- Discussing his new maximum-salary contract extension, Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander called the deal a “dream come true,” but views it as just one achievement to cross off on his long list of career goals, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. “I still have 90% of my list, so I won’t stop,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who added that he feels “150%” healthy after missing the end of last season with a foot injury.
After being traded from a title contender in Utah to a fully rebuilding team in Oklahoma City this offseason, Derrick Favors admitted on Monday that the idea of not reporting to his new team and/or asking to be sent elsewhere crossed his mind. However, he said he didn’t “want to be that guy,” as Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman relays (via Twitter).
Favors likely isn’t part of the Thunder‘s long-term plans, but he’s under contract for another year beyond this season, so the team likely won’t consider buying him out or releasing him anytime soon. As they did with veterans like Chris Paul and Al Horford, the Thunder will likely try to build up Favors’ value as much as they can before perhaps pursuing a trade at the 2022 deadline or next summer.
Here’s more out of Oklahoma City:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed the last two months of the 2020/21 season due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, has “no limitations at all” entering training camp, Thunder general manager Sam Presti said last week, according to Paris Lawson of OKCThunder.com. Presti admitted the team took a “conservative approach” to the injury last season in the hopes that Gilgeous-Alexander would be 100% now.
- Presti also said last week that all of the Thunder’s players are vaccinated against COVID-19, per Lawson.
- It has now been a full year since rookie guard Vit Krejci tore his ACL, and he said today that his knee isn’t giving him any problems, tweets Mussatto. Krejci was selected with the 37th pick in the 2020 draft, but spent the year rehabbing his injury and didn’t sign his first NBA contract until this offseason.
- There were rumors in international outlets over the summer that Gabriel Deck, who is on a non-guaranteed contract with the Thunder, might return to Spain this offseason. However, Deck denied those reports today. “The rumors are not true,” he said, per Mussatto (Twitter link). “It was always my plan to be here with the Thunder.”
The Thunder have filled out their 20-man training camp roster by signing guard Rob Edwards and forward D.J. Wilson, the club announced in a press release.
Edwards, who went undrafted out of Arizona State in 2020, played for the Oklahoma City Blue – the Thunder’s G League affiliate – as a rookie in 2020/21. The 6’6″ guard averaged 12.5 PPG and 3.5 RPG with a .440 3PT% in 15 NBAGL games (21.3 MPG).
Wilson, the 17th overall pick in the 2017 draft, spent the first three-and-a-half season of his career in Milwaukee before being traded to Houston at last season’s trade deadline. He had fallen out of the Bucks’ rotation, but averaged 6.1 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a shooting line of .416/.339/.696 in 23 games (14.3 MPG) during his stint with the Rockets.
Terms of the deals weren’t disclosed, but it’s safe to assume they’re both non-guaranteed training camp contracts. Oklahoma City now has 13 players with guaranteed salaries, five on non-guaranteed deals, and a pair on two-way pacts.
The Thunder have claimed big man Mamadi Diakite off waivers from the Bucks, the team announced in a press release. Milwaukee waived Diakite on Friday.
Diakite, 24, went unselected in the 2020 draft. He signed a two-way deal with the Bucks shortly thereafter, then signed a multi-year deal at the end of the season. Only $100K of his salary was guaranteed for next season, however, making it easier for Milwaukee to waive him.
Diakite was a force in the G League during his 12 games last season. He averaged 18.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per contest, shooting 58% from the floor. The 6’9″ Virginia product will have the ability to add depth for a young Thunder frontcourt this season.
Because Diakite is on a three-year contract, the Thunder couldn’t use the minimum salary exception to claim him and had to instead use part of a traded player exception, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter). The team likely used a portion of its $9.59MM TPE from last season’s George Hill deal.
Oklahoma City also waived guard Charlie Brown Jr. in a separate transaction, the team said. Assuming he goes unclaimed, Brown will reach free agency this week after spending part of last season with the Thunder. The 24-year-old appeared in nine games, averaging 4.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 16.9 minutes per contest.
- The Thunder and their G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, will share the Paycom Center as their home arena this season, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. They are scheduled to play home games on the same day 15 times.
The John Wall situation in Houston is nothing like the problem the team dealt with a year ago when James Harden forced his way out of town, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Whereas Harden had become frustrated with the organization and did all he could to be moved, Wall is comfortable in Houston and was viewed as a “valuable ally” to first-year head coach Stephen Silas last season, according to Iko.
Tim MacMahon of ESPN conveys a similar sentiment, writing that Wall’s relationship with team management and ownership is still strong, as all parties have remained in frequent contact throughout the offseason. Rockets sources told MacMahon that the club valued Wall’s leadership during the tumultuous Harden-related drama a year ago.
“(Wall’s) been a rock for us,” one source told ESPN. “He’s been great since he got here.”
Still, with Wall preferring the opportunity to compete for the playoffs and for a championship, and the Rockets focused on carving out enough playing time for all their young players, the two sides are no longer a great match, which is why they’ve mutually agreed to try to find Wall a new home. Rockets sources told MacMahon that the franchise wants to “do right” by its veteran players, as it did last season by sending Harden and P.J. Tucker to title contenders.
Here’s more on Wall and the Rockets:
- Sam Amick and David Aldridge of The Athletic take a closer look at which teams might be potential fits for Wall and whether his contract (worth $91.7MM over the next two years) will prevent Houston from finding a taker. Neither Amick nor Aldridge could identify any obvious trade partners.
- Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype wonders if the Thunder might be the best fit for Wall, since they’re the only team that could realistically take on his $44MM+ salary without sending out a ton of salary in return. However, the Rockets reportedly don’t want to give up first-round picks to move Wall, and Oklahoma City would likely require significant draft capital to seriously consider a deal.
- In an Instagram video, Bobby Marks of ESPN runs through a few possible Wall suitors, explaining why it would be challenging for each of them to put together the $35MM+ in salaries needed to match Wall’s $44MM+ cap hit. As Marks points out, it will be even more difficult once the regular season begins and teams are only permitted to carry 15 players on standard contracts, since matching Wall’s salary may require a three- or four-for one structure, which would require Houston to waive multiple players.
The 2021/22 NBA regular season will get underway next month, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and to resume an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.
With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
In 2020/21, our voters went 17-13 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’21/22?
As a reminder, the NBA played a 72-game schedule in 2020/21, so a team that won 41 games last year finished with a 41-31 record. This year, a club that wins 41 games would be a .500 team (41-41). For added clarity, we’ve noted the record that each team would have to achieve to finish “over” its projected win total.
We’ll turn today to the Northwest division…
Utah Jazz
- 2020/21 record: 52-20
- Over/under for 2021/22: 52.5 wins (53-29)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Jazz poll.
Denver Nuggets
- 2020/21 record: 47-25
- Over/under for 2021/22: 48.5 wins (49-33)
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Jeff Green, Bones Hyland
- Lost: Paul Millsap, JaVale McGee
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Nuggets poll.
Portland Trail Blazers
- 2020/21 record: 42-30
- Over/under for 2021/22: 44.5 wins (45-37)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Trail Blazers poll.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- 2020/21 record: 23-49
- Over/under for 2021/22: 34.5 wins (35-47)
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Patrick Beverley, Taurean Prince, Leandro Bolmaro
- Lost: Ricky Rubio, Jarrett Culver, Juan Hernangomez, Ed Davis
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Timberwolves poll.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- 2020/21 record: 22-50
- Over/under for 2021/22: 23.5 wins (24-58)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Thunder poll.
Previous voting results:
- Brooklyn Nets (55.5 wins): Over (63.2%)
- Philadelphia 76ers (51.5 wins): Under (70.0%)
- Boston Celtics (46.5 wins): Over (58.1%)
- New York Knicks (42.5 wins): Over (65.1%)
- Toronto Raptors (36.5 wins): Under (50.6%)
Jazz All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell played through an ankle injury during Utah’s two-round 2021 postseason run. In a new conversation with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Mitchell has indicated that the injury is healing nicely.
“The ankle feels good,” Mitchell said. “I’ll be ready to go. I think last year definitely was shaky. There were just so many different obstacles with the ankle and whatnot, but — like I said — no slight to Phoenix or Milwaukee or the Clippers, you know, (but) I feel like if we were healthy, you know, we… get to the Finals.”
The Jazz fell 4-2 to the Clippers in the second round of the Western Conference Finals. The Clippers were missing their best player, Kawhi Leonard, for the final three contests of the series, while Utah’s starting guards – Mitchell and Mike Conley – were coming off injuries of their own.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- Guard Vasilije Micić revealed in a podcast interview with Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews that he was tendered a strong offer to join the Thunder for the 2021/22 season, but ultimately decided to remain in Europe, with the Turkish club Anadolu Efes. Micić cited a few factors behind his decision. A big one was that he wanted to be able to play in the Olympic qualifying games for Serbia in July and wouldn’t be able to sign Oklahoma City until August, so he didn’t want to risk an injury while he was still unsigned. Micić, a draft-and-stash prospect, was named the EuroLeague MVP while helping Anadolu Efes win the 2021 EuroLeague title.
- Thunder guard Vit Krejci will resume five-on-five workouts this week, reports Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. The 21-year-old Krejci, selected with the No. 37 pick and flipped to the Thunder on draft night, tore his ACL in September 2020. He recently signed his first NBA contract.
- As chatter grows surrounding a potential Timberwolves deal for Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic unpacks what a deal could look like, as well as how likely it looks that a deal could happen between these particular franchises, with Minnesota apparently uninterested in including their two most valuable players, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. Krawczynski notes that a trade appears unlikely before the start of training camp, and that Sixers team president Daryl Morey will do his darnedest to drum up more interest in Simmons around the league. If the market for Simmons remains relatively apathetic, Krawczynski opines that the Timberwolves have a chance to add him.
After opening up one of their two-way contract slots by waiving Josh Hall, the Thunder have filled that opening by signing Paul Watson to a two-way deal, reports Kelsea O’Brien of BasketballNews.com (Twitter link).
Watson, 26, made his NBA debut with Atlanta, but spent most of the last two seasons with the Raptors, having signed a two-way contract with Toronto in January of 2020. The former Fresno State standout had that deal converted to a standard contract for the 2020/21 season, then was released last month before his ’21/22 salary became guaranteed.
During his time with Toronto, the 6’6″ swingman appeared in 35 games, averaging 4.1 PPG and 1.7 RPG on .475/.466/.706 shooting in 10.5 minutes per contest. He spent most of his time in 2019/20 with the Raptors 905 in the G League, putting up an impressive 19.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 1.9 APG on .495/.423/.648 shooting in 30 NBAGL games (35.3 MPG).
Watson and Aaron Wiggins are now Oklahoma City’s two-way players. The team has 18 players under contract, including 13 on guaranteed salaries and three on non-guaranteed deals, leaving a pair of openings on the 20-man training camp roster.
The Thunder have waived two-way forward Josh Hall, the team announced in a press release today. Oklahoma City now has 17 players on its roster, including two-way player Aaron Wiggins.
Hall, 20, signed with the Thunder after going unselected in the 2020 NBA Draft. He appeared in 21 games with the team, averaging 4.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 16 minutes per contest.
Oklahoma City tendered Hall a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent last month. He ultimately signed the offer, returning to the team on a two-way deal that contained a $50K guarantee.
League rules allow teams to carry 20 players entering training camps, meaning the Thunder now have one two-way spot and two camp spots available to use. The team held the second-worst record in the Western Conference last year at 22-50.