We knew this was coming, but now it’s official: The Thunder have reached a buyout agreement with Nate Robinson. The roster now stands at 15.
This was necessary for one, to get down to the required 15-man roster but also because there was absolutely no reason at all to keep Robinson on the roster. Now the Thunder can keep Ryan Reid as part of the team instead of being forced to waive him, in which they’d lose their rights to him.
(Since Reid was drafted by OKC 57th overall in 2010, Oklahoma City owns his rights but with the Thunder bringing him to camp, they’d forfeit those rights if they waived him. More than likely, the Byron Mullens trade was to open room to keep Reid more than anything else as OKC needed that extra roster spot in order to keep him, and Royal Ivey who has a non-guaranteed contract.)
Robinson is now a free agent able to sign anywhere, which is what he wanted. He was never going to see playing time with the Thunder and Oklahoma City didn’t want to just pay him to do flying motions and to scream on the bench. I’m sure Presti tried to unload him in a trade for a future pick, but there probably weren’t too many takers.
Where do y'all think he'll end up?
@ThunderChick2010 The Lakers have 1 PG under 30, and the Kings only have one player (Evans) listed as a PG on their roster. The Celtics are trying to shore up depth, and only have Avery Bradley playing behind Rondo. I don't think he had the best relationship with Danny Ainge though so that probably rules them out. Nate will probably end up coming off the couch for a team/contender that suffers an injury during the season (ala Carson Palmer for the Raiders).
First off, hey Thunderers! I'm new here commenting, but I've been reading DT for quite a while now, looking forward to a very entertaining season. Second: How nice would it have been if OKC would have picked up Mickael Pietrus after the Suns had waived him? I watched him in the playoff run with Orlando a few years back (and have followed him since), and saw him as a good fit. He's a very good defensive player at the 2 & 3 spots, and the Celtics landed him for $1.3 mil. He has playoff experience, and more importantly Finals experience.
I read a comment on ESPN.com by an NBA fan that he was a good player but is not any more. His reasoning is that Pietrus is not the player he used to be after he hurt his wrist on a dunk; now he does not drive to the basket anymore. Besides the wrist issue he also has issues with a knee. All that is a long way of me saying "I am okay with not having him on our team"
@DPC Makes sense, and I'm sure a 4 year age difference between he and Lazar Hayward wouldn't make Presti chase after him anyways. I hadn't heard about the injury, but that would explain why the Suns waived him.
By the way I am just giving my opinion and not shooting down your idea. I saw Pietrus on television when he was with Orlando too and thought he was good there; I was also intrigued when I read that he was waived. Then I lost my enthusiasm when I read that one poster talk about Pietrus' injuries.
I am glad that Nate is getting a chance to contribute to someone's roster, but I'm also glad he's gone. Sure he was fun to watch of the bench, but he killed it for me when he acted like a fool once he finally came of the bench during last years playoffs. I don't remember if it was against the Nuggets or the Grizz, but I do remember his unnecessary between the legs and-1 style dribbling. It just felt so un-Thunder like and it made me feel a little embarrassed for our team.
First post. Sorry to rant.
@Yung Hawg Seemed like a good dude but no, hewas never a good fit with our team. Best wishes to Nate. He'll land on his feet somewhere.
Our bench enthusiasm took a big hit today. Ryan Reid better be taking charges from the end of the bench to make up for Nate's loss.
Really hope he gets a chance to come back to his NYK form dropping massive numbers out of nowhere. Was one of my favorites before OKC and only gained more respect for him with his trials and tribulations with us.
But on another note, since it is confirmed that Stern will be in OKC for the game, can we get a nice big, loud, long, Loud City BOOOOOOOOO for him?
@JimboSlice If loud City did this it would make me so happy. Perhaps some kind of retirement chant as well?
@JimboSlice Hope nobody accidentally spills their $4 Coke on him. . . or holds a great big sign up on the row in front of him. . . or makes him get up 20 times to let them out. . .
@JimboSlice hell yes.
@JimboSlice I will help with that.
Kinda curious what Presti sees in Reid.
@DizzDai I know nothing about Reid, any info people can give on that would be appreciated. Merry Christmas!
Almost game day, baby...RIP on the Tebow hype...
Thanks for everything Nate. You will be missed.