- Like Swanigan and Diallo, UNC’s Tony Bradley continues to test the draft waters and has a full workout schedule before next Wednesday’s decision deadline. Per Jeff Goodman, Bradley will work out for the Lakers (Friday), Spurs (Sunday), Bucks (Tuesday), and Thunder (Wednesday) within the next week, after auditioning for New York today.
Jazz small forward Gordon Hayward has earned a max contract, according to Randy Hollis of The Deseret News. Hollis admits that he had been wrong about Hayward and hopes that Hayward elects to return to the Jazz in free agency in a fascinating piece that touts the budding star’s basketball brilliance.
Let’s round up a few more notes from around the Northwest…
- Alec Burks has had a difficult past few years as a result of injury, but he’s poised for a comeback, reports Mike Sorensen of The Deseret News. “It’s frustrating,” Burke said to Sorensen. “My (latest) injury was way more serious than I thought. But I’m a soldier and I learned a lot about my body and the game of basketball during the time out.”
- While Trey Lyles suffered through a disappointing sophomore campaign, Jazz coach Quin Snyder is certainly not giving up on his forward, per Randy Hollis of The Deseret News. “I think, for Trey, like a lot of young players, it’s more about him taking stock and looking at the year, figuring out he can use it to improve,” Snyder said. “Sometimes you have to go through some things like that in order to get a good gauge on where you are. I expect Trey to have a terrific summer and look forward to him leveraging some of that adversity to make himself a better player.”
- Taj Gibson would love to return to the Thunder, but he will have many suitors, writes Erik Horne of NewsOK.com. Horne’s piece discusses Gibson’s success in Oklahoma City after being traded from Chicago and names the power forward as likely the team’s best option in free agency.
- Although the Thunder are locked into the 21st overall pick in the draft, Tuesday night’s lottery may very well have implications for the team, as the draft ordering could affect which players are available on the trade market, writes Brett Dawson of NewsOK.com.
- Marcus Smart, who played his college ball at Oklahoma State, would fit in very well with the Thunder, writes Berry Tramel of NewsOK.com. Smart remains under contract with Boston for one more year.
Russell Westbrook received an opportunity to be the clear leader of a team for the first time in his career this past season and he delivered one of the greatest statistical seasons in recent memory. He averaged a triple-double, something that hasn’t been done since Oscar Robinson accomplished the feat in 1962, and he’s likely to take home the MVP award as a result.
The Thunder remained a major story this season because of the milestone, but they were clearly not legitimate title contenders; Kevin Durant‘s departure removed them from that elite class. Westbrook was able to put up numbers post-Durant, but he was unable to elevate the team beyond the first round of the NBA playoffs. His season ended at the hands of the Rockets in a series that highlighted team play over individualism.
Here are five questions facing the Thunder as they enter the offseason…
1. How will the front office upgrade the roster around Westbrook?
A lack of flexibility plagues GM Sam Presti, and the roster is filled with over-priced ancillary parts.
Extensions for Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo kick in this summer and for the next four years, the team will pay on average $46MM per season for two players who are unlikely to ever make an All-Star team. Enes Kanter, who saw a total of 45 minutes of playing time this postseason, will take home nearly $18MM during the 2017/18 campaign and Kyle Singler, who owned a paltry 5.9 player efficiency rating this season, will eat up nearly $4.7MM.
In all, the Thunder have roughly $110MM in guaranteed salaries on the books for the 2017/18 season against an estimated $101MM salary cap. The team owns the No. 21 overall pick in the upcoming draft and it will have the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, as well as a trade exception worth approximately $4.9MM, available for use. Those tools don’t inspire much hope for an improved roster and with the team’s lack of flexibility, making substantial changes will require Presti to perform some wizardry.
2. Which of their own free agents will the Thunder retain?
Victor Oladipo signed an extension with the Thunder last fall and as a result, he’ll go from making slightly over $6.55MM this season to $21.0MM next year. GM Sam Presti is confident that the shooting guard will take the necessary steps to justify that contract, as Erik Horne of The Oklahoman relays.
“[Oladipo has] improved every single year he’s been in the league, and I would expect him to continue to do that,” Presti said. “I really don’t have a concern that they will continue to, but there’s no question, Victor, Steven (Adams), those guys have to get better for us to continue to get where we want to go, and I think they are going to work to get to that point. I think he really showed a level of efficiency as a two-way player that’s really hard to find.”
Here’s more from the Northwest division:
- Olapido didn’t look comfortable running the point this season, Horne writes in the same piece. The shooting guard said he’ll work hard to improve this summer and he hopes to have more opportunities with the Thunder next season. “I like handling the ball. I like making decisions, and I know I can,” Oladipo said. “Now it’s a matter of doing it on a consistent basis.”
- Semaj Christon received backup point guard minutes, but he wasn’t much of a play-maker, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman notes. Christon was simply trying to avoid mistakes as a rookie and it held the team back. The guard remains under team control through the 2019/20 campaign, though I’d speculate that the Thunder won’t go into next season with Christon directly behind Russell Westbrook on the depth chart.
- The Jazz would like to re-sign Gordon Hayward as well as George Hill and Joe Ingles, but it may be difficult to retain all three, Jody Genessy of the Deseret News writes. Genessy believes the team may have to decide between Hill and Ingles assuming it brings Hayward back.
A broken hand suffered by reserve center Edy Tavares has reinforced Tyronn Lue’s decision not to scrimmage during the Cavaliers’ long break, writes Marla Ridenour of The Akron Beacon Journal. Lue is working to keep the Cavs focused during a nine-day layoff as they await the winner of the Celtics-Wizards series. Lue admits the team is “itching to play” as he guides the players through walkthroughs, but he won’t consider scrimmages because of the injury risk. Point guard Kyrie Irving supports the decision. “An incident happened in practice where somebody got hit in the hand and it just wasn’t good,” Irving said. “I was about to come out and play five-on-five and the incident happened three seconds later as T-Lue comes out of the door. Naw, I’m not for scrimmaging right now until the game.”
There’s more news today as the wait continues in Cleveland:
- Mike Brown and David Blatt have both prospered since being fired by the Cavaliers, notes Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com. Brown took two years off after his dismissal, passing on chances to become a lead assistant with the Thunder and head coach at Nevada-Las Vegas. Last summer, he became the Warriors’ top assistant and has assumed head coaching duties with Steve Kerr sidelined for health reasons. Brown could wind up coaching against the Cavs in the NBA Finals. Blatt, who was fired midway through last year’s championship season, is the highest-paid coach in Europe, guiding Darussafaka Dogus in the Turkish League. He led the club to its first-ever Euroleague playoff berth.
- After struggling on defense all season, the Cavaliers have improved on that end in the playoffs, writes Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. The Cavs ranked 22nd in defensive efficiency during the season, but are fourth since the postseason began. Still, Lue jokes that he wishes the players could remember their defensive assignments as well as they remember their pre-game handshake routines.
- The Cavaliers are among the teams showing interest in Arizona shooting guard Rawle Alkins, according to Sam Amico of Amicohoops. Cleveland doesn’t have a pick in this year’s draft, but could buy a late selection like it did last year to obtain Kay Felder. The Cavaliers, Thunder, Pelicans and Heat have all contacted Alkins’ high school coach to get more information, according to Adam Zagoria of Fanrag Sports (Twitter link).
- Kyle Singler has two more fully guaranteed years left on his contract with the Thunder, but his future with the franchise remains unclear, writes Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. As Dawson notes, Singler was virtually non-existent for Oklahoma City this past season, and will be a candidate to be traded or waived.
The Thunder are unlikely to add another star via free agency, Jon Hamm of Daily Thunder explains. High-priced extensions for Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams will kick in this summer and the duo will go from making a combined $9,693,477 this year to earning a combined $43,471,911 next season.
The team will have approximately $110MM in guaranteed salary on the book next season, as our Cap Digest page indicates. With the salary cap expected to come in around $101MM, it appears Oklahoma City will have to use the trade market if it intends to add a major piece.
Here’s more from Oklahoma City:
- Kendrick Perkins, who played with both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant for four-plus seasons, said the two All-Stars are “back on talking terms.” He believes there’s a chance that Durant will head back to OKC at some point in the future, as ESPN.com relays. “I wouldn’t be surprised — if KD makes a little run, I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes back to Oklahoma,” Perkins said. “Because in my opinion, I don’t think Russ is going anywhere. He’s that type of guy. He just wants to stick it out, and he just wants you to give him those pieces and he just wants to roll with it. He’s not going and trying to run and chase [titles]. And one thing about it, he’s not begging nobody to come play with him.”
- Erik Horne of The Oklahoman wonders if the Thunder will trade Enes Kanter this summer. The center didn’t have a strong defensive performance in the postseason and Horne notes that during the team’s playoff series against the Rockets, coach Billy Donovan appeared to say “Can’t play Kanter” to assistant coach Maurice Cheeks. Kanter only played a total of 45 minutes during OKC’s five playoff games.
- Arizona’s Rawle Alkins worked out for the Thunder last weekend, Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog tweets. Jonathan Givony of Draft Express has Alkins as the 78th-best prospect in the upcoming draft.
- Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders suggests that the Celtics, Thunder, and Clippers could be logical landing spots for Rudy Gay, who will opt out of his contract with the Kings this summer.
With top decision-makers Mike Budenholzer and Wes Wilcox transitioning to new roles this offseason, the Hawks are searching for a new basketball executive to head their front office, and may be eyeing a Thunder executive. League sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link) that OKC vice president and assistant GM Troy Weaver is “poised to emerge” as a top candidate for Atlanta.
Weaver, who is a key voice in the Thunder’s front office under Sam Presti, has been viewed for some time as a future general manager candidate. Earlier this year, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton identified Weaver as one of seven front-office “prospects” to watch.
As Pelton detailed at the time, Weaver isn’t necessarily a salary cap expert, but he’s an “obsessive student” of the NBA’s history and has a “discerning eye for raw basketball talent.” According to Pelton, people who have worked with Weaver view him as a collaborative co-worker who could be trusted to hire an outstanding and balanced staff.
Of course, it’s not clear yet how much latitude the Hawks’ new basketball operations head will be given to restructure the front office and bring in new people. While Budenholzer and Wilcox have been re-assigned, Budenholzer is still expected to have a voice in personnel decisions, and Atlanta hasn’t technically fired anyone at this point. It remains to be seen whether execs like senior advisor Rick Sund or assistant GMs Michael Blackstone and Jeff Peterson will remain with the Hawks under new leadership.
In addition to Weaver, candidates for the Hawks’ top front office job reportedly include David Griffin and Joe Dumars. More names could be added to that list in the coming days or weeks.
When Steven Adams next takes the court for the Thunder he’ll be paid $22.4MM, Brett Dawson of the Oklahoman writes. This year, in contrast, the big man made just $3.1MM. Don’t think that the dramatic change in salary will automatically correspond with a dramatic change in production, however, Dawson writes.
“I think Steven’s effectiveness, so much of it is in the things he already does,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. That, of course, includes stellar rim protection, effective pick-and-roll defense and the occasional offensive support without demanding the ball every possession.
- It’s no easier to determine forward Josh Huestis‘ future with the Thunder, Erik Horne of the Oklahoman writes, because the 2014 first-rounder didn’t play enough to make much of an impression.