Grant Jerrett

Thunder Decline Grant Jerrett’s Option, Make QO

JULY 9th: Oklahoma City is indeed interested in locking up Jerrett with a multiyear deal, tweets Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman.

JUNE 30th: The Thunder have made the unusual decision to decline Grant Jerrett‘s option while also extending him the qualifying offer, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com.  The team option would have been worth $816K while the QO is worth ~$1.16MM and is guaranteed.

Oklahoma City could be seeking to lock up Jerrett to a long-term deal while his value is fairly low.  The same thing probably could have been accomplished for less money without the qualifying offer, but going with the QO gives OKC the maximum amount of control over him this summer.  If the Thunder pitch Jerrett on a new deal, it would probably be largely non-guaranteed.

Our own Chuck Myron predicts that Jerrett will re-sign on a multiyear deal for the amount of his qualifying offer that includes at least a partial guarantee in year two to entice him to take a multiyear deal rather than just signing the QO. Or, Jerrett could wind up back with the Thunder on a deal similar to the one Robert Sacre signed with the Lakers last summer, when he was in virtually the same position. Sacre took a deal for the minimum salary from the Lakers instead of the value of his qualifying offer, but the first two years of his contract are guaranteed, assuring him of more money in the end than his QO would have given him.

Thunder Sign Grant Jerrett

The Thunder have signed Grant Jerrett for the remainder of the season, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman.  The club has confirmed the signing via press release.

Jerrett, the 40th overall pick in last year’s draft, has played the entire season in the NBA Development League with OKC’s affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers.  In 27 games with the 66ers, Jerrett has averaged 15.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 29.3 minutes.  The 6-foot-10 power forward has shown some solid range with his shot and has hit 36.4 percent of his 3-pointers this season.  The deal means that Jerrett will finish out the regular season with the Thunder and will also be with the club during the playoffs.

Mayberry notes that the Thunder have made similar late-season additions with Robert Vaden, a 2010 second-round pick who was signed in April 2011, and Mustafa Shakur in March 2010.  While neither player saw minutes during those deals, the Thunder gave Shakur a 10-day deal earlier this year and gave him a bit of playing time.

Grant Jerrett Tops Field Of D-League Draftees

The Thunder’s D-League affiliate used the No. 1 overall pick in tonight’s D-League draft on Grant Jerrett, allowing the Thunder to closely monitor a player whose NBA rights also belong to them. Oklahoma City traded for Jerrett shortly after the Blazers took him 40th overall in June’s NBA draft. A report in September indicated Jerrett had signed with the Thunder-owned Tulsa 66ers, but as I pointed out at the time, he’d have to enter the D-League draft rather than sign with Tulsa outright. The 66ers pulled off a trade yesterday to acquire the No. 1 pick in the D-League draft, positioning themselves to secure Jerrett’s D-League rights.

The Pelicans didn’t do the same with the second-rounder they picked up in the Jrue Holiday/Nerlens Noel trade. Pierre Jackson, the 42nd overall pick in the NBA draft, went fourth overall in the D-League draft to the Idaho Stampede, the affiliate of the Blazers.

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the one-to-one affiliate of the Rockets, took four-year NBA vet James Johnson second overall tonight, while Quincy Douby, who has three years of NBA experience, went at No. 3 to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the affiliate of the Heat. The Texas Legends, who are affiliated with the Mavs, rounded out the top five with their selection of C.J. Aiken, who was in an NBA camp with the Kings last month after leaving St. Joseph’s in the spring.

Ricky Davis was perhaps the most well-known figure selected, as the Erie BayHawks, the affiliate of the Knicks, drafted him in the sixth round, signaling that the Knicks liked what they saw when the 34-year-old worked out for them in September. Other notable picks include former Magic and Thunder swingman DeAndre Liggins, who went to the Skyforce at seventh overall. Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the brother of Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo, went at No. 9 to the Delaware 87ers. Check out the entire list of draftees right here.

Some D-League clubs were involved in draft day trades. The Santa Cruz Warriors came into the draft already stocked with Stephen Curry‘s brother Seth Curry, whose D-League rights Golden State had protected after cutting him at the end of camp. Santa Cruz swapped a second-round pick for Mychel Thompson, brother of Golden State sharpshooter Klay Thompson, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes, giving the Warriors’ affiliate their own version of the big club’s “Splash Brothers” duo.

Players with prior D-League experience who were cut from NBA camps can re-enter the D-League and go back to their old teams without entering the draft. That’s what James Nunnally, fresh off a camp appearance with the Suns, has decided to do, as he’ll return to the Bakersfield Jam, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. The Suns are one of five NBA teams affiliated with the Jam, as our list of NBA/D-League affiliations shows.

D-League Notes: Draft, Douby, Liggins, C’s

The NBA D-League has released the official list of players eligible to be selected in tomorrow’s draft, which is set to take place at 7:00 pm ET in New York. There are plenty of intriguing names among the 180+ players hoping to be drafted, including a couple 2013 NBA draftees whose NBA rights are still held by their respective teams — Pierre Jackson (Pelicans) and Grant Jerrett (Thunder). Here’s more on the 2013 D-League draft class:

  • Potential top-10 picks include James Johnson, DeAndre Liggins, and Quincy Douby, tweets Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Johnson and Liggins were recently released by the Hawks and Thunder, respectively, while Douby averaged 31.6 PPG in China last season, including one 75-point game.
  • There are a handful of international players eligible to be drafted, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s brother Athanasios Antetokounmpo, tweets Givony. Givony adds in another tweet that there are prospects from Croatia and Japan in the draft pool as well.
  • Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside notes that former NBA veterans Ricky Davis and Salim Stoudamire are among the draft hopefuls.
  • The Maine Red Claws, the Celtics‘ D-League affiliate, announced 11 players on their camp roster today, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link). That list features Chris Babb, Damen Bell-Holter, and Kammron Taylor, who were in camp with Boston this month.

Grant Jerrett To Sign With D-League

Grant Jerrett is the highest remaining unsigned draft pick from this year's draft, but it appears he'll soon be under contract with a D-League team. Jerrett, whose NBA rights are held by the Thunder, is expected to join the Oklahoma City's D-League affiliate, reports Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. Players who aren't under contract with an NBA club, as is the case with Jerrett, usually have to enter the D-League draft before they can hook up with a specific D-League team, so it's not entirely certain that he'll be with the Tulsa 66ers, who are OKC's affiliate. In any case, the Thunder will retain his NBA rights while he plays in the D-League, making him something of a domestic "draft-and-stash" player.

Jerrett played one collegiate season at Arizona before the Blazers took him in the draft and promptly traded him to Oklahoma City. The 6'10" power forward saw just 17.8 minutes a game for the Wildcats, averaging 5.2 points and 3.6 rebounds, but he worked out for several teams prior to the draft and saw more action for the Thunder's summer-league team, notching 10.8 PPG and 3.5 RPG in 28.6 MPG.

The Thunder have just 17 players under contract and 12 fully guaranteed deals, so it isn't a numbers crunch that prevented the team from signing him for camp. Instead, it seems like the club views him as a project, and is content to watch him develop in the D-League for now.

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Thunder Acquire Grant Jerrett

9:53pm: Oklahoma City has officially announced the move via press release.

12:17am: The Thunder acquired 40th overall pick Grant Jerrett from the Trail Blazers, GM Sam Presti confirmed, according to John Rohde of the Oklahoman (via Twitter). Jason Quick of the Oregonian first tweeted that Jerrett had been dealt by the Blazers. Portland will receive cash considerations for Jerrett.

It was a busy draft night for both the Thunder and the Blazers. Oklahoma City landed Steven Adams, Andre Roberson, and Alex Abrines to go along with Jerrett. Meanwhile, even without Jerrett, Portland still walked away with C.J. McCollum, Allen Crabbe, Jeff Withey, and Marko Todorovic.

Draft Updates: Wednesday Afternoon

We rounded up the morning updates on the draft earlier today, and passed along a few of the day's more notable draft-related rumors in their own separate posts. Now, a few more afternoon updates, with just over 24 hours to go until the 2013 draft:

  • If the Thunder are able to trade up and acquire a top-five pick, their primary target figures to be Alex Len, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. According to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter), Oklahoma City is likely dangling its two first-round picks (Nos. 12 and 29), along with Kendrick Perkins and perhaps its second-rounder (No. 32).
  • The Hawks are working out Jeff Withey, Kelly Olynyk, and Grant Jerrett in Atlanta today, tweets Wojnarowski.
  • Sean Deveney of the Sporting News writes in his latest rumor roundup that it's appearing more and more likely that the Cavaliers will keep the first overall pick.
  • Some sources believe that the Thunder won't let Deshaun Thomas get past them at No. 32 tomorrow night, according to Amico. However, many executives believe Thomas could go as high as No. 19 or as low as the mid-second-round.
  • Archie Goodwin's stock appears to be slipping as tomorrow night approaches, says Amico, adding that there's an outside chance he may not even get drafted.
  • The Clippers are said to be high on Allen Crabbe and it's possible he'll still be on the board at No. 25 for L.A., says Amico.

Draft Workout Updates: Friday

With just six days left until the 2013 draft, NBA teams continue to bring in prospects to work them out and gather as much information as they can. Here are the latest updates on workouts taking place today, over the weekend, and early next week:

  • Allen Crabbe will work out Tuesday with the Bucks and Wednesday for the Nets, reports Scott Howard Cooper of NBA.com. Crabbe, widely projected as a late first-rounder at best, made it a priority to visit the Bucks, who have the No. 15 pick (Twitter links).
  • Mason Plumlee wasn't on the list the Pistons released of players with whom the team has met, but he was scheduled to work out for Detroit on Friday, according to MLive's David Mayo.
  • We heard about Vander Blue's workout with the Bucks today (below), and Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel notes that Blue has also auditioned for the Mavs, Spurs, Hawks, Sixers, Pistons and Magic, with another workout on tap for Monday with the Grizzlies.

Earlier updates:

  • Anthony Bennett will visit the Bobcats on Saturday, though his injured rotator cuff will prevent him from working out, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
  • Pelicans GM Dell Demps traveled Friday to get a close look at Victor Oladipo, sources confirmed to John Reid of The Times Picayune.
  • Keith Langlois of Pistons.com passed along a list of players who met with the Pistons this past week: Trey Burke, Michael Carter-Williams, C.J. McCollum, Cody Zeller, Derrick Nix, Dexter Strickland, Augusto Cesar Lima, Jared Berggren, Kenny Boynton and Karron Johnson (All Twitter links).
  • The Kings updated the workout schedule on their website, which shows Shabazz MuhammadDoug Anderson, A.J. Davis, John Dickson, Mfon Udofia and Kwame Vaughn coming in Saturday. McCollum will be in for a workout on Monday, Cowbell Kingdom's James Ham tweets.
  • Today's workout for the Timberwolves is expected to be the last one for the team, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, adding that Mason Plumlee, Kelly Olynyk, Colton Iverson, and Christian Watford were in attendance.
  • Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution passes along a couple tweets from Gorgui Dieng, surmising that the big man appears to be in Atlanta for a workout with the Hawks.
  • The Suns' workout today is headlined by Glen Rice Jr., according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, who has the full list of participants in a pair of tweets.
  • Vander Blue, Grant Jerrett, Brock Motum, Dejan Musli, Nemanja Nedovic, and Andrew Smith are working out for the Bucks today, according to the team's PR Twitter feed.
  • Tim Hardaway Jr. and Erick Green will be among the prospects working out for the Nets on Monday, the team announced in a press release.
  • Hardaway Jr. was also among the prospects who worked out for the Clippers today, along with Tony Snell, Ricky Ledo, and Reggie Bullock (link via Eric Patten of Clippers.com).
  • The Pacers announced today that they'll work out a a handful of prospects tomorrow: Matt Dellavedova, Angel Sharpless, Jamaal Franklin, Zeke Marshall, and Jeff Withey.

Draft Workout Updates: Friday

With the 2013 draft less than two weeks away, the majority of the NBA's teams are continuing to bring in prospects to get a closer look at them. Here are the latest updates on draft workouts:

  • In addition to Michael Carter-Williams, who we heard about yesterday, Trey Burke and Alex Len also participated in the Pelicans' first draft workout today, tweets Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com.
  • The Pistons won't start working out players for the No. 8 pick until next week, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, who tweets that Mason Plumlee will work out for the club next Friday.
  • The six players scheduled to work out for the Nets on Monday include C.J. Leslie and Tony Mitchell, according to a team release.
  • Ray McCallum, Brandon Paul, Tony Snell, Nate Wolters, Jack Cooley, and Zeke Marshall worked out for the Trail Blazers today, according to Joe Freeman of the Oregonian (Twitter link).
  • The Timberwolves will work out six players on Sunday, according to the team's PR Twitter account: Shabazz Muhammad, Archie Goodwin, Rodney Williams, James Ennis, Kyle Barone, and Jamelle Hagins (Twitter links).
  • Brandon Davies, Mike Muscala, Elijah Johnson, B.J. Young, Grant Jerrett, and Colton Iverson worked out for the Clippers today, tweets Clips reporter Madelyn Burke.
  • Jerrett and Davies are also among the players who will work out for the Jazz tomorrow, along with Snell, Gorgui Dieng, Jamaal Franklin, Isaiah Canaan, and Kelly Olynyk, among others (link via Utah's official site).

Odds & Ends: Union, Jerrett, Green, Dirk

The NBPA is looking for its next executive director and there's no leading candidate to fill the job just yet, Jerry Stackhouse told Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal (via Twitter).  “We haven’t got a search firm in place; how can there be a leading candidate?,” said the longtime NBA veteran, who says that the union is looking at two or three firms and may nail one down after the Finals (link).  Meanwhile, the players' union is likely to have their annual meeting in Las Vegas in August (link) and it stands to reason that they'll have their next leader appointed by then.  Here's more from around the Association..

  • Arizona forward Grant Jerrett is rising on draft boards, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).  Jerrett is only 19 and has impressed in workouts with great range for a 6'10" player.  DraftExpress currently has him at the back end of the second round on their latest mock.
  • Spurs guard Danny Green has asserted himself in the NBA just a few seasons removed from questioning his basketball career in the D-League, writes Alex Kennedy of USA Today.  Kennedy notes that if Green hooked on elsewhere, he might not have found individual success.
  • Dirk Nowitzki's career is likely winding down and Mac Engel of the Star-Telegram writes that he'll be extremely missed when his career with the Mavericks is through.  The big man would like to play for a title again before calling it quits and Dallas is working diligently this summer to make a free agent splash.