- University of Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie, a former teammate of Kevin Durant and a rumored candidate for the Thunder coaching vacancy that Billy Donovan filled last year, believes it’ll take a major effort for any team to pry Durant away from Oklahoma City in free agency this year, as Ollie tells Raul Barrigon of HoopsHype. Ollie describes Durant and Russell Westbrook as two of his best friends. “I know he’s going to make a decision with his heart,” Ollie said of Durant. “I know he’s gonna do that, choose the best situation for his family, the best position to win a championship. And OKC has a great team, I know he loves Russell Westbrook, I know he loves playing in front of the Thunder fans, so it’s going to take a team to do a great recruiting job to get him away from OKC.”
- The Thunder has assigned Josh Huestis to the D-League, the team announced. It’s the 14th time the team has sent the No. 29 pick from 2014 to the D-League this season.
- The Thunder have focused too much on adding scoring punch around Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and not enough on finding role players, argues Christopher Reina of RealGM. That plus their reliance on traditional big men threatens to leave the franchise in a compromising position, unable to win a title despite the presence of two elite players, Reina writes.
The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 is set at $70MM, which is good for an 11% increase from last season, and the luxury tax line is fixed at $84.74MM. With the February 18th cutoff date for trades and the de facto deadline of March 1st for buyouts now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of updating the salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Oklahoma City Thunder, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:
- 2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
- 2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
- Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $93,765,298
- Remaining Cap Room= -$23,765,298
- Amount Over Luxury Tax Line= $9,025,298
Cap Exceptions Available:
- Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception= $2,144,753
- Trade Exception= $2,750,000 (Luke Ridnour. Expires June 30th, 2016)
- Trade Exception= $2,038,206 (Perry Jones III. Expires July 14th, 2016)
- Trade Exception= $3,750,001 (Steve Novak. Expires February 18th, 2017)
Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $1,900,000
Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $3,400,000
Note: Despite the trade deadline having passed, the NBA season technically doesn’t end until June 30th. Teams are able to again make trades upon the completion of the regular season or when/if they are eliminated from the playoffs, whichever comes later. So these cash limits still apply.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
- The Thunder recalled small forward Josh Huestis from their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release.
Heading into free agency, Kevin Durant is asked about a lot of NBA destinations, but he offered a simple answer of “It’s home” when he got that question about Oklahoma City, relays Royce Young of ESPN.com. Whether or not that offers a clue of Durant’s free agency intentions, it’s clear he has developed an affection for the city where he has spent the last eight years of his NBA career. “I’ve always felt that this place meant so much to me,” Durant said. “It has a special place in my heart and my family’s heart as well.”
There’s more out of Oklahoma City:
- Billy Donovan has adjusted to the challenge of handling two superstars in his first NBA coaching job, writes Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Donovan had spent 21 years at the college level, and 19 at the University of Florida, before replacing Scott Brooks in Oklahoma City last summer. Donovan has the Thunder, who missed the playoffs in an injury-filled season a year ago, firmly in third place in the West with a 48-22 record. “I just think that there is sort of a down-to-earth part of him that allows him to come in and be excellent at inheriting a hell of a team,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said of Donovan. “That’s a hard job in different ways you look at it. Because it is so veteran and they have been used to success. I thought Scotty did a hell of a job with them, too. It’s not an easy job.”
- Randy Foye, who was acquired from the Nuggets at the trade deadline, has helped rejuvenate the bench in Oklahoma City, according to Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Foye is a streaky shooter, but he has helped by limiting turnovers and playing strong defense on the perimeter. Strong bench play has also come from center Enes Kanter, whom the Thunder kept last summer by matching a five-year, $70MM offer from Portland.
- Still recovering from hip surgery, assistant coach Maurice Cheeks is expected to return to the Thunder bench for home games beginning this week, Slater tweets. Donovan hopes Cheeks can take on full-time duty by the start of next month.
- The Thunder have assigned forward Mitch McGary to Oklahoma City Blue in the D-League. He has played 22 games with the Blue this season, averaging 15 points and 9.1 rebounds.
- Enes Kanter hasn’t seen the court lately in crunch time for the Thunder and coach Billy Donovan cites the big man’s defense as reason for keeping him off the floor, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman writes. “I just think [Kanter] needs to continually evolve,” Donovan said. “Because one thing, I looked at the numbers of Enes with the starters and Steven [Adams] with the starters and what those defensive numbers are and they’re drastically different. They just are.” Kanter signed a five-year, $70MM deal with the Thunder last offseason.
Thunder small forward Kevin Durant, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, understands that every comment he makes regarding other NBA cities will be magnified, but he doesn’t feel that he needs to censor his opinions, Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman writes. “I love being in Philly, too,” Durant said, addressing reaction to what he said this week about Boston. “If you ask me about a city, I like being there. I’m not going to say anything bad about it. That’s how I am. I’m not going to watch what I say. Because I know how I’m saying it and my intentions in saying it. People are going to pick and choose what they want to write and I can’t control that. But I can control what I say. And I’m not going to hold my tongue or answer things differently or walk on eggshells because I don’t want stuff written about me. I’m just gonna be who I am. Of course people are going to say stuff. I like playing in Boston, like the city, it’s a cool city, they ran with that one. But I know how it is. It’s all good.”
- The Thunder recalled forward Mitch McGary from their Oklahoma City Blue affiliate in the D-League, the organization announced via press release. McGary is averaging 15.1 points and 9.2 rebounds in 21 games with the OKC Blue.
The Spurs may have designs on pursing Kevin Durant this summer, a number of rival executives have informed Chris Mannix of The Vertical on Yahoo Sports. The small forward is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and will arguably be the biggest available prize on the market. The Thunder, who hold the player’s Bird rights, are still the favorites to re-sign Durant, but the Warriors, Clippers and Wizards have all been mentioned as possible landing spots should he choose to leave Oklahoma City. It’s worth noting that Durant played his college ball in Texas, though he is originally from the Washington D.C. area, which could make the Wizards an appealing alternative.
Of course, expressing interest in a player and actually signing him are two different things. San Antonio currently has $70,429,409 in salary committed for 2016/17 against a projected cap in the range of $90MM-$95MM, which certainly presents a challenge in regard to inking Durant, whose maximum salary is projected at $24.9MM. The trio of LaMarcus Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker alone are set to earn a combined $52,658,381 million next season, Mannix notes. Further muddying the waters are Tim Duncan ($5,643,750) and Manu Ginobili ($2,940,630), who both possess player options. If one or both were to retire, it would help free up more cap room, though the pair could also opt out and seek more money to re-sign, which could scuttle any plans to add Durant, the Vertical scribe notes. San Antonio could also look to trade Danny Green, who is set to earn $10MM in 2016/17, and/or Boris Diaw, who is slated to make $7MM next season, the Vertical scribe speculates. Diaw’s deal is partially guaranteed for $3MM, but it will become fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster past June 30th.
There is also the matter of what position Durant would play if he were to join San Antonio. The Spurs already have a budding superstar in Leonard, who also plays small forward. Mannix cites the versatility of both players in speculating about a potential San Antonio lineup that includes Durant and Leonard. While both players would likely play alongside one another effectively, that would require Aldridge to move to center full-time, a position he hasn’t been too keen on playing in the past, Mannix notes.
One reason Durant may consider leaving the Thunder is the alleged discord between him and teammate Russell Westbrook, Mannix writes.. Durant insists things are fine between himself and his teammates, as he told Mannix. “Look, we like each other,” Durant said. “We like playing with each other. We like being around each other. Sometimes it comes down to basketball. Sometimes, X’s and O’s are the reason you lose games. It’s not always leadership issues or camaraderie issues; sometimes other teams just play better basketball than you. But we love each other.”
The Thunder have their work cut out this season if they hope to overtake the Warriors and Spurs in the West, a challenge Durant told Mannix he embraces. “I think I’m playing a little more free than I used to,” Durant relayed. “I used to put a lot of pressure on myself. I’d think, ‘Maybe I’m not being a good enough leader. Maybe I should change my personality.’ I was always thinking ‘What if I change this?’ ‘What if I change that?’ instead of just going out and being me. I’ve just been about playing the game at the level I like playing at and playing with the level of joy I like playing with.”
How would Durant look in a Spurs uniform next season? Sound off in the comments section with your thoughts and opinions.
The Celtics, who are among many teams dreaming of signing Kevin Durant this summer, would have taken the Texas product first overall in the 2007 draft if the pingpong balls had bounced their way, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com. Instead, Portland landed the top pick and selected Ohio State center Greg Oden, with Durant falling to the Thunder at No. 2. “I was in the draft room, and they would have taken Durant,” said Austin Ainge, son of Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “I did have some inside information there.” Team co-owner Wyc Grousbeck has verified that claim, according to Forsberg.
Boston may be able to make its pitch to Durant more appealing by acquiring another high-level talent first. Forsberg suggested the Celtics may pursue Hawks free agent center/power forward Al Horford, who is also headed toward free agency and whom they reportedly targeted prior to last month’s trade deadline. Boston will have about $34MM in guaranteed salary for next season if it elects not to hang on to Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko. If the salary cap tops $90MM, as some estimates have suggested, the Celtics could have enough room for two elite free agents.
There’s more on the Atlantic Division:
- Durant, who will face the Celtics in Boston tonight for the first time since 2012, had plenty of good things to say about the city, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “I like the city a lot,” Durant told reporters this morning. “It’s cold, but they love sports here. It’s a family atmosphere I feel when I walk around the city, so yeah, I like it a lot.”
- The Nets are hoping they might have “the next Manu Ginobili” in second-round pick Juan Pablo Vaulet, according to NetsDaily. Playing in Argentina, Vaulet missed 19 games with an early-season stress fracture in his ankle, but he is starting to show why Brooklyn and other observers were so high on him during the draft. That includes new Nets GM Sean Marks, who was watching Vaulet closely when he was still with the Spurs’ front office.
- The Raptors‘ D-League affiliate has announced that Ronald Roberts Jr. will miss the rest of the season with a right knee injury, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor. Three NBA teams had considered signing Roberts to a 10-day contract before the injury, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (Twitter link).