Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kenrich Williams Undergoes Wrist Surgery, Out For Season

March 7th, 2023 at 9:29am CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 7: The Thunder formally confirmed that Williams underwent surgery on Tuesday morning in New York to repair the scapholunate ligament in his left wrist. He’ll miss the rest of this season and will be ready for the start of 2023/24, per the team.

MARCH 2: Kenrich Williams suffered a wrist injury in Tuesday’s game that will require surgery and he is expected to miss the rest of the 2022/23 season, the Thunder announced in a press release.

Williams has been diagnosed with a scapholunate ligament rupture in his left wrist. The injury was originally listed as a sprain, and he was inactive for Wednesday’s game.

The 28-year-old swingman is averaging 8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists through 53 games while shooting 51.7% from the field. He also leads the NBA in charges drawn with 26.

Williams is expected to make a full recovery following surgery, according to the Thunder.

He is under contract through 2025/26 with a team option for the following season, having signed a four-year extension with Oklahoma City last summer. That contract will begin next season and will bump Williams’ salary from $2MM to $6.175MM.

Thunder Notes: SGA, Butler, Jaylin Williams

March 6th, 2023 at 1:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman (subscriber link) calls Shai Gilgeous-Alexander another “too-good-to-be-true superstar,” noting that the fifth-year guard went out of his way to wear a Thunder– and Oklahoma City-inspired jacket to his first All-Star game. As Tramel writes, Gilgeous-Alexander may not have had the prospect pedigree of Kevin Durant, but he has developed into a star in his own right, and the 24-year-old is a “consummate leader, forever saying and doing the right things.”

When Tramel brought his “too-good-to-be-true” theory up to head coach Mark Daigneault, he readily agreed.

“Part of the reason why it’s too good to be true, is because he doesn’t separate himself out,” Daigneault said of SGA. “Even with all the temptations and all the attention and status and money, and all the stuff that could tempt you to separate yourself.

“And really, there’s nothing in the NBA stopping players from doing that. You’re kind of at the mercy of whether they want to. Fortunately for us, he’s on that track. He’s already checked a lot of those boxes. And yet, he wants to do it inside the team. He wants to do it inside the organization, he wants to be part of something bigger than himself.”

Gilgeous-Alexander’s maturity and team-first mentality, not to mention his long-term contract that runs through 2026/27, seems to bode well for the Thunder as they continue to build around him, according to Tramel.

Here’s more on the Thunder:

Gilgeous-Alexander cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Saturday and was able to suit up on Sunday, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Gilgeous-Alexander missed five consecutive games with a combination of an abdominal strain, right ankle soreness and then entering the protocols. The Thunder went just 1-4 in his absence, but were victorious last night against Utah. The 24-year-old didn’t miss a beat in his return, recording 38 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.
Daigneault said Thunder GM Sam Presti was high on guard Jared Butler entering the 2021 draft, per Mussatto (Twitter link). Butler just signed a two-way deal with Oklahoma City last week, making one brief appearance thus far. The Thunder had four picks ahead of where Butler was selected (No. 40 overall), including two in the 30s, so they had multiple chances to take him. Instead, they wound up packaging the Nos. 34 and 36 picks (used on Rokas Jokubaitis and Miles McBride) in a trade to land Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (No. 32).
In an article for The Oklahoman, Mussatto details how rookie big man Jaylin Williams and the Thunder have perfected the art of drawing charges. The team has a league-leading 83 charges on the season, far exceeding the Heat’s 63, which ranks second. Williams is a ground-bound center, but he uses his game knowledge to protect the rim in a different way. “It stems from my dad,” he said, “just watching film with him from a young age, me understanding the game and understanding there’s more than basketball than putting the rock through the rim.”

Lindy Waters Discusses Promotion From Hometown Team

March 3rd, 2023 at 11:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Thunder wing Lindy Waters, who grew up in Norman and played his college ball at Oklahoma State, is thrilled to have signed a standard NBA contract with his hometown team, as Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman writes. “Thankful for a lot of people along the way that helped me to get to where I am,” Waters said. “Very thankful for the organization for giving me a shot, letting me come in and work out and showing they care. But yeah, it’s just been a wild ride.”

Jared Butler Signs Two-Way Contract With Thunder

March 3rd, 2023 at 2:58pm CST by Rory Maher

MARCH 3: Butler has officially signed a two-way contract with the Thunder, according to a press release from the team.

MARCH 2: The Thunder intend to sign guard Jared Butler to a two-way contract, his agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Butler was a key member of the national champion Baylor Bears in 2021, averaging 16.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 4.8 APG and 2.0 SPG while shooting 41.6% from 3-point range as a junior. However, questions about his health hurt his draft stock and he slipped to No. 40 overall in the 2021 draft after having been considered a likely first-rounder.

The 22-year-old spent his rookie season with the Jazz, appearing sparingly in 42 games (8.6 MPG) while averaging 3.8 PPG and 1.5 APG on .404/.318/.688 shooting. Utah had a roster crunch during preseason this past fall and ultimately released Butler despite the fact that his $1.56MM salary for this season was guaranteed.

Butler has spent the 2022/23 season with the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s G League affiliate, averaging 19.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 5.2 APG and 1.2 SPG on .483/.458/.771 shooting in 18 games (30.1 MPG) during the fall Showcase Cup. He has averaged 17.1 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 5.8 APG on .438/.354/.840 shooting in 23 regular season games (30.2 MPG) with the Gold.

The Thunder had an open two-way slot, so they won’t need to cut anyone to sign Butler. Their 17-man roster will be full once the move is official.

Thunder Entered 2022 Draft Focused On Landing Jalen Williams

March 3rd, 2023 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder entered last year’s draft determined to come away with both Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Insider link), who takes a look back at how the team ensured it ended up with Williams late in the lottery. According to Windhorst, the Thunder were concerned that their interest in Williams had gotten out and that a team would trade for the Knicks’ pick at No. 11 to nab the Santa Clara star before Oklahoma City could take him at No. 12.

As Windhorst explains, the Thunder ultimately agreed to acquire the No. 11 pick from New York and used it to select Ousmane Dieng, then drafted Williams with their own pick at No. 12 — that way, if the deal with the Knicks fell through before becoming official, they’d still be assured of having Williams.

Williams is enjoying a strong rookie season for the Thunder, starting 45 of 58 games and averaging 12.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 3.1 APG while shooting 51.1% from the floor.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander In COVID-19 Protocols

February 28th, 2023 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Already hampered by an abdominal strain and right ankle soreness, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has now entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. The OKC All-Star has been ruled out for Tuesday’s game vs. Sacramento and will likely miss at least Wednesday’s contest against the Lakers too now that he’s in the COVID-19 protocols, Mussatto adds.

Lindy Waters III Signs Two-Year Deal With Thunder

February 27th, 2023 at 2:23pm CST by Arthur Hill

2:23pm: Waters’ promotion to a standard deal is now official, the Thunder announced in a press release.

11:17am: Two-way guard Lindy Waters III will receive a standard contract with the Thunder, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The two-year deal will be worth $3.8MM and will include a team option for 2023/24.

Waters, 25, has been playing on a two-way contract since last February. The former Oklahoma State standout has appeared in 25 games this season, averaging 4.4 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11.2 minutes per night.

Waters is coming off one of his best games, scoring 12 points in 17 minutes on Sunday against the Kings. That came after he played in a G League contest with the Oklahoma City Blue earlier in the day, notes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.

Based on the contract terms reported by Charania, it sounds like the Thunder will use a portion of their mid-level exception to give Waters a salary worth more than the minimum for the rest of this season.

The Thunder opened a roster spot late last night by waiving Eugene Omoruyi.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Expected Back Soon

February 27th, 2023 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

The Thunder are optimistic that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won’t be sidelined much longer, states Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. The star guard missed his second straight game on Sunday with an abdominal strain and right ankle soreness, but there’s hope that he might return Tuesday.

Thunder Waive Eugene Omoruyi

February 27th, 2023 at 8:53am CST by Arthur Hill

The Thunder opened a roster spot by waiving second-year forward Eugene Omoruyi, the team announced in a press release.

Omoruyi, 26, signed a two-way contract with Oklahoma City last summer and was converted to a standard deal earlier this month. His new contract ran through 2023/24, but the second season was non-guaranteed.

The Thunder wanted roster flexibility and the decision came down to Omoruyi or Dario Saric, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. The team opted to hold onto Saric, who was acquired from the Suns at the trade deadline.

Omoruyi appeared in 23 games for the Thunder, averaging 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per night. He also spent part of the season with the team’s G League affiliate.

After going undrafted out of Oregon in 2021, Omoruyi broke into the NBA on a two-way contract with the Mavericks. He played four games for Dallas before being waived in December of that year.

Community Shootaround: NBA’s Race To The Bottom

February 26th, 2023 at 11:57am CST by Luke Adams

Coming into the 2022/23 season, there was some concern that the presence of Scoot Henderson and (especially) Victor Wembanyama at the top of the 2023 draft class could result in some pretty aggressive tanking from the bottom third of the NBA’s teams.

It hasn’t played out that way so far though, due to a competitive race for the top 10 spots in each conference. In the West, the top 13 teams all either hold a playoff or play-in spot or are no more than 1.5 games back of the No. 10 seed. It’s not quite as congested in the East, but the conference’s 13th team is only four games out of a play-in spot.

As a result, there have been only four teams in full-on “race for Wembanyama” mode, and one of those four clubs hasn’t exactly been in tanking mode as of late, winning its last four games. Here’s what the bottom of the NBA’s standings look like as of Sunday morning:

Houston Rockets (13-46)
San Antonio Spurs (14-47)
Detroit Pistons (15-46)
Charlotte Hornets (19-43)
Orlando Magic (25-36)
Indiana Pacers (27-35)
Chicago Bulls (27-33)
Los Angeles Lakers (28-32)
(tie) Portland Trail Blazers / Oklahoma City Thunder / Washington Wizards (28-31)

Given that the odds for the No. 1 pick are the same for each of the NBA’s three worst teams, it seemed as if we’d get a four-team race for those three spots at the bottom of the standings. But the Hornets have won their last four games and appear far better positioned to continue getting victories than the Rockets (losers of eight in a row and 23 of their last 26), the Spurs (losers of 15 in a row and 21 of 22), and the Pistons (losers of four in a row and seven of their last eight).

Of course, if the Hornets were to play .500 ball the rest of the way, they’d still end up with just 29 wins, so they may end up with the NBA’s fourth-worst record even if they finish strong. After all, the Bulls, Lakers, Trail Blazers, and Wizards all seem motivated to make the play-in.

The Magic, Pacers, and Thunder are perhaps candidates for stealth end-of-season tanks in order to secure top-five lottery odds, since none of those clubs expected to be a playoff team this season. But they’ve been competitive all season and would probably have to start ruling out some of their top players due to injuries if they want to start winning less often (similar to what Portland did last year).

As for the race to the bottom among the NBA’s three worst teams, it’s hard to bet against the Rockets, who also finished with the league’s worst record in 2021 and 2022. But the Spurs are giving them a run for their money with their recent stretch of futility, posting an abysmal -15.8 net rating during their 15-game current losing streak. And the Pistons seem happy to experiment with new lineups while incorporating recently added players.

We want to know what you think. How will the race for lottery positioning play out the rest of the way? Which team will finish as the NBA’s worst? Has the Hornets’ recent success locked them into the fourth spot in the lottery standings? Are there any teams with 25 or more wins that you expect to go into full-on tank mode in the coming days or weeks?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in!