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Thunder Notes: Durant, Free Agency, Adams

May 8th, 2016 at 11:54am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant, who is expected to be the most sought-after name on this summer’s free agent market, respects David West for passing up millions to pursue an NBA title, relays Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. West declined a $12.6MM option with the Pacers last year and signed with the Spurs for the $1.5MM veteran’s minimum. The move raised eyebrows around the league, but Durant found it admirable. “Money isn’t everything in this life,” Durant said. “I know we tend to think about taking care of your family and being financially stable, but from the outside looking in, it looked like he said, ‘I’ve been blessed enough to make X amount of dollars, and I want to be happy chasing something that is the grand prize in this league.’”

There’s more news from Oklahoma City:

The Thunder are the favorites to keep Durant, but their chances would decline if they can’t get past the Spurs, writes Mark Heisler of The Los Angeles Daily News. That largely falls in with a Friday report from Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Heisler expects Durant to sign a one-year deal with Oklahoma City or possibly a two-year pact with an opt-out clause for next summer. That will enable him to earn about $40MM more and time his free agency with Russell Westbrook‘s. “I think he’s going to test the water,” said former Thunder teammate and current Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie, “but at the end of the day, Oklahoma City is something dear to his heart.” In order, Heisler lists the Spurs, Warriors, Wizards, Clippers, Knicks and Lakers as the top contenders if Durant does decide to leave OKC.
Because he was drafted with a pick the Thunder received in the James Harden trade, Steven Adams has been dealing with huge expectations from the start of his NBA career, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Adams averaged 8.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game this year while splitting time at center with Enes Kanter. Before the start of last season, Oklahoma City picked up Adams’ $3,140,517 option for 2016/17. “He’s not easily impressed, he doesn’t take things too seriously,” said teammate Nick Collison. “I think that’s the culture from his background. He’s all about, ‘Get over yourself.’ He didn’t grow up with the dream to play in the NBA, and it shows.”

Thunder Exercise Options On Three Players

October 23rd, 2015 at 4:18pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Thunder have exercised the fourth-year options on center Steven Adams and shooting guard Andre Roberson in addition to their third-year option on forward/center Mitch McGary, the team announced via press release. All three options are for the 2016/17 season, with Adams set to earn $3,140,517, Roberson scheduled to make $2,183,072, and McGary under contract for $1,526,040.

In two seasons with the Thunder, Adams, 22, has appeared in 151 games, including 87 starts, and has averaged 5.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 19.7 minutes per game to accompany a slash line of .531/.000/.534.

Roberson, 23, has seen action in 107 games in his NBA career, including 81 starts, while notching averages of 2.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 steals in 15.7 minutes per game. With Roberson in the starting lineup, the Thunder has gone 53-28 during the past two seasons.

McGary, 23, was the No. 21 overall pick back in the 2014 NBA draft, and he made just 32 appearances for OKC during his rookie campaign, logging 6.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks in 15.2 minutes of action per contest. His shooting numbers were .553/.000/.625.

Western Notes: Thunder, Booker, Stephenson

October 5th, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Center Steven Adams and shooting guard Andre Roberson are working with the Thunder’s first unit, Anthony Slater of NewsOK.com reports. That puts two other prominent players, center Enes Kanter and shooting guard Dion Waiters, on the team’s second unit, Slater continues. New head coach Billy Donovan confirms that it’s no accident Adams and Roberson are playing alongside Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka in training camp practices and scrimmages, Slater adds.

In other news around the Western Conference:

Rookie Devin Booker has shown maturity beyond his age in the early stages of the Suns’ training camp, according to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. “The kid knows how to play,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek told Coro. “Most of the time defensively, he’s in the right spot. Offensively, he makes the little plays. Eighteen-year-olds sometimes get sped up and the game comes at them fast and the speed of these pro guys is a big adjustment for them. But when you watch him play, he’s in control.” Booker, the No. 13 overall pick from Kentucky, is battling Sonny Weems and Archie Goodwin for the backup shooting guard spot, Coro adds.
Lance Stephenson is off to a slow start with the Clippers, Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times reports. Stephenson went scoreless Sunday during the Clippers’ 93-73 exhibition loss to the Raptors and has made two of 14 shots in two games. The second unit has no chemistry right now and that’s part of the problem, Bolch adds. “We’re struggling right now and we’re just getting to know each other and get in a groove,” Stephenson said to the team’s beat reporters. “I just have to take it slow, figure out my place and we all will figure out each other and I think everything will fall in place.”
Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons is entering a pivotal season in his career, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News opines. Sefko believes that Parsons must show that he’s capable of making his teammates better as well as himself. Parsons will either take that step forward or settle in as a 15-point, 5-rebound role player, Sefko adds, with Parsons’ health being the determining factor. Parsons underwent a microfracture procedure on his right knee during the offseason.

Northwest Notes: Bennett, Waiters, Leonard

September 24th, 2015 at 2:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Timberwolves shopped Anthony Bennett all around the league, even offering him in exchange for a top-55 protected second-round pick that would be unlikely ever to end up in Minnesota, but nobody had interest, several league sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe. A trade would have put a team on the hook for his entire salary of nearly $5.804MM for this season, and the same would be true if a team claims him off waivers. However, if the former No. 1 overall pick hits free agency, he would be a worthwhile investment on the minimum salary, Lowe argues. See more from around the Northwest Division:

Royce Young of Daily Thunder transcribes several key comments that Thunder GM Sam Presti made Wednesday, including a hint that he sees Steven Adams as a long-term core player and his thoughts on extension candidate Dion Waiters. “This is a guy that at 23 years old has some tools that are not easily found,” Presti said of Waiters. “That is one of the reasons that we went to acquire him. At the same time, he has got work to do and he will be the first to tell you that. Some slight adjustments with this guy’s game could lead to some pretty significant impact. I think he has the tools to be an impact player.”
Meyers Leonard, another extension-eligible player, is in line for a starting spot with the Blazers, or at least a significant rotation role of the sort he’s yet to have since he became the 11th overall pick in 2012, as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman examines. His rookie scale contract is set to expire at season’s end.
The Wolves officially hired Bryan Gates as an assistant coach and promoted Calvin Booth, who had been a scout and director of player programs, to player personnel director, the team announced along with other staff moves. Shooting coach Mike Penberthy, whom Flip Saunders had said would continue with the team, instead decided to leave, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link), though he’ll still work with Ricky Rubio, with whom he was close, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

Western Notes: Westbrook, Bryant, Clarkson

May 24th, 2015 at 8:10pm CST by Will Joseph

Russell Westbrook, who is locked in with the Thunder through the 2016/17 season, evolved into a capable leader during a challenging campaign for the team, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes. For the most part, Westbrook, who tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve, kept his composure in check after a preseason outburst, Mayberry adds. Westbrook led the league in scoring with 28.1 points per game and finished fourth in the MVP balloting. Westbrook said he was most pleased with his improved leadership from the stellar season.

““That was something I had to learn. I wouldn’t say it was forced. It was something I had to learn,” Westbrook said. “If I was playing well or not, still find a way to take myself out of the equation and constantly keep helping other guys on the team. That was a huge part of me and my leadership and the biggest part of what I learned about myself [and want] to carry over to the next season.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak reiterated to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) that next year will likely be Kobe Bryant‘s last, but left the door open for the star beyond that. “I’m sure that’s something that will be discussed a year from now,” Kupchak said. Kupchak signaled that next year would be it for Bryant on Thursday in a radio appearance with Rick Fox and Jared Greenberg on SiriusXM NBA Radio (audio links). Bryant hasn’t ruled out playing beyond next season, and said in March that he would probably hold off on a decision until after the 2015/16 campaign.
Kupchack said Lakers rookie guard Jordan Clarkson compares similarly in terms of athleticism and style of play to Westbrook in a radio appearance with ESPN’s Colin Cowherd, as relayed by Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. “If there’s a player in the league that plays like him, it’s Russell Westbrook,” Kupchak said. “Now, I’m not saying for a second that Jordan Clarkson is the next Russell Westbrook, but he’s that kind of a ball-handling guard.” The Lakers acquired Clarkson with the 46th pick in last year’s draft, and he earned considerable playing time last season because of injuries, as Holmes points out. Clarkson averaged 15.8 points per game on 45.8% shooting, with 5.0 assists per game and 4.2 rebounds per game in 38 games as a starter.
Steven Adams, who played so well this season that the Thunder said he was off-limits at the deadline, displayed some growth in his second season in the league and showed defensive versatility, Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman writes.

Western Notes: Parsons, Harden, Ellis

April 5th, 2015 at 10:03pm CST by Will Joseph

Rockets GM Daryl Morey still thinks extremely highly of Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons, who left Houston and signed a three-year $46.085MM deal with Dallas in the summer. Parsons, 26, was a restricted free agent. The Rockets, of course, chose not to match the Mavericks’ offer, but Morey said that had little to do with Parsons’ ability.

“To me, that’s all in the past. We thought Chandler could be a part of our future,” Morey said during a spot on The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley on KESN-FM 103.3, as transcribed by The Dallas Morning News. “Restricted free agency; it doesn’t always work out to where you can keep them.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

James Harden blossoming into an MVP candidate, the emergence of Steven Adams and Mitch McGary‘s potential are among 13 reasons the Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry listed for why the Thunder–Rockets trade in 2012 will never go away. While Harden’s ascension is obvious — he’s the league’s leading scorer — there are several other parts of the deal that still make it compelling. For example, from Oklahoma City’s perspective, Adams has played so well this season that the Thunder said he was off-limits at the deadline. McGary, who is signed through the 2017/18 season, is a long-term asset that should be a vital piece of the Thunder for years to come, Mayberry adds.
Monta Ellis has never played a major role on any team that has won a playoff series, so the 10th-year veteran is a big question mark as the Mavericks enter the postseason, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News opines. Ellis, who will make about $8.4MM this season, would benefit from a strong playoff run because he has a player option for the 2015/16 season. If he opts out of the final season of his contract, his Early Bird rights allow the Mavericks to make an offer with a starting salary of up to $14.63MM. His stats have declined since the All-Star break, as Sefko notes.
Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, who are both signed through the 2017/18 season, have been rare bright spots for the Timberwolves this season and the young players are learning and improving despite losses accumulating, Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes. Wiggins, who is the favorite for Rookie of the Year honors, also wants to add some size before next season, Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets.

Latest On Brook Lopez

February 17th, 2015 at 7:24am CST by Chuck Myron

TUESDAY, 7:24am: The Nets haven’t had any recent talks with Oklahoma City, as Robert Windrem of NetsDaily hears (Twitter link), adding that Brooklyn has no interest in Stephenson at this point. The Nets aren’t close to any deals, and there’s nothing that’s come up in discussion that makes any sense for Brooklyn, sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 2:25pm: The Nets are being aggressive in their attempts to trade Brook Lopez in advance of Thursday’s 2pm Central deadline, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes amid his weekly power rankings. However, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that there hasn’t been much movement on the Lopez front, with Nets GM Billy King giving other teams the feeling that he’s OK with keeping Lopez and building around him. Oklahoma City would like to pick up its talks with Brooklyn about Lopez, even though the Thunder aren’t willing to overpay for him, Deveney writes. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears the Nets and Thunder are working toward a Lopez deal, though it’s unclear how close the sides are to any sort of agreement. Amico intimates that the Nets would like to receive Steven Adams, but Oklahoma City is making him off-limits for any trade, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

The Nets and Thunder were the most active teams as trade chatter mounted around the league Sunday night, and they may end up doing a deal with each other, as Kennedy reported earlier. Grantland’s Zach Lowe also wrote that the Nets are active, but he said Brooklyn won’t make any deal just for the sake of doing so and wants flexibility and assets it can use for the future. A proposal that would have sent Lopez to the Thunder last month would largely have been a salary dump, with Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb among the pieces that would have headed Brooklyn’s way. There was also a three-team idea involving the Hornets that would have sent Lance Stephenson to the Nets and Lopez to Oklahoma City, but the Nets decided against that one. The Hornets would have liked to have acquired Lopez for themselves, but the Nets preferred to send him to the Western Conference, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported last month. The Nuggets, Heat, Lakers, Rockets all reportedly had some level of interest in Lopez as of earlier this season.

The Nets signaled to other teams a month ago that they wanted to make a Lopez deal within a few days, but they decided instead to keep him amid unappealing offers, as Wojnarowski wrote at the time. Brooklyn officials departed the talks amid their desire to build more consensus within the organization before moving ahead with any trade, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com, so that might explain today’s divergent narratives. Lopez is making more than $15.719MM this season, and there have been conflicting reports about the likelihood that he’ll pick up next season’s player option, worth in excess of $16.744MM. Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors took a look earlier at the trade candidacy of the former All-Star who has started only 22 of 42 games for the Nets this year.

Northwest Notes: Aldridge, Thunder, Lopez

February 16th, 2015 at 1:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

Most around the league expect LaMarcus Aldridge to re-sign with the Trail Blazers this coming summer, as he said he would, but an executive from an opposing team told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that the Blazers are “very, very scared” that he’ll walk in free agency. The exec cautioned that it’s probably just “paranoid” thinking on their part, but this weekend, peppered with questions from the New York media, Aldridge praised Phil Jackson, the city of New York, and said he’d be a fit for the triangle offense, Deveney notes. The power forward has largely declined to talk specifics about his upcoming free agency since just before training camp, when he repeated his intention to re-sign with Portland. Here’s more from a busy Northwest Division:

Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams are off-limits for the Thunder, but the team is open to trading everyone else for the right offer, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
It’s unlikely the Nuggets trade Jameer Nelson, in spite of interest from the Wizards, Heat and Cavs, given GM Tim Connelly‘s long-held desire to have the point guard on the team, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post,
The Nuggets would like to trade JaVale McGee more than any other player on their roster, but the team is making Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic untouchable for any deal, Dempsey adds in the same piece. Grantland’s Zach Lowe also reported today that Nurkic is off-limits.
The Blazers would like to add a small forward, given Nicolas Batum‘s inconsistency this season, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes amid his weekly power rankings.
Sources tell Kennedy they believe the Timberwolves are open to trading some of their veterans for the right return (Twitter link). Still, president of basketball operations and coach Flip Saunders has said he doesn’t intend to do any more deals.
The Blazers and Pelicans are worth keeping an eye on as the Wolves continue to try to honor Chase Budinger‘s trade request, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).

Thunder Pick Up 2015/16 Options On Four

October 22nd, 2014 at 7:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Thunder have picked up the third-year team options for Steven Adams and Andre Roberson, as well as the fourth-year options for Perry Jones III and Jeremy Lamb, the team has announced. These moves are not unexpected as all of the players figure to be a big part of Oklahoma City’s rotation going forward.

Lamb has the largest contract of the group, and is scheduled to make $3,034,356, while Adams will make $2,279,040, Jones will earn $2,038,206, and Roberson will rake in $1,210,800. These moves will increase Oklahoma City’s cap commitment for the 2015/16 campaign to approximately $63.6MM. That figure doesn’t include Reggie Jackson, who can become a restricted free agent next summer and is expected to receive significant interest from other teams.

During his rookie season with Oklahoma City after being selected 12th overall in the 2013 NBA draft, Adams appeared in 81 games and averaged 3.3 PPG and 4.1 RPG while logging 14.8 minutes per night. His slash line was .503/.000/.581. Roberson was originally drafted by the Wolves with the No. 26 pick in the 2013 draft, and was subsequently traded to the Thunder. He appeared in 40 contests last season, including 16 starts, and he averaged 1.9 PPG and 2.4 RPG. Roberson figures to see increased playing time to start the season with Kevin Durant expected to miss a minimum of six-to-eight weeks after breaking his foot.

In his two seasons in the NBA, Jones has appeared in 100 games and averaged 3.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per game. He was originally drafted 28th overall back in 2012 by the Thunder. Lamb has also been with the team for two seasons after being selected by the Rockets back in 2012. He was included in the James Harden trade, but hasn’t quite developed into the scoring threat off the bench that Oklahoma City envisioned. Lamb’s career numbers are 7.3 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.2 APG.

Michael Carter-Williams Leads All-Rookie Team

May 22nd, 2014 at 1:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams headlines the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team, which also features Victor Oladipo, Trey Burke, Mason Plumlee and Tim Hardaway Jr. The Second Team is composed of Kelly Olynyk, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Gorgui Dieng, Cody Zeller and Steven Adams. Carter-Williams was a unanimous first-team selection among the media members who voted for the award. Had Kevin Calabro of ESPN Radio not left Oladipo off his ballot entirely, the Magic guard would have been a unanimous first-teamer, too.

Still, the first team is made up of the only five players who received first-place votes for Rookie of the Year. Ben McLemore was the player with the most All-Rookie votes not to make either the first or the second team, and 29 players received at least one vote for one of the teams. That includes 2013 No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, who drew a single second-team vote.

Only three of the top 10 picks from the 2013 draft appear on either All-Rookie Team. Still, all 10 players selected to the team were first-round picks, with Hardaway, the 24th overall selection, the last to come off the board on draft night a year ago.