarantee deadline to mid-October, Michael Wallace of the team’s website tweets. Rabb appeared in 49 games with Memphis last season, including 13 starts, averaging 5.8 PPG and 4.2 RPG. The 2017 second-round pick’s $1,618,520 salary for next season was due to be guaranteed today. He has a partial guarantee of $371,758.
New Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball is expected to be cleared for full contact in two weeks, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Ball was shut down in March due to an ankle injury.
The aftermath of the Grizzlies’ busy offseason shows the vision of the front office, David Cobb of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. Memphis has a younger core to build around and has acquired future assets to accelerate the process.

Abdel Nader Appears Likely To Have 2019/20 Salary Guaranteed

July 15th, 2019 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

All signs point to the Thunder keeping Abdel Nader under contract through today and guaranteeing his 2019/20 salary ($1,618,520), tweets ESPN’s Royce Young.

Multiple Executives Believe Thunder Won Russell Westbrook Trade

July 14th, 2019 at 8:31pm CST by JD Shaw

Multiple NBA executives believe the Thunder won the Russell Westbrook trade with Houston last week, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “Huge win for Oklahoma City,” said one unnamed executive. By trading Westbrook to the Rockets for Chris Paul, 2024 and 2026 first-round picks and the right to swap picks in 2021 and 2025, the Thunder were able to add to their already lengthy collection of future picks and assets.
Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman details why the Thunder continue to acquire future draft picks in trades this month. In addition to Westbrook, Oklahoma City also traded away Paul George for five first-round picks (2021 via Miami, 2022, 2023 via Miami, 2024 and 2026), plus two pick swaps (2023, 2025). The team also moved forward Jerami Grant to Denver for a future first-round pick (2020).

Texas Notes: Westbrook, Hartenstein, Curry, Carroll

July 13th, 2019 at 10:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets believe Russell Westbrook‘s talents will overcome what could be an awkward fit alongside James Harden in their backcourt, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston and Oklahoma City agreed to terms on this offseason’s latest blockbuster Thursday night, swapping the spectacular but inefficient Westbrook for steady veteran Chris Paul.

Westbrook is only two years removed from an MVP season, but his explosiveness doesn’t always make up for poor perimeter shooting and questionable decisions in the open court. He has shot below 30% from 3-point range in four of the past five seasons and is joining a team that relies on the long ball more than anyone in league history. However, Rockets officials are confident that he can reach the 33% to 35% range because he’ll be surrounded by shooters who’ll spread the floor and will be playing with an elite passer in Harden.

Feigen adds that Harden has reportedly agreed to play off the ball more often to help Westbrook succeed. Harden will continue to operate as the point guard in many possessions, but Westbrook will also be allowed to run the offense, similar to their relationship in Oklahoma City.

There’s more tonight out of Texas:

Rockets center Isaiah Hartenstein has agreed to extend his guarantee date beyond Monday, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. July 15 was the original deadline for his $1,416,852 deal for next season to become fully guaranteed.
Seth Curry said in a radio interview this week (transcribed by The Dallas Morning News) that familiarity and his respect for coach Rick Carlisle were factors in his decision to return to the Mavericks. Curry signed a four-year deal this week that brings him back to Dallas after two years away. “I played some of my best basketball when I was there a couple of years ago, so I’m excited to rejoin the team and help get them back to the playoffs,” Curry said. “… I wanted to get back to playing with guys like Luka (Doncic) and (Kristaps Porzingis). Unselfish guys. Luka’s one of the best passers in the league right now. … I’m excited about the opportunity.”
DeMarre Carroll talked with the Bucks before joining the Spurs, but Milwaukee’s cap situation limited what the team could offer, relays Jabari Young of The Athletic. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, a former assistant in San Antonio, highly recommended the organization to Carroll, as did Nets GM Sean Marks, a former Spurs executive.

Heat Notes: Herro, Paul, Robinson, Maten

July 13th, 2019 at 8:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Tyler Herro has been making a strong impression in Summer League, enough that Miami was reluctant to include him in trade talks for Russell Westbrook, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Herro, who signed his rookie contract earlier this week, was the 13th player taken in the draft. Known mostly as a scorer at Kentucky, Herro has displayed the potential to become a multi-dimensional talent.

A league source tells Jackson that Herro’s Summer League performance has surpassed the expectations of Heat officials, especially in 3-point shooting, passing and ball-handling. He posted a 19.5/4.3/3.8 line during the team’s stay in Las Vegas and shows signs of becoming a rotation player as a rookie.

“If we need a guy that can handle, get us into offense, if we need him to be pick-and-roll, if we need him to come off catch-and-shoots, he’s shown he can do it all, and we feel comfortable in any of those spots,” said Eric Glass, who coaches the Heat’s Summer League squad.

There’s more from Miami:

The Thunder’s offers in a potential Chris Paul trade haven’t been “enticing enough” to spark the Heat’s interest, Jackson tweets. Miami has been mentioned as the possible next destination for Paul, who is headed to Oklahoma City in a deal with Houston. Heat officials will continue to listen if the offers improve, Jackson adds, but they’re not actively pursuing the 34-year-old point guard.
Even though Miami’s Summer League season ended today with an overtime playoff loss, Duncan Robinson helped his quest to stay on the roster with a 26-point performance, Jackson notes in a separate story. The guarantee on Robinson’s salary for the upcoming season will jump from $250K to $1MM if he remains on the roster through Monday. Jackson states that it seems likely Robinson will be kept, but he hasn’t received any assurances. His full $1,416,852 salary won’t become guaranteed until the league-wide guarantee date of January 10.
Yante Maten and Kendrick Nunn also have non-guaranteed deals, and the Heat’s hard-capped status may work against them, Jackson adds. Miami is less than $1MM below its $138.9MM cap and can’t add any players, such as veteran free agent Udonis Haslem, without waiving someone first. Maten has a $100K guarantee that will rise to $150K if he is kept through August 1, then another $150K if he makes the opening-night roster. Nunn will also receive a $150K guarantee on August 1, rising to $450K if he’s still around for the first game.

Latest On Chris Paul

July 13th, 2019 at 9:21am CST by marksuleymanov

After the Rockets and Thunder agreed on a trade that sends Russell Westbrook to Houston and Chris Paul to Oklahoma City, the latter’s future remains a big question. Paul wants to play for a contender and after the Thunder parted ways with Westbrook and Paul George, it’s clear the franchise has entered a rebuilding stage.

Once the trade becomes official, the Thunder will likely explore trade scenarios for Paul. To this point, the Heat appear to be the leading suitor – if not the only suitor – for Paul’s services.

“The conversation with Miami was ongoing prior to the deal that got Chris Paul to Oklahoma City,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on Friday’s edition of Get Up! “He’s 34 years old, he wants to be on a team that has playoff aspirations.

“The market for Chris Paul is going to be small. But Miami is at the top of that list. They’d like to get a deal done as soon as they can.”

Wojnarowski noted that Miami does not have much cap space or draft assets to give up in a potential Paul trade. However, pairing Paul with their prized offseason acquisition, Jimmy Butler, could make the Heat a more serious threat in a wide-open Eastern Conference.

However, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) relayed that Miami is doing its “due diligence” on Paul, but not aggressively pursuing the veteran.

It remains to be seen where Paul winds up for the 2019/20 season, but as Wojnarowski noted, OKC swung the deal with the intention of flipping the nine-time All-Star.

“Their hope in getting this deal done with Chris Paul was that he doesn’t play a game in a Thunder uniform,” Wojnarowski said.

Timberwolves Sign Jordan Bell To One-Year Deal

July 12th, 2019 at 10:24pm CST by Luke Adams

JULY 12, 10:24pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

JULY 1, 6:02pm: The Timberwolves have reached an agreement on a guaranteed one-year deal with free agent big man Jordan Bell, agents Aaron Mintz and Michael Tellem of CAA tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

According to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (via Twitter), it’s a one-year, $1.6MM deal. Bell’s minimum salary for the 2019/20 season will be $1,620,564, so it sounds like that will be the value of his new deal with Minnesota.

Bell is technically a restricted free agent, having received a qualifying offer from the Warriors last week. However, based on the reporting, it sounds like Golden State will probably rescind that QO, freeing Bell up to sign outright with Minnesota. Offer sheets must span at least two seasons, and a sign-and-trade deal must be for at least three years (albeit with just one guaranteed). We’ll wait on additional details to be sure.

A former second-round pick, Bell averaged 3.3 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 68 games (11.6 MPG) for the Warriors in his sophomore season. According to Mark Medina of The Mercury News (via Twitter), the 24-year-old also received interest from the Rockets, Thunder, and Jazz. Medina adds that Bell zeroed in on Minnesota since he felt like it was his best opportunity for a bigger role.

Westbrook Notes: Thunder, Knicks, Rockets, Heat, CP3

July 12th, 2019 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

After reaching deals to send Paul George to the Clippers and Russell Westbrook to the Rockets – with a Jerami Grant trade thrown in the middle for good measure – the Thunder have completed one of the speediest tear-downs in NBA history, writes Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Given the club’s lack of playoff success in recent years, that fresh start was needed, according to Mannix, who adds that it’s hard to imagine that Oklahoma City could have gotten more in return for its two stars.

While the Thunder – who haven’t gone through a rebuilding process since moving to Oklahoma City – didn’t necessarily want to start that process now, some members of the organization think it was “necessary, if not overdue,” per ESPN’s Royce Young, who notes that the team privately viewed the 2019/20 season as its “last, best chance at winning a title.”

As Young details, George’s trade request came as a shock, but it could also be viewed as a gift, since the circumstances surrounding it gave the Thunder tremendous leverage in their negotiations with the Clippers. Westbrook didn’t try to change George’s mind, sources tell Young, and less than a week later, Oklahoma City was able to accommodate an exit path for the former MVP as well.

The Rockets were Westbrook’s clear-cut favorite choice, a league source tells Brett Dawson and Michael Lee of The Athletic, and the longtime Thunder point guard had a significant voice in where he landed. While he also appeared open to being traded to the Heat, trade talks between Oklahoma City and Miami had quieted by Thursday, sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe.

We already rounded up several Rockets-related notes on Thursday’s blockbuster trade agreement that will land Westbrook in Houston and Chris Paul in Oklahoma City, but here are a few more details worth passing along:

Although the Thunder likely wouldn’t have sent Westbrook to a lottery team anyway, rebuilding clubs with a hole at point guard (or a general need for star talent) expressed little interest in giving up any real assets of value for him, sources tell Zach Lowe.
In the immediate aftermath of the George trade, Westbrook viewed the Knicks as a potential landing spot, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv. It’s not known whether New York was on the list of preferred destinations that Westbrook ultimately provided the Thunder, but if OKC was focused on making a move sooner rather than later, it’s a moot point — the Knicks couldn’t have made a deal until December 15. It’s also not clear if New York had more than “lukewarm” interest in the triple-double machine, Begley adds.
An individual with knowledge of the talks tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle that Westbrook first broached the topic of a possible trade not long after the Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs in the spring. Presumably, if George hadn’t made his own trade request, Westbrook wouldn’t have pushed to be dealt either.
Westbrook is intrigued by the possibilities that Mike D’Antoni‘s floor-spreading offense could create for him with the Rockets, a source tells Brett Dawson and Michael Lee.
Having previously reported that the Heat‘s unwillingness to include multiple young players in their offer for Westbrook was a roadblock, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald says the Thunder’s desire to include Andre Roberson‘s unwanted expiring contract in a deal with Miami was another obstacle. While Chris Paul has been mentioned as a possible alternative for the Heat, Jackson sounds skeptical that Miami would do such a deal without getting back at least one draft pick and dumping unwanted contracts, since acquiring Paul’s huge contract would compromise the team’s ability to pursue star players in future offseasons.

Rockets Notes: Westbrook, Harden, Paul, More

July 12th, 2019 at 8:25am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the blockbuster trade agreement that will send Russell Westbrook to Houston and Chris Paul to Oklahoma City, a Rockets source tells Jordan Schultz of ESPN (Twitter link) that the pre-existing friendship between Westbrook and James Harden gave the team the confidence to pull the trigger on the deal and pair them again. Sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that the former Thunder teammates began discussing the idea of playing together shortly after Paul George asked to be traded.

“They are motivated to play together,” said Schultz’s source.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe conveys a similar sentiment, relaying an anecdote about Harden offering a reminder to Rockets GM Daryl Morey during a conversation about Westbrook: “I know how to play with Russ and he knows how to play with me.” Westbrook is also enthusiastic about playing with Harden again, sources tell Lowe.

Of course, it was just two years ago that we heard similar things about Harden and Paul after CP3 chose to join the Rockets. While skeptics at that time questioned whether two ball-dominant guards like Harden and Paul could co-exist, the common refrain was that the two players pushed for the union and were confident they could make it work.

It mostly did, as the Rockets won a league-high 65 games in 2017/18 and were the Western Conference’s biggest threat to the Warriors over the last two seasons. However, the Paul-in-Houston era ultimately ended with rumors of discord between the two stars, and a trade that will send CP3 to Oklahoma City in exchange for a new star point guard.

As we wait to see whether this new pairing can help lead the Rockets to that elusive title, let’s round up a few more notes on Houston’s side of the trade:

Within his ESPN.com article cited above, Zach Lowe notes that Mike D’Antoni‘s experience coaching Westbrook on Team USA increased Houston’s comfort level in making the trade. Lowe also hears that the Rockets tried to push for the Thunder to take their 2020 first-round pick, but OKC insisted on picks further out — those 2024 and 2026 first-rounders aren’t as likely to fall in the late-20s, since Harden and Westbrook will be in their mid-30s by then.
According to Sam Amick, the contract extension D’Antoni had been seeking is no longer a priority for the Rockets’ head coach, who is now more focused on making his new-look backcourt work. Sources also tell Amick that the Rockets explored various iterations of a Westbrook deal – including ones that wouldn’t have involved Paul – before eventually settling on the reported terms.
The reported tension between Harden and Paul didn’t factor into the decision to make the Westbrook trade, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, who tweets that the Rockets considered it “manageable” and not out of the ordinary for two alpha dogs. “That would not have driven us to do something we otherwise wouldn’t have done,” one team source said to MacMahon. While that tension may not have been the driving force behind the deal, I’m skeptical that it wasn’t a factor at all.
A league source who spoke to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports sounds even more skeptical. “James made this [expletive] happen,” that source told Goodwill. “He wanted Chris up out of there.” Still, Goodwill questions whether adding Westbrook to the mix makes basketball sense for the Rockets, referring to it as a “marriage of desperation.”
By acquiring Westbrook, the Rockets will become the first NBA team with two players on Designated Veteran Extensions (super-maxes), tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Although Paul’s deal looks nearly identical to Westbrook, it wasn’t technically a Designated Veteran contract, since CP3 signed it after he already had 10 years of NBA experience. Houston will now be prohibited from adding a third player on a Designated Veteran deal, though as Marks notes, that doesn’t seem likely to become an issue (the only other players on those contracts are Stephen Curry, John Wall, and Damian Lillard).
An ESPN.com panel – featuring Marks, Tim Bontemps, Nick Friedell, and others – breaks down the Rockets/Thunder blockbuster, exploring how each team made out in the trade and their initial reactions to the deal.

Latest On Chris Paul

July 11th, 2019 at 9:11pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Rockets had hoped to find a third team to join the Russell Westbrook trade that was preferable to Chris Paul, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). The Thunder have been in contact with Paul’s agent, Leon Rose.

The Heat remain a possibility for Paul’s services, Woj adds. If Paul prefers to go to Miami, the Thunder would have interest in sending him there and would engage in trade talks with Pat Riley‘s club, The Athletic’s Sam Amick tweets.

Miami was rumored to be in the hunt for Westbrook but now could turn to Paul as an alternate. The Thunder can immediately trade Paul as long as they don’t aggregate his salary in the deal (unlikely to happen with his $38.5MM figure). Oklahoma City could also hold off on finalizing the Westbrook trade and search for a suitor in order to make it a three-teamer.

It would be difficult to envision Miami giving up major assets for Paul. However, if the price is simply matching salary, then it would seem favorable to the Heat, as I recently detailed for SLAM Magazine. Miami is hard-capped, meaning team salary can’t exceed the tax apron of $138.93MM. The Heat currently have about $987K in wiggle room, per cap expert Albert Nahmad (Twitter link).

Paul has three seasons and $124MM left on his deal. The last year of the pact is a player option.