There’s been some chatter about it recently and it appears to be coming true. According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, the Thunder are close to re-signing guard Derek Fisher.
Fisher was rumored to be in Oklahoma City this week working on a potential deal, but team sources adamantly denied that. But there are these things called phones. Two league sources confirm to me that the Thunder have been in contact with Fisher the past few days to talk about a potential return.
After trading away Eric Maynor at the deadline, the Thunder don’t want to carry just two point guards into the playoffs and with Fisher available, it really made quite a bit of sense to bring him back in. He’s got a familiarity with the team and is likely very willing to accept a deep bench role as a security option in case of emergency.
I highly, highly doubt this is a move that impacts Reggie Jackson’s role in any way. Fisher will be a locker room presence and someone reliable if there’s an injury or issue. With an open roster slot and only two point guards under contract, it’s unwise to head into the playoffs wishing you had something else.
Fisher, 38, appeared in nine games with the Mavericks this season before seeking a release from the team.
Fisher bailed out on the dallas mavericks. Shows what type pf players the thunder have. #LetsgoHeat
Slowest night on DT?
@WojYahooNBA
Y! Sources: Free agent Tracy McGrady has reached agreement on a deal to join Oklahoma City. http://is.gd/uMcZgS
@KD4theWin Actually, I just wiatched his "3 Points" Documentary about his trip to Darfur. I'd love to have him on this team and help him win his final ring.
@KD4theWin @WojYahooNBA
That video cracks me up every time.
Move it you knuckleheads http://dailythunder.com/2013/02/monday-bolts-2-25-13/
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao_p5rxEJ7k]sick[/url]
For those of you unsure about retaining Kevin Martin, our offense is 7.7 points better per 100 possessions with him on the court than without. Having him, Durant, and Westbrook on the court together the team is putting up 120 points per 100 possessions. Asking someone like Jeremy Lamb to step in and reproduce that is asking a whole lot.
@[censored] I agree. We don't give him enough credit for being a very efficient scorer and 3point shooter all without 'I need to handle the ball" issues. Good passer too. Just wish he could guard someone.
@[censored] Obviously, I'm not disagreeing with the numbers, but financially I'm not sure the ownership is willing go into the tax for him. Just like making up for Harden by getting better in other areas, I expect a similar approach with Martin. Replacing him to Lamb (assuming Lamb becomes a consistent deep threat) replaces the majority of his value - though certainly not all of it. If we then can presume improvement from Ibaka, Jones, and a Thabeet replacement, our overall play shouldn't fall off. We're not going to turn everyone into stars, but peripheral improvements can have a significant overall effect.
@[censored] I wish we could win a championship by simply scoring, we would have one probably.
@Lost Ones You still have to replace that from some degree. The drop off from Martin to Player X will have to be recovered if the team is going to improve or stay the same.
@[censored] @Lost OnesI listed some bargain free agent guys earlier today from last years free agent class. There will be bargains to be had on the market if you play your cards right. Dallas got 2 of them last offseason. Not sure if Presti is willing to play that game or not.
@[censored] @Lost OnesHim or Perk? Going to probably have to replace one or the other or possibly both.
@Lost Ones @[censored] It's not like it's never happened.
Hopefully Fish coaches from the bench. He does not need to take any minutes from Reggie. Maybe 5-6 minutes a game is fine with the second unit.
@BallSoHard I agree with you, but you and I know that Sam didn't bring him in to play 5 or 6 minutes.
@Tronchaser Sam is smarter than that. Plus, I don't think Sam discusses minutes or personnel usage with Brooks. But I do have a hard time believing Fish would come back to only play minimal minutes...
Presti should use the MLE to resign brewer for cheap, and some other reliable players.
@Lost Ones he's making a million dollars this year. I don't think it will be an issue keeping both if we want to.
@OBoy it will be an issue if we retain martin.
@OBoy every dollar over the cap adds up
@Lost Ones how? i don't see Brewer getting much more than he got this year.
@Lost Ones @OBoy Martin hasn't signed an extension and Presti never lets the market determine value. Since we didn't trade him, I'm almost sure we let him walk.
We can all agree that Westbrook's dunk. *as shown in cold-blooded's link below* was the actual start of the big bang right?
here it is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rkINqNKKXtU
@OBoy i counter that with this http://is.gd/qpY4J0
I think we upgraded our 9-man playoff rotation this week, which is something we all can be happy about.
D-Fish is going to play. All those that think we just signed him as a veteran "coach" are kidding themselves. Thabeet isn't going to see the court again and Jackson's minutes are going to get cut.
@D_Fish's_6th_Ring how does fisher mean no thabeet? brooks still will use thabeet against bigger centers
@f5alcon @D_Fish's_6th_Ring In the playoffs I'll be very surprised if Thabeet plays at all (with or without fisher). Perk and Ibaka will start, we'll play a lot of small ball with one of them at center and Collison will be the back-up big.
I'm sure Brooks will insit on playing Fisher 20 minutes a night and will probably not play reggie at all in the playoffs, but ideally Fisher should be played a few mins in the first half as a floor spacer and a few mins at the end of tight games to handle the ball, make good decisions and allow Westbrook/Durant to play off the ball.
Alex kay: "oklahoma city thunder wise to ink veteran PG deal."
Kevindurant: welcome back @derekfisher
So do you guys think that K-Mart has given a verbal agreement to Presti, which is why he wasn't traded (as justin suggests) or that Presti is willing to let K-mart go because he believes in Lamb and the draft picks and/or is willing to sign someone else in FA?
@ICan'tGetNoSatisfaction Of the two, I'm guessing the latter. If K-Mart had given a verbal agreement, and Presti wanted to keep him, the extension would have already been signed. Neither Presti nor K-Mart are stupid. If we win the championship with help from K-Mart, some team will significantly overpay. K-Mart would be silly to make a promise when he's main goal is the next contract. Presti likewise has no use for a verbal agreement. If K-Mart doesn't think enough to sign an extension, Presti has to presume he won't stay regardless of what is said.
At this point, it seems more likely we let him walk than sign him to a significant extension. He's still very efficient, but his role isn't huge. Lamb has shown some promise, and any knockdown shooter would replace much of K-Mart's impact. Financially, it just makes more sense to develop cheap backups to improve the bench.
@Keith00 @ICan'tGetNoSatisfaction so do you think Presti didnt trade him for anyone because he didn't want to take on any more money for next season?
@ICan'tGetNoSatisfaction @ICan'tGetNoSatisfaction We should have the normal MLE. I believe it will be 5.15 million next year.
I think Presti didn't trade him because there were no viable deals available. Martin makes a LOT of money, and teams with good players were reticent to take back extra salary. Add in that we will be close to the tax next year, and I can't see Presti taking back ANY future salary unless it was someone on a great contract. But again, players on great contracts wouldn't be traded for an expiring, and wouldn't be making enough for the salaries to match in a trade.
Think about this for a second. Atlanta had all but said they wouldn't resign Smith, a much better player than Martin, and put him on the market. They couldn't receive a single viable trade offer without taking back bad players on bad contracts. If the Hawks couldn't get a reasonable deal for a near-elite player like Smith on an expiring deal, what would another team have honestly traded for K-Mart?
@Keith00 @ICan'tGetNoSatisfaction how much will our MLE be ?
@ICan'tGetNoSatisfaction nope, i think presti didnt want an guaranteed contract from k-mart
Now that we dont have to rely on martin fragile self im happy
@Lost Ones wait are you relying in Fisher?
@tygablood @Lost I rather rely on fisher and brewer then martin
@ou_sas @Lost Ones @tygablood Seems that way, so far. Thabo hasn't missed any time either.
@[censored] @Lost Ones @tygablood Seems like an improvement healthwise off what you expected at the start of the season then.
@Lost Ones @tygablood Martin has only missed one or two games this season.
@tygablood @Lost @Lost He's a very good, intuitive cutter off the ball. With players like KD and russ drawing so much attention that is going to be very valuable.
@tygablood he's good off the ball
@tygablood @Lost @Lost idc, defense wins championships you put scorers around him.
@Lost Ones @Lost he gives it all back ith us having to play man down on offense when he is in
@tygablood @Lost @Lost scrub? brewer will most likely be the best defender on the team, a team that is horrible on the perimeter.
@tygablood @Lost @Lost Thabeet is worse
@Lost Ones @Lost brewer is a scrub. Worst shooter on the team