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Thunder Sign, Waive Barefield, Edwards, Jack

October 19th, 2019 at 3:49pm CST by Luke Adams

3:49pm: As expected, the Thunder have now waived Barefield, Edwards, and Jack, the team announced in a follow-up press release. OKC’s roster is back down to 16 players, including a pair on two-way contracts.

9:36am: The Thunder are making some last-minute roster moves to line up players for their G League affiliate, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed guard Sedrick Barefield, as well as forwards Vince Edwards and Kadeem Jack.

Barefield, an undrafted rookie out of Utah, averaged 16.8 PPG and 3.8 APG with a .408/.388/.825 shooting line in 31 games (32.2 MPG) in 2018/19, which was his final college season. He played for Atlanta’s Summer League team in July.

Edwards, a 2018 second-round pick, spent his rookie year on a two-way contract with the Rockets. He averaged 9.7 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 31 games (30.6 MPG) for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, appearing in just two games for Houston.

Jack, a former Rutgers forward, is a G League veteran, having appeared in a total of 129 games for a handful of NBAGL squads. He last played for the South Bay Lakers early in 2018/19.

It appears as if the Thunder should be able to designate all three signees as affiliate players for their own G League team – the OKC Blue – since Jack was waived by South Bay last season and the other two players have never signed NBAGL contracts. All three will likely be released by the Thunder shortly.

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Thunder Exercise Options on Gilgeous-Alexander, Ferguson

October 18th, 2019 at 7:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Thunder have exercised their 2020/21 options on point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and swingman Terrance Ferguson, according to a team press release.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s option for 2020/21, which will be his third season in the league, is worth approximately $4.14MM. Ferguson’s fourth-year option is worth $3.94MM.

Oklahoma City had until the end of this month to exercise those options.

Gilgeous-Alexander had a strong rookie campaign with the Clippers and was the key component for OKC in the Paul George blockbuster. He averaged 10.8 PPG and 3.3 APG while appearing in every regular-season game.

Ferguson started 74 games last season and averaged 6.9 PPG in 26.1 MPG. The 21-year-old was the team’s first-round pick in 2017.

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Thunder Waive Four Players

October 17th, 2019 at 9:19am CST by Arthur Hill

The Thunder trimmed their roster this morning by placing DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, Abdul Gaddy, Myke Henry and Eric Moreland on waivers, the team announced in a press release.

The moves indicate that Justin Patton, who has been limited by injuries to a combined four games in his first two NBA seasons, has won the 14th roster spot. Oklahoma City may not carry a 15th player because of salary cap concerns. The 16th pick in the 2017 draft, Patton signed with OKC in August and had a $700K guarantee on his $1,620,564 contract.

Of today’s four cuts, Moreland is the only one with significant NBA experience. He played a combined 83 games for the Kings, Pistons, Suns and Raptors over the past five years. Henry appeared in 20 games for the Grizzlies in 2017/18, while Akoon-Purcell got into seven games with Denver last year. Gaddy was also cut by the Thunder in training camp last season.

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Roberson Still Being Brought Along Cautiously

October 16th, 2019 at 10:02pm CST by clarkcrum

Thunder swingman Andre Roberson hasn’t played in an NBA game in nearly two years, and while he had been cleared to practice without restrictions earlier this offseason, OKC is continuing to be cautious with the defensive stalwart, pens Erik Horne of The Oklahoman.

Roberson still hasn’t played in the preseason, and when asked about it, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said on Monday, “We’re not going to rush him.” Moreover, for the last week, Donovan said Roberson has been participating with the team, but not all of the contact drills, after having some soreness in camp.

“If he felt like he needed more game experience, I think that’s an option for him, but I think as long as we’re in training camp and (the Thunder are) playing five-on-five, he’s getting that there,” Donovan said. “The one thing we don’t want to do is put him in a situation where we’re making him practice every single day and he can never catch up from a recovery standpoint.”

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Heat Place High Value On Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo

October 15th, 2019 at 10:05pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Miami had talks with the Thunder on at least two occasions this offseason, discussing Russell Westbrook – before OKC dealt him to Houston – and Chris Paul. Sean Deveney of Heavy.com hears that the Heat were reluctant to include Tyler Herro in that deal or any deals over the summer.

“They’ve been firm on him and (Bam) Adebayo being untouchable,” one GM told Deveney. “Maybe they would move off of that as the season goes on, but as it stands, they think they’ve got the second coming of Klay Thompson offensively. They have not had a lot of useful guys on rookie contracts in past years and that’s killed their cap. They’ve got two now, they don’t want to let them go.”

Herro was the No. 13 overall pick in the 2019 draft. Adebayo, who is set to take over the team’s starting center spot, was the No. 14 overall pick in the 2017 draft. Both players give the franchise hope for the future and are long-term building blocks on a roster that has the necessary pieces to compete for the playoffs now.

Yet, in order for the Heat to take the next step toward title contention, they may have to acquire another established star (such as Bradley Beal). Miami will have trouble putting together a legit trade package worthy of one without including their young prospects since the team already owes a pair of first-round picks to Oklahoma City and can’t deal another first-rounder earlier than its 2025 pick.

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Darius Bazley Ready To Contribute

October 13th, 2019 at 3:59pm CST by clarkcrum

As Thunder forward Darius Bazley continues to acclimate to the NBA, he may be little nervous, as is normal for a rookie. But as Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman writes, Bazley looks more than ready to make an impact this season.

That said, Bazley will still certainly have ups and downs as a rookie, as head coach Billy Donovan warns. Thunder fans saw the same last year with Hamidou Diallo, who eventually fell out of the rotation toward the end of the season.

“My biggest thing for him is, as he learns and grows and gets better and has some success, he needs to stay really, really humble,” says the Thunder head man. “And he’s got to stay eager to work and eager to learn. He’s got all the challenges, the difficulties, the adversities that come with being a young player. He’s going to have to have the resiliency to work through those things. If he keeps that kind of attitude, he’s going to really improve.”

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Woj: OKC Hoped To Flip CP3 After Acquiring Him

October 11th, 2019 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams
  • The Thunder‘s plan when they acquired Chris Paul from Houston was to flip him to another team, according to Wojnarowski, who says OKC had hoped the Heat would be more open to making a deal. “He’s going to have to play really well in Oklahoma City for somebody to want to take on three years, $124MM [and] pay him $44MM in the final year of his contract,” Woj said of CP3. “That’s a really difficult proposition. … He has value in the league, but not at those numbers.”

    [SOURCE LINK]
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Northwest Notes: Porter, Okogie, Green, Thunder

October 10th, 2019 at 9:30pm CST by clarkcrum

In a piece chronicling the first NBA game for Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., Nick Kosmider of The Athletic explains how Porter’s debut ended up being a long time coming after the 21-year-old had to rehab through two back surgeries and miss his entire first season as a professional.

In the team hotel the night before Porter’s debut, Tim Connelly, Denver’s president of basketball operations, encouraged Porter to let each frame of his debut experience sink in, notwithstanding the fact that it was just a preseason game.

“I told him, ‘You should really pat yourself on the back,'” Connelly said. “It’s not easy to do what he’s done. He’s been a guy that, forever, the assumption was that he was going to play in the NBA because he was so talented, but the road has been a little more convoluted and challenging, so I said, ‘Appreciate the moment. You’re officially in the NBA. It wasn’t how you thought it would be three or four years ago, but it’s still special.'”

Teammate Jarred Vanderbilt, who is close with Porter and helped him throughout the rehab process and beforehand, had some good advice for his friend.

“I know how tough it was for him to sit out, like it was for me, but he sat out the whole year,” Vanderbilt said. “It was a lot tougher for him, so it’s just great to see him playing again. I told him, ‘Don’t put any pressure on yourself. Just be happy to be out there.’ That’s how I was. I was just happy to be out there. I know how it feels to be not able to play. To come back and feel all antsy like you have to make the right play and everything, I felt like I was doing that and thinking too much, so I just told him to let the game come. Everything will fall into place.”

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

  • Timberwolves guard Josh Okogie, who is entering his second season in the NBA, was able to improve his game this summer by playing in the FIBA World Cup as a member of Team Nigeria, writes Chris Hine of the Star Tribune. Specifically, Okogie believes he has gotten better mentally. “My experience was great playing overseas. One reason being, it forced me to think the game.”
  • As Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune notes, we may see some new tricks from Jazz newcomer, veteran forward Jeff Green, as his ever-expanding skill set could prove crucial for the team this coming season.
  • The Thunder rolled out a starting lineup that included Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroder in their latest preseason game, perhaps signaling the team’s plan to use multiple point guard rotations throughout this season. Tim MacMahon of ESPN has the story.
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2019/20 Over/Unders: Northwest Division

October 10th, 2019 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2019/20 NBA regular season will get underway in less than two weeks, which means it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign.

With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

Having already looked at the Atlantic, we’re moving onto the Northwest today…

Denver Nuggets

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Nuggets poll.

 Utah Jazz

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Jazz poll.

Portland Trail Blazers

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Trail Blazers poll.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Timberwolves poll.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Trade Rumors app users, click here for Thunder poll.

Previous voting results:

Atlantic:

  • Philadelphia 76ers (54.5 wins): Over (54.9%)
  • Boston Celtics (49.5 wins): Under (57.0%)
  • Toronto Raptors (46.5 wins): Under (59.1%)
  • Brooklyn Nets (43.5 wins): Over (58.3%)
  • New York Knicks (27.5 wins): Under (54.9%)
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Big Year From Gallinari Could Benefit Him And Thunder

October 7th, 2019 at 12:57pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Danilo Gallinari, acquired by the Thunder for salary-matching purposes in the Paul George blockbuster, is on an expiring contract and may not have a long-term stay in Oklahoma City, but a productive season could benefit both him and the team, writes Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. As Horne points out, if Gallinari is healthy and effective, the Thunder could flip him at the deadline, and he’d be in position to cash in as a free agent in 2020.
  • Royce Young of ESPN.com explores how the Thunder are adjusting to life in the post-Russell Westbrook era.
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