The Wolves are turning away trade offers for Ricky Rubio until they see how Kris Dunn performs, Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical reports. Coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t anticipate Dunn taking over as the starting point guard position until approximately 20 games into the season, Wojnarowski adds. Until then, Rubio will be the team’s starter and remain on the roster, barring a substantial offer.
Several teams have expressed interest in Rubio, with the Kings being the most determined to land the 25-year-old. Sacramento has been looking to acquire a young point guard to lead the team for some time. It’s not clear what the Kings are willing to offer, but the team was engaged in serious trade talks with the Thunder on a deal that would have sent Rudy Gay to Oklahoma City in exchange for Cameron Payne. Those talks broke down after Payne injured his foot last month, sources tell Wojnarowski.
Thibodeau is determined to win games and make the playoffs this season. Such thinking could factor into what transactions the franchise makes this year.
Rubio, who has three years and slightly under $43MM left on his contract, has been solid during his time in Minnesota. Yet, Dunn has a much higher upside and it’s only a matter of time before Rubio takes a backseat to the rookie, as I discussed in Minnesota’s Offseason In Review.
The Thunder shuffled guards on their roster today, announcing via press release that Reggie Williams has been signed and Alex Caruso was waived. The details of Williams’ deal were not relayed, though it is almost assuredly a minimum salary arrangement that may include a small partial guarantee. Caruso’s minimum salary pact included a partial guarantee of $50K, which will remain on OKC’s salary cap unless he is claimed off waivers by another club.
Williams spent the 2015/16 campaign overseas with the Russian club Avtodor Saratov. He appeared in 16 contests and averaged 13.6 points on 58.8% shooting overall. The guard has appeared in 200 career NBA games (32 starts) with the Thunder, Spurs, Hornets and Warriors. He owns career averages of 7.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 18.3 minutes
Caruso, who went undrafted in June, played his college ball at Texas A&M, averaging 8.1 PPG, 5.0 APG, 3.6 RPG, and 2.1 SPG in his senior year, while shooting 36.8% from three-point range. The 22-year-old was also named to the SEC’s All-Defensive Team. He did not log a single minute of action during preseason play for the Thunder.
The 2016/17 NBA regular season will get underway in just over a week, which means it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign. With the help of the lines from offshore betting site Bovada.lv, we’re going to run through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division, and have you weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic. Having looked at the Atlantic division last Friday, we’re moving on to the Northwest today…
The TrailBlazers are the favorites to win the Northwest division this season, but it’s far from a certain outcome. Just a year ago, Portland was expected to be a lottery team after losing four starters, but the team overachieved, winning 44 games and beating an injury-riddled Clippers squad in the playoffs en route to a second round playoff series loss to the Warriors. Portland aggressively pursued high-priced, impact players in free agency and ended up adding Evan Turner on an expensive, four year, $70MM deal. Turner is a perplexing addition for a team that already had wing depth, but his presence should provide insurance of sorts in case of an injury. Turner will also give the team more flexibility with its line-up decisions, as Arthur Hill of Hoops Rumors writes in the team’s Offseason In Review. The Blazers’ depth should keep them from sliding too far down the standings, but they remain a strong candidate to regress.
The Thunder had the worst offseason of any team, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors details in the team’s Offseason In Review. Losing Kevin Durant hurts, but Oklahoma City’s roster is not barren. This team can easily go 10-12 players deep on most nights and Russell Westbrook shifting from running-mate to Commander In Chief with a solid supporting cast should be not only fun to watch, but also enough to keep the team in contention for the division crown.
The Wolves arguably have the best young core in all of basketball. They appear to be a year or two away from making major noise in the conference, as I discussed in the team’s Offseason In Review. However, coach/executive Tom Thibodeau is going to get the most out of this roster and if Kris Dunn is able to hit the ground running, Minnesota could exceed expectations.
Denver lurks as a potential playoff team this season. The Nuggets’ success hinges on Emmanuel Mudiay taking the next step and proving he can be a franchise point guard. The franchise is likely a season away from reaching its playoff goal, as Scarito writes in the team’s Offseason In Review. Nevertheless, this team will be frisky on a nightly basis with its depth giving opposing teams trouble.
The Jazz are in position to take a major step forward. The addition of George Hill is an underrated move and his presence, along with 35-year-old Joe Johnson and 34-year-old Boris Diaw, will provide this team with veteran leadership, as Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors notes in the team’s Offseason in Review. The Jazz have the talent to compete with any team in the league and they are my personal pick to win this division. Despite the injury to Gordon Hayward, I envision this team winning over 50 games and earning a top-4 seed in the Western Conference.
Do you think the Jazz will be atop this division at the end of the season or will another team take home the crown? Don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say!
Foul trouble is hampering rookie Domantas Sabonis as he bids for a starting job with the Thunder, writes Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. Sabonis has started every preseason game for Oklahoma City, but is averaging 3.3 personal fouls per night. Coach Billy Donovan is confident that Sabonis will learn to adjust. “When you’re a guard, you’re pretty much guarding the ball,” Donovan said. “But when you’re behind the (perimeter) defense and the floor starts moving and guys start shifting, you got to be able to pick up those movements and figure out what’s getting ready to happen.”
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook never got along when both were members of the Thunder, a one-time teammate of both told Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net, also adding that the reports of animosity between the pair since Durant signed with the Warriors are real, not a product of the media. “It’s real, and [since Durant left] the relationship has gotten worse,” the ex-teammate told the scribe. “They got along before because they sort of had to. There is no relationship now, and what is there is all bad.”
It’s not clear how eager the Thunder will be to get something done with Steven Adams and/or Victor Oladipo before October 31, since the team may be enticed by the possibility of maintaining 2017 cap room, Stein notes. Oklahoma City could take the same approach the Wizards and Pistons did with Bradley Beal and Andre Drummond, respectively, waiting to extend them in order to maximize cap room. Of course, waiting until 2017 would almost certainly mean doing max deals for Adams and/or Oladipo.
While GM Vlade Divac has said he doesn’t plan to move Gay and Ben McLemore, Lowe believes there’s a decent chance the Kings make a deal, adding that the Thunder are one team to watch for Gay.
Since joining the Nets, former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett has described the team as a good fit for him and has talked about attempting to revitalize his career in Brooklyn. However, the situation isn’t just a good one for Bennett — it could also pay off for the Nets if the forward can deliver on the promise he showed as a prospect.
“It’s double-edge. We both have really good opportunities, and that’s the way we look at it,” said Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “Anthony Bennett is showing some real life as a rotation big, and he’s pushing for minutes. He did a lot of good things. He’s a system fit: He’s fast, he’s athletic, he’s long, he can roll to the rim, he can shoot. I’m tempering my enthusiasm, but I really like what we saw the other night. He really fits the modern NBA, runs the court.”
As we wait to see whether Bennett can provide positive value in Brooklyn, let’s check in on a few more notes from out of the Big Apple…
According to an Associated Press report (via ESPN.com), the judge in Derrick Rose‘s civil trial said on Tuesday that he’s considering a mistrial, suggesting that the plaintiff’s lawyers have been “unbelievably careless” in production of exhibits. If there’s a mistrial, a new trial would likely happen during the NBA’s regular season, further complicating matters for Rose and the Knicks.
Chasson Randle chose the Knicks over the Thunder as a free agent this summer, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. As Berman details, head coach Jeff Hornacek and star forward Carmelo Anthony have both praised Randle, who is vying for New York’s final regular-season roster spot.
A year before they signed Jeremy Lin to a three-year, $36MM contract, the Nets had targeted the free agent point guard with their mini mid-level exception, sources tell Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. However, Lin said Brooklyn was “never legitimately a contender in terms of where I wanted to go” in 2015. In 2016, that changed, as Mazzeo outlines in an interesting piece.
October 10th, 2016 at 10:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder
Rookie Domantas Sabonis appears to be the early leader for the Thunder’s starting power forward position over veteran Ersan Ilyasova, Erik Horne of The Oklahoman reports. Sabonis passed and shot the ball well in the Thunder’s preseason games in Spain last week, Horne continues. He’s also shown unusual maturity for his age, Horne adds. “In terms of defensively where he’s supposed to be, remembering plays, doing his job, being in the right spots, the right positions, (being) a competitive guy, he’s reliable,” coach Billy Donovan told Horne. “Really reliable.”