Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Thunder Sign Scotty Hopson, Waive Adam Mokoka

October 15th, 2022 at 9:14am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have signed free agent guard Scotty Hopson, waiving recently signed guard Adam Mokoka to create room on their 20-man preseason roster, the team announced on Saturday.

Hopson, who appeared in one game for the Thunder last season while on a 10-day contract, has been a regular for the Oklahoma City Blue for the last few seasons. In 2021/22, he averaged 13.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.2 APG in 32 games (27.8 MPG) for OKC’s G League team.

Mokoka, 24, spent two seasons on a two-way contract with the Bulls from 2019-21. During that time, he appeared in 25 games at the NBA level, averaging 1.9 points in 6.7 minutes per game. The Frenchman returned to his native country last year to spend the season with Nanterre 92.

Mokoka will likely report to the OKC Blue as an affiliate player, while Hopson figures to join the Blue as a returning-rights player once he has been waived, which could happen later today. Assuming both players signed Exhibit 10 contracts, they’ll be eligible to earn bonuses worth up to $50K if they spend at least 60 days with the Blue.

The Thunder still have a full 20-man roster and will need to get down to 17 players (15 on standard contracts, plus two on two-way deals) by Monday evening.

Thunder Sign Adam Mokoka, Cut Abdul Gaddy

October 12th, 2022 at 4:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have signed free agent guard Adam Mokoka, waiving guard Abdul Gaddy to make room on the roster, the team announced today.

Mokoka, 24, spent two seasons on a two-way contract with the Bulls from 2019-21. During that time, he appeared in 25 games at the NBA level, averaging 1.9 points in 6.7 minutes per game. The Frenchman returned to his native country last year to spend the season with Nanterre 92.

Mokoka and Gaddy will likely both end up playing for the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate. Assuming both players signed Exhibit 10 contracts, they’ll be eligible for bonuses worth up to $60K if they spend at least 60 days with the Blue.

The Thunder still have a full preseason roster of 20 players after today’s moves.

Thunder Sign Abdul Gaddy, Cut Jaden Shackelford

October 10th, 2022 at 11:52am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder continue to move players in and out of the final spot on their 20-man roster, announcing today that they’ve waived guard Jaden Shackelford and signed guard Abdul Gaddy to replace him.

Shackelford, who went undrafted out of Alabama in June, played for the Thunder’s Summer League team in July and then signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the club this past weekend. He’ll likely become an affiliate player for the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League team.

Another member of the Thunder’s Summer League squad, Gaddy played for the OKC Blue from 2018-20, averaging 12.3 PPG and 8.6 APG in 38 games (33.0 MPG) as the team’s point guard in 2019/20. The 30-year-old, who has spent time with teams in Greece and Israel since then, appears likely to remain stateside and return to the Blue this season.

The Thunder continue to carry a full 20-man roster, with only one of those spots dedicated to an Exhibit 10 player. The team has 17 players on fully guaranteed standard contracts and a pair on two-way deals.

Thunder Sign Rookie Jaden Shackelford

October 8th, 2022 at 11:33am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Thunder have signed guard Jaden Shackelford, the team’s PR department tweets.

The deal has been a long time coming — it was reported just after the draft that Oklahoma City would ink the 6’3” guard to an Exhibit 10 contract.

Shackleford saw action in four games with the Thunder summer league team. He went undrafted after playing three seasons with Alabama. In 33 games (32 starts) with the Crimson Tide last season, he averaged 16.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 34.1 minutes per game.

Oklahoma City has made a number of similar moves in recent days. 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. That’s what will likely occur with Shackelford.

Thunder Sign, Waive Jahmi’us Ramsey

October 8th, 2022 at 11:21am CST by Rory Maher

OCTOBER 8: Ramsey has been waived, the Thunder announced. He’s likely to join the Oklahoma City Blue once he clears waivers.

OCTOBER 7: The Thunder have waived forward Robert Woodard II and signed guard Jahmi’us Ramsey, the team announced (Twitter links).

Woodard, who was just signed on Tuesday, was the 40th pick of the 2020 draft. He spent the majority of his first two seasons on a standard deal with the Kings, but had a very modest role, playing just 87 total minutes across 25 NBA games. The 23-year-old was waived by Sacramento in February and signed a two-way contract with the Spurs in March, but they opted not to bring him back.

Ramsey’s situation is very similar to Woodard’s, having spent the bulk of his first two pro seasons on a standard contract with the Kings after being selected with the 43rd pick in 2020. Like Woodard, he had a limited role, appearing in 32 total games for a total of 228 minutes, and was waived in February.

Both Woodard and Ramsey made appearances for the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate, after being waived by the Kings in 2021/22. Ramsey averaged 17.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 3.0 APG and 1.0 SPG on .429/.364/.783 shooting in 11 games (27.7 MPG) for the Blue.

While the terms of the contracts weren’t disclosed, it seems likely that both players received Exhibit 10 deals and are headed back to the Blue again in ’22/23. Assuming their contracts included Exhibit 10 language and Ramsey is also waived before the regular season starts, Woodard and Ramsey would be eligible for bonuses worth up to $50K if they spent at least 60 days with the Blue.

Northwest Notes: S. Johnson, Jazz, Murray, Blazers, Thunder

October 7th, 2022 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz are currently carrying 18 players on guaranteed contracts, with non-guaranteed camp invitee Cody Zeller also vying for a spot on the regular season roster, so Stanley Johnson – acquired from the Lakers in August’s Patrick Beverley trade – isn’t a lock to make the 15-man squad. However, head coach Will Hardy liked what Johnson provided to the team during its second preseason game on Tuesday, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News.

“Stanley really brought a lot of energy and toughness in particular on the defensive end tonight,” Hardy said after the game. “That’s his identity as a player, that’s how he can help our team, is by being somebody who has a massive impact on the defensive end… He’s really handled himself well, all throughout camp, not only with how he’s played, but how he’s interacted with his teammates, and I was really happy for him tonight.”

Assuming they don’t make any more trades before opening night, the Jazz will have to cut four players currently on standard contracts. Besides Johnson and Zeller, Saben Lee, Udoka Azubuike, and Leandro Bolmaro are among the other players whose roster spots may not be assured.

Here are a few more notes from around the Northwest:

Given that even the NBA’s worst team only has a 14% shot at the No. 1 overall pick, Tony Jones of The Athletic argues that the Jazz shouldn’t deliberately tank for Victor Wembanyama and suggests that establishing “winning habits” will be a priority in Utah. Given the lack of elite talent on the roster, the Jazz should still finish in the lottery and will be in position to draft a solid prospect even if they don’t land Wembanyama.
Speaking to Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report (video link), Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said he and the team had hoped he could return from his torn ACL in time for last season’s playoff series vs. Golden State, but he realized as he was ramping up to return that he still wasn’t mentally ready to play. “Six months later, I’m in a completely different space than I was before,” said Murray, who added that he’s glad he didn’t attempt to return last season.
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic takes a closer look at Mike Schmitz‘s decision to leave his job as an ESPN draft analyst for an assistant GM role with the Trail Blazers. According to Vorkunov, Schmitz’s responsibilities in Portland cover more than just the draft, as he’s also getting involved in work related to the salary cap, analytics, and more.
The Trail Blazers and Thunder both finished in the lottery last season, and John Hollinger of The Athletic expects that to happen again in 2022/23, despite the moves Portland made to upgrade its roster. Hollinger projects the Blazers to finish at 36-46 and 11th in the Western Conference, while picking the Thunder to be the West’s worst team at 20-62.

Dort Placed In Concussion Protocols

October 4th, 2022 at 10:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder guard Luguentz Dort sustained a concussion during Sunday’s practice and has been placed in the league’s concussion protocol, according to a team press release. Dort, who was limited to 51 games last season, signed a five-year, $87.5MM contract in July and projects as the team’s starting small forward.

EuroLeague Star Micic Seeks Defined Role Before Joining NBA

October 4th, 2022 at 10:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

If EuroLeague star Vasilije Micic makes the jump to the NBA, he wants a clearly-defined role and believes he may not be a good fit with the Thunder, he told Semih Tuna of Eurohoops.net.

Oklahoma City holds the rights to Micic and general manager Sam Presti recently stated the Thunder came “pretty close” to signing Micic, who has won back-to-back EuroLeague titles and Final Four MVPs with Turkish club Anadolu Efes.

Micic, 28, indicated he was hesitant to sign because he was unsure if he’d be part of the rotation.

“Talking about OKC, they have my rights and I have the desire to go there, but maybe our opinions are conflicting,” he said. “They want to develop their players and build a young team with all those great young guys they have. Maybe there is no space for me.”

Micic’s representatives were rumored to be urging the Thunder to trade his rights. However, he was still under contract in Europe and ultimately decided to stay with Efes for another season.

A conversation with Nikola Jokic also led to Micic’s decision to stay in Europe. They are teammates on the Serbian national team.

“From what I heard from my agents, there were rumors about some teams. Some teams were interested in me. As far as I understand, people there are hesitant to give me the role that I want,” he said. “I was talking to Jokic, he’s the best player out there. He said to me, ‘It doesn’t matter who you are when you’re there, what matters is the role you get, whether they will sign you, and the money in return. That’s how they look at you and show their confidence in this way.'”

Micic mentioned the possibility of being traded to a playoff contender, but said “that’s out of my hands.”

In terms of playing here next season, he’s more focused on getting playing time than a big contract.

“I don’t expect anything too cheap or anything crazy high on the contract,” he said. “The main issue for me is not money, but rather the trust of the team in me.”

Thunder Waive Sacha Killeya-Jones, Sign Robert Woodard II

October 4th, 2022 at 12:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sacha Killeya-Jones, who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Thunder on Sunday, has been placed on waivers, the team announced (via Twitter).

In a corresponding move, Oklahoma City has signed forward Robert Woodard II, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.

Woodard spent the past two seasons with the Kings, appearing in 25 combined games. After being waived in February, he played for the Thunder’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, which is where Mussatto expects him to wind up again.

Killeya-Jones’ deal with OKC was first reported in late July, but it didn’t become official until over the weekend. He reached the Exhibit 10 agreement with OKC after playing for the Lakers during Summer League.

The 6’11” power forward spent three seasons overseas after going undrafted out of N.C. State in 2019. He will also likely join the Oklahoma City Blue and can earn a bonus worth up to $50K if he spends at least 60 days there.

NBA GMs High On Cavs’ Offseason Moves, Bucks’ Title Chances

October 4th, 2022 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers‘ acquisition of Donovan Mitchell made their offseason the most successful of any NBA team, according to the league’s general managers. In his annual survey of the NBA’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 41% of the GM respondents picked Cleveland as having made the best offseason moves, while 59% chose the addition of Mitchell as the move that will have the biggest impact.

The Timberwolves and Jazz were on opposite ends of one of the summer’s other blockbuster trades, but the two clubs tied for second (along with the Sixers) in the GM vote for which teams made the best overall offseason moves. Minnesota’s trade for Rudy Gobert was the second-leading vote-getter for the offseason’s most impactful single acquisition, earning 31% of the vote.

The team viewed by the majority of GMs as the title favorite for 2023 didn’t earn any votes for having the best offseason. According to Schuhmann, 43% of the poll respondents picked the Bucks to win next year’s Finals, with GMs apparently betting on continuity in Milwaukee. The Warriors (25%), Clippers (21%), and Celtics (11%) also received votes.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

NBA general managers expect the Clippers – who will have Kawhi Leonard back – to be the most improved team in 2022/23. L.A. received 41% of the vote, with the Cavaliers and Pelicans at 17% apiece.
The Celtics‘ trade for Malcolm Brogdon earned the most votes (28%) for the summer’s most underrated acquisition. The Sixers‘ signing of P.J. Tucker and the Clippers‘ addition of John Wall were the runners-up, with 14% each.
Asked which team has the most promising young core, NBA GMs overwhelmingly chose the Cavaliers (41%) and Grizzlies (38%). The Pistons (10%) were the only other club to get multiple votes.
NBA GMs view Magic forward Paolo Banchero as the best bet to win Rookie of the Year (79%) and also chose him as the 2022 draftee most likely to be the best player in five years (31%), narrowly edging Thunder big man Chet Holmgren (28%). As for the steal of the draft, GMs were split between Pistons big man Jalen Duren and Rockets forward Tari Eason (14% apiece), among many others.
Mavericks star Luka Doncic was picked as the favorite to win MVP, earning 48% of the vote from NBA GMs. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks came in second with 34%.