- People close to Thunder general manager Sam Presti believe his relationship with owner Clay Bennett is respectful enough that Presti could leave the organization before his contract expires if he wants to, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Presti and other prominent executives such as Raptors president Masai Ujiri have been linked to the Knicks in rumors throughout the year, especially with league observers beginning to question the job security of current Knicks president Steve Mills.
- Thunder guard Chris Paul has served as a mentor to Darius Bazley this season, helping the 19-year-old adjust to his first season in the league, Olivia Panchal of DailyThunder.com writes. “It’s been great because [Paul] teaches you so much,” Bazley said. “Even though we were just playing one-on-one, he was stopping and just saying you can do this or you can do that. It just helps because [he] gives you advice on and off the court.”
The Thunder are inking Kevin Hervey to a two-way deal, as Erik Horne of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) and the team has confirmed in a press release. The forward has been with the team’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, for the past two seasons.
The Thunder selected Hervey with the No. 57 overall pick during the 2018 draft. He spent four years at Texas-Arlington during his collegiate career.
The franchise released Devon Hall, who had been utilizing one of Oklahoma City’s two-way deals, earlier today. Hall saw action in just five games this season for the Thunder before being released.
Rookie shooting guard Devon Hall has been waived by the Thunder, the team announced today in a press release. Hall had been on a two-way contract, so Oklahoma City has now opened a two-way slot alongside Luguentz Dort.
[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker]
The 53rd overall pick in the 2018 draft, Hall was stashed in the G League for a year before signing a two-way deal with the Thunder this past offseason. The 24-year-old appeared in five games for the NBA club, playing limited minutes. In three NBAGL games with the Oklahoma City Blue this season, he averaged 8.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.3 APG on .208/.308/1.000 shooting.
The former University of Virginia standout will become an unrestricted free agent if he clears waivers on Saturday, while the Thunder will have until January 15 to fill their open two-way contract spot. The Suns are the only other NBA team that isn’t currently carrying two players on two-way deals.
New Thunder point guard Chris Paul has changed the way the team’s other new point guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, thinks about defense, Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman relays. “Everybody’s always talking about offense, offense, offense,” Paul said in November, “but the biggest thing I’m talking to him about is defense.”
Gilgeous-Alexander told Lee that before Paul, no one had “really sat me down and shown me how to read (an opposing team’s) offense the same way you read a defense on the opposite end.” Paul is a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection. The Thunder are currently 11-12, good for the No. 7 seed in a top-heavy Western Conference.
- With most summer contracts eligible to be traded come December 15th, Thunder power forward Danilo Gallinari and his expiring $22.6MM contract have been the talk of the NBA town. One possible suitor, the Trail Blazers, could use Gallinari as their starting four in a 2020 playoff push. HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky details the versatile scorer’s potential fit in Portland.
- As expected, Thunder veterans Chris Paul, Steven Adams, and Danilo Gallinari are all available, league sources tell O’Connor. However, as Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Monday, Oklahoma City also seems willing to take on bad contracts and unwanted money, according to O’Connor, who hears that getting out of tax territory isn’t necessarily a priority for the club. The Thunder don’t anticipate a major tax bill this season and know they won’t be back over that line in future years, so they’re willing to live with a slightly bigger penalty this season if it means acquiring extra assets.
- Speaking of Gallinari, the Trail Blazers are expected to pursue the Thunder forward, league sources tell The Ringer. O’Connor also hears that Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love would like to play for his hometown team in Portland.
[SOURCE LINK]
- Rival teams have been surprised by the Thunder‘s apparent willingness to absorb salary and longer-term contracts in potential trades, says Charania. Oklahoma City is slightly above the luxury tax line, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the club looks to reduce its team salary a little, but it seems OKC is willing to accommodate salary dumps too. That could mean, for instance, taking back a bad multiyear deal or two in exchange for an expiring contract like Danilo Gallinari‘s.
[SOURCE LINK]
The NBA implemented a new coach’s challenge for the 2019/20 season, giving head coaches an opportunity to challenge one questionable call per game that requires officials to pause the contest and review a designated play.
The challenge has mostly received poor feedback from the league’s head coaches, who cite that it bogs down what’s already become a slower last few minutes of the game. Among the coaches who believe the challenge should be changed, despite several contesting it should be removed altogether, is Thunder coach Billy Donovan.
“The thing with the challenge, which to me would be a little bit better, would be if you challenge and you’re successful, you keep your challenge,” Donovan said, as relayed by Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman. “Because what ends up happening is you don’t know when to use it. There’s no time to use it because you can look back the next day and go through every play and say, ‘Okay that should have been a time that I used the challenge. But I used it over here.’ You can’t tell.”
Roughly half of the coach’s challenges have come in the fourth quarter to date, showing teams’ tendencies to hold onto the challenge for when they need it most. Donovan’s idea likely won’t sit well with the portion of NBA viewers who wish the game was sped up in the final minutes.
Here are some other notes from the Northwest Division tonight:
- Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins remains committed to staying aggressive and attacking the basket this season, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes. Wiggins has averaged a career-best 24.9 points on 45% shooting through 17 games. He’s seen his numbers slightly regress in the past couple of weeks, but that won’t deter the 24-year-old from continuing to do what he does best. “I feel like that’s how it goes,” Wiggins said. “I just haven’t been hitting. It’s not just shots. It’s layups. It’s stuff around the rim. I’m right there to drop it in, and they’re just going in and out. I’m just going to keep doing the same thing and I know it’s going to drop.”
- Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune examines the easier December schedule for the Jazz, pondering whether the franchise will be able to take advantage of their upcoming games. Utah is just 13-10 through 23 games, good for the sixth-best record in the Western Conference.
- The Nuggets’ success in recent seasons has hinged on players’ ability to sacrifice, Sean Keeler of the Denver Post writes. Denver has a roster loaded with offensive talent, making it imperative that everyone shares the ball and remains patient when it comes to scoring. “It’s definitely unique,” said Jerami Grant, who’s in his first season with the team. “We’ve definitely got a deep team. We’ve got a lot of players that would play a lot more minutes with other teams. But I think everybody who’s come here is willing to sacrifice to be one of the best teams in the league.”
- Thunder head coach Billy Donovan spoke with reporters about the likelihood of a Danilo Gallinari trade this season. “I’ve had no conversations with anybody about that,” Donovan said, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. “My feeling has always been that all these guys that are here, that they’ll be here… If you’re focused on things that are out of your control, you’re not gonna necessarily be able to do anything well.” A free agent in 2020, Gallinari is a versatile stretch forward on the last season of a three-year, $64.8MM contract.
- The Thunder have assigned center Justin Patton to the Oklahoma City Blue, a team press release reports. The well-traveled Creighton alum is averaging 10.3 points, 7.5 boards, and 2.0 blocks across eight games for the Blue. He has suited up for two games with the Thunder this season.
Here are Wednesday’s G League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:
- The Bucks assigned power forward Dragan Bender to the Wisconsin Herd, the team’s PR department tweets. The fourth overall pick of the 2016 draft has averaged 21 PPG and 10 RPG in five starts with the Herd.
- The Knicks assigned rookie forward Ignas Brazdeikis to the Westchester Knicks, the team’s PR department tweets. He’s appeared in six games with the NBA Knicks, averaging 7.0 MPG in those outings.
- The Cavaliers assigned rookie swingman Dylan Windler to the Canton Charge, the team’s PR department tweets. He has yet to make his NBA debut. The first-rounder is working his way back into basketball shape after recovering from a leg injury.
- The Pacers recalled Victor Oladipo and Edmond Sumner from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team tweets. They practiced with the Mad Ants as part of their injury rehabs. There is no timetable for their return, the team adds.
- The Clippers assigned center Mfiondu Kabengele to the Agua Caliente Clippers, the team tweets. The rookie first-rounder out of Florida State has appeared in six NBA games, averaging 3.8 MPG in those outings.
- The Hawks recalled rookie forward Bruno Fernando and guard Tyrone Wallace from the College Park Skyhawks, the team tweets. Fernando, a second-round pick, is averaging 4.5 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 12.7 MPG while playing 21 games with the NBA team. Wallace has averaged 3.1 PPG in 12.0 MPG in 13 games with Atlanta.
- The Thunder recalled center Justin Patton from the Oklahoma City Blue, according to a team press release. In eight games with the Blue, Patton is averaging 10.3 PPG and 7.5 RPG in 26.2 MPG.
- The Hornets recalled Cody Martin from the Greensboro Swarm, according to a team press release. The rookie guard appeared in three games with the Swarm, where he averaged 14.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG and 5.3 APG in 34.3 MPG.