JaMychal Green was officially traded to the Thunder by the Nuggets on Thursday, but it’s unlikely the forward will ever suit up for Oklahoma City. General manager Sam Presti says they’ll look to trade Green, Brandon Rahbar of the Daily Thunder tweets. Green, 32, is at the stage of his career where he provides greater value to a contender than a rebuilding team. He’s on an $8.2MM expiring contract for 2022/23.
The Thunder are planning to exercise Luguentz Dort‘s team option for next season, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Dort is set to make $1,930,681 in the final season of a four-year deal he signed as a rookie.
Oklahoma City has until June 29 to reach a decision on Dort’s option, but general manager Sam Presti told Mussatto that all signs point to picking it up.
“Obviously it’s our plan to exercise that pending anything different,” Presti said.
Dort put up career-best numbers this season with 17.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 51 games, but his season was cut short by a shoulder injury in mid-February.
While Dort is obviously a major bargain on a $1.93MM salary, there was some question about whether or not the Thunder would pick up his option due to his contract situation. He could become a restricted free agent if the team declined that option, whereas if his option is picked up, he’ll be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2023.
Dort would become trade-eligible if his option is exercised. There were multiple reports before the draft that the Trail Blazers had interest in acquiring the 24-year-old swingman.
The Thunder are signing Alabama guard Jaden Shackelford to an Exhibit 10 contract, Ben Creider of Sports Illustrated tweets. The contract agreement was confirmed by Shackleford’s agent, Adie von Gontard, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets.
Shackelford himself posted a “Thank you Thunder, let’s work!” tweet.
Shackelford, 21, averaged 16.6 PPG and 5.4 RPG while making 35.7% of his 3-point attempts for the Crimson Tide last season. The 6’3” guard averaged 15.2 PPG in 97 career games with Alabama.
An Exhibit 10 is a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract that counts toward a team’s 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesn’t count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster.
A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate.
After going undrafted on Thursday, Michigan State forward Gabe Brown has reached a deal to sign with the Thunder, reports Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). While Zagoria categorizes Brown’s deal as partially guaranteed, Jake Weingarten of StockRisers.com tweets that it’s an Exhibit 10 contract.
An Exhibit 10 is a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract that counts toward a team’s 20-man offseason roster limit, but doesn’t count against the cap unless the player makes the regular season roster.
A player on an Exhibit 10 contract can earn a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate, which may be the partial guarantee Zagoria was referring to. A player can also have his Exhibit 10deal converted into a two-way contract before the start of the regular season.
Ranked by ESPN as the No. 22 prospect of the undrafted rookies, Brown entered the starting lineup on a full-time basis for the Spartans as a senior in 2021/22, averaging 11.6 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a .382 3PT% in 36 games (28.9 MPG). He earned a spot on the All-Big 10 Third Team before going pro this spring.
Brown’s deal with Oklahoma City can become official after the new NBA league year begins on July 1.
The Wizards used their No. 10 overall pick on Thursday night to land one of the top guards in this year’s draft, selecting Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis. However, the Wizards remain in the market for veteran help at the point guard spot, and Grizzlies free agent Tyus Jones is among the players on their radar, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
As Scotto explains, Washington should have the flexibility to use the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception and could make a compelling bid for Jones. The club could potentially give him the opportunity to start, which Jones “ideally desires,” writes Scotto.
The Grizzlies hold Jones’ Bird rights, giving them the ability to make a strong offer to retain Jones. Memphis’ decision to trade De’Anthony Melton to Philadelphia perhaps signaled that re-signing Jones will be an offseason priority, though the team did draft a potential backup point guard in Kennedy Chandler on Thursday night.
Here’s more from Scotto:
- Rival NBA executives believe the Knicks are “all-in” for Jalen Brunson after making efforts to open up cap space on Thursday. Taj Gibson and his $5MM+ non-guaranteed salary will likely be waived to create more cap flexibility, says Scotto.
- The Knicks will have to open up more cap room to make a serious bid for Brunson, and Scotto reiterates that Cam Reddish and Alec Burks are possible trade candidates. Reddish was part of one of the offers New York sent to the Pistons for Jaden Ivey, according to Scotto, who says Burks has been offered to the Cavaliers and Pacers, among other teams.
- In considering potential landing spots for Suns RFA center Deandre Ayton, Scotto writes that people around the NBA have speculated about a possible sign-and-trade deal involving Pacers center Myles Turner — both players are represented by the same agent, Bill Duffy. Previous reports have indicated the Pacers spoke to the Suns prior to the trade deadline about Ayton.
- The Trail Blazers have been mentioned as a possible suitor for Ayton, but they remain intent on re-signing incumbent center Jusuf Nurkic, league sources tell Scotto.
- Although EuroLeague star Vasilije Micic is interested in coming to the NBA for the 2022/23 season, he wants to join a playoff contender and is interested in a salary worth close to the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, says Scotto. The Thunder may have to trade Micic’s draft rights for those goals to come to fruition.
JUNE 23: The Nuggets and Thunder have officially completed their trade, according to a press release from the Nuggets.
The deal sends Green and a protected 2027 first-round pick to the Thunder in exchange for the draft rights to No. 30 pick Peyton Watson to the Nuggets and two second-rounders (one in 2023 and one in 2024).
The 2027 first-rounder the Thunder are receiving will be top-five protected for three years and would become a 2029 second-rounder if it falls in its protected range in 2027, 2028, and 2029, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link).
JUNE 13: The Nuggets and Thunder have agreed to a trade that will send forward JaMychal Green to Oklahoma City, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Green will pick up his $8.2MM player option for 2022/23 as part of the deal.
According to Wojnarowski, Oklahoma City will also receive a protected 2027 first-round pick from Denver, while the Nuggets will get the No. 30 pick in this year’s draft, plus a 2023 second-round selection and a 2024 second-rounder.
The Thunder entered the week with four picks in the top 34 of this year’s draft — they also control Nos. 2, 12, and 34. They were always considered extremely unlikely to bring in four rookies for the 2022/23 season, so it comes as no surprise that they decided to move off one of their picks. Giving up No. 30 will allow them to land a future first-rounder and a potentially useful player in Green, who will be on an expiring contract.
Green had a down year in 2021/22, averaging 6.4 PPG and 4.2 RPG on .486/.266/.871 shooting in 67 games (16.2 MPG) for the Nuggets, but has proven to be an effective stretch four over the years. Entering ’21/22, he had knocked down 38.0% of his three-point attempts in his first seven NBA seasons.
It’s unclear whether the Thunder intend to keep Green for the 2022/23 season or if they’ll try to flip him to another team.
From the Nuggets’ perspective, the trade – Calvin Booth‘s first as the head of basketball operations – allows them to move off some salary for ’22/23 while acquiring an extra 2022 first-rounder in exchange for a future pick. Denver will now control the 21st and 30th overall picks in this year’s draft, giving the team some ammo if it wants to try to move up.
While it looks on the surface as if the Nuggets may be trying to duck below the luxury tax line for next season, Wojnarowski says (via Twitter) that’s not the case. According to Woj, Denver still expects to be a taxpaying team and now has more flexibility to use its mid-level exception or the $8.2MM trade exception that will be generated by moving Green.
The trade will be finalized sometime before the new league year begins at the start of July, since the Thunder will use a portion of their leftover cap room to take on Green’s salary — that cap room will go away in July when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s maximum-salary extension hits Oklahoma City’s books, as we noted in our offseason preview.
Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link) estimates that OKC will still have about $23.4MM in ’21/22 cap space after acquiring Green, so more salary-dump deals could be on the way within the next couple weeks.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), the Nuggets already owe their 2023 first-round pick (top-14 protected) to the Thunder and their 2025 first-round pick (top-five protected) to the Magic. If either of those selections falls within its protected range, the 2027 pick that OKC is acquiring in this trade would have to be pushed back to 2028, since the Stepien rule prevents teams from trading consecutive future first-rounders.
9:33pm: Commissioner Adam Silver officially announced the trade between the Thunder and Knicks on the NBA’s draft broadcast.
According to Silver, New York is receiving three conditional future first-round picks in the deal. Shams Charania of The Athletic provides more details, tweeting that New York is acquiring the Nuggets’ 2023 first-rounder (top-14 protected), the Pistons’ 2023 first-rounder (top-18 protected), and the Wizards’ 2023 first-rounder (top-14 protected).
It appears the Denver pick will be re-routed to Charlotte in a salary-dump deal involving Kemba Walker.
8:13pm: The Knicks selected French forward Ousmane Dieng with the No. 11 pick in tonight’s draft, but he won’t play for them.
New York is trading Dieng to the Thunder, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Oklahoma City is sending the Knicks multiple first-round picks in the deal, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
That gave the Thunder back-to-back picks, since they also owned the No. 12 selection via the Clippers. That pick isn’t part of the trade with the Knicks, Wojnarowski tweets. OKC used that pick on wing Jalen Williams from Santa Clara.
Dieng, who played last season with the New Zealand Breakers, is considered the top international prospect in the draft and will give OKC another lengthy big man to pair up with No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren.
New York tried in vain to move up and acquire guard Jaden Ivey and ultimately decided to move down in the draft. By trading out of the first round, the Knicks reduce their salary cap obligations for this year, giving them more elbow room to dump salary if needed for another trade, perhaps as soon as a few days from now, cap expert Nate Duncan tweets.
The Thunder have selected Gonzaga center Chet Holmgren with the second overall pick of the 2022 NBA draft.
In 32 games (26.9) as a freshman this season, the 7’0″ Holmgren averaged 14.1 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 1.9 APG and 3.7 BPG. The 20-year-old also boasted an impressing shooting slash line of .607/.390/.717.
Holmgren won numerous awards for his impressive season, including Consensus All-America Second Team, All-WCC First Team, and WCC Defensive Player of the Year, among others.
Holmgren helped lead the Bulldogs to a 28-4 record and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in 2021/22. They ultimately fell to Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen, ending their tournament run.
Weighing just 195 pounds, Holmgren has been a somewhat divisive prospect for talent evaluators. Some are enamored by his length (7’6″ wingspan) and overall skillset, as he’s an outstanding shot blocker, rebounder, and inside finisher. He also has some guard-like skills, capable of starting a fast break after a defensive rebound with his ball handling on top of being a solid passer, and a good shooter with space.
The Thunder are known for playing their cards close to the vest, so many around the league were curious if they’d actually select Holmgren, but clearly they viewed his upside as too good to pass up.
6:56pm: Wojnarowski (Twitter link) now classifies Banchero as the frontrunner to be the No. 1 pick.
6:48pm: Duke forward Paolo Banchero remains “very much” in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick, Adrian Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s draft broadcast. Wojnarowski has since reported on Twitter that Banchero has emerged as a “significant possibility” to be drafted first overall (Twitter links).
The Magic are expected to select either Auburn’s Jabari Smith or Banchero, according to Wojnarowski, who says there’s a “real chance” teams’ draft boards could be blown up.
Virtually all reporting leading up to draft night has had Smith as the favorite to go first overall, with ESPN’s Jonathan Givony suggesting earlier this week that it would be a major surprise to most teams around the NBA if Smith isn’t Orlando’s pick.
As we relayed earlier today, oddsmakers around the country briefly made Banchero the betting favorite to be the No. 1 pick late last night, but those odds shifted back strongly in Smith’s favor after Wojnarowski reported this morning that the top three – with Smith to Orlando, Chet Holmgren to the Thunder, and Banchero to the Rockets – looked “increasingly firm.”
As the Hornets resume their head coaching search following Kenny Atkinson‘s decision to back out of an agreement with the team, Marc Stein suggests in his latest Substack column that a surprising name may be on Charlotte’s radar.
According to Stein, there’s some “serious mounting buzz” that Steve Clifford, who coached the Hornets from 2013-18, has emerged as a candidate to replace James Borrego. Charlotte is reportedly in the market for a candidate with previous head coaching experience and is certainly familiar with Clifford. He took the club to the postseason in 2014 and 2016 — those are the Hornets’ only playoff appearances since 2010.
Mike D’Antoni, who was said to be meeting with Hornets owner Michael Jordan this week, was a finalist during the initial search appears to still be in contention for the job. There have been conflicting reports on whether Terry Stotts was also a finalist before the team reached a deal with Atkinson — Stein writes that D’Antoni was the “only other known finalist” at that point.
Here’s more from Stein:
- Confirming that the Pistons are expected to pursue Suns RFA center Deandre Ayton, Stein says Ayton would embrace the idea of teaming up with Cade Cunningham in Detroit. Stein adds that Miles Bridges and Collin Sexton are believed to be ahead of Jalen Brunson on the Pistons’ list of other potential free agent targets. Both Bridges and Sexton will be restricted free agents, while Brunson will be unrestricted.
- There’s an increasing belief in coaching circles that Jazz CEO Danny Ainge would like to hire an up-and-coming first-time head coach to replace Quin Snyder, according to Stein, who identifies Celtics assistant Will Hardy and Suns assistant Kevin Young as candidates who have impressed Utah so far.
- After writing on Wednesday that the Sixers would be the favorites to sign P.J. Tucker if the forward leaves the Heat, Stein says today that Philadelphia’s impending pursuit of Tucker has the “strong backing” of star center Joel Embiid.
- In addition to OG Anunoby, the Trail Blazers maintain interest in Thunder swingman Luguentz Dort, says Stein. Portland’s interest in Dort was previously reported. Portland’s No. 7 overall pick could be in play as the team seeks an upgrade on the wing.