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The Thunder already have a set roster and while conversations with James Harden and Serge Ibaka are set to start happening very soon, there are roster spots to be filled. Three players are unrestricted free agents: Nazr Mohammed, Derek Fisher and Royal Ivey.
One has to go to make room for draft pick Perry Jones III. But two could stay, or they could be replaced by new faces. Which leads to a couple free agency rumors to pass along involving the Thunder:
- According to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld, Devin Ebanks is drawing interest from the Thunder, Magic, Hawks, 76ers and Nets. The Lakers extended Ebanks a qualifying offer last week meaning he’s a restricted free agent. Ebanks, 22, was taken in the second round by the Lakers in 2010, and is a lengthy, athletic 6-9 wing defender. He has upside and potential, and could be a solid fit for minutes behind KD as well as give the Thunder a little extra versatility with matchups. However, Thunder fans do have this lasting image of him, which isn’t great.
- According to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com, the Thunder, along with the Wizards and Hornets, have expressed some interest in Roger Mason. After an extremely productive year in San Antonio, Mason has tailed off seeing only 13.4 minutes a game in Washington last season. But he’s still a quality shooter, hitting 38.3 percent of his 3s last season. He’s 31 and could fill a veteran role on the Thunder bench, as well as provide OKC another NBPA spokesman on the team (Mason is a VP for the union). Maybe the Thunder replace Royal Ivey with Mason, but I’m not sure that makes as much sense. Mason is a shooter, and doesn’t do it all that much better than Daequan Cook. How u.
- It’s sounding very likely that Hasheem Thabeet will sign with the Thunder once the free agent moratorium is lifted on July 11. The 7-3 big man is in Oklahoma City, or at least was, and depending on contract talks, he could be added soon. Which means Nazr Mohammed likely will move on down the road.
- On the Derek Fisher front, the Thunder are one of a few teams interested in him, along with the Bulls, Heat and Mavericks, according to ESPN Chicago.
- Something maybe to read into: At Scott Brooks presser today, Sam Presti specifically mentioned Serge Ibaka and James Harden when talking about discussing their extensions. He did not, however, mention Eric Maynor. I wonder if there will even be an extension offer made.
- Also, nothing so far on Andrey Vorentsevich. The Thunder officially could enter negotiations with him starting July 1.
- Darnell Mayberry reports that Daniel Orton could be a potential free agent target for OKC.
Ok, this is from the belief that Ibakas going to be traded. What could we get for him in terms of value and small contract? A rookie with huge upside? My dream scenario would be to trade him to Charlotte for MKG and and sign a PF on the cheap such as MAresse Speights, Jordan Hill or Taj Gibson. The last two might draw some interest and could cost,but Im guessing we could save in comarison. Also, what kind of money is Kaman gonna draw this year?
Heres a peak at the FA's this year.
http://hoopshype.com/free_agent_rankings.htm
@Daniel Plainview
IF we have to it would be FAR better to trade Harden then Ibaka. Ibaka, Durant, Westbrook is a far better combo then Harden, Durant, Westbrook. We need that player who can dominate the paint defensely far more then we need a 3rd scorer. Also Ibaka has far more potential the Harden. We just have to hope Brooks comes to his senses, an gives Ibaka far more minutes next season.
@Daniel Plainview Can we stop with the MKG stuff please? I understand you like him but dude, you've said "we should trade for MKG" every day since a week before the draft.
That said, Taj Gibson is going to get PAID at the rate things are going. If Asik is getting 8 mil, you can bet Gibson will get at least the same. If he were cheap I'd love him, but he's going to be far from cheap. Kaman also will be overpaid. He's coming off of an extremely bloated contract, and although he's often injured and aging, he's still one of the better 2-way centers in the league and will be paid like one.
Basically, I almost feel like every big who isn't either completely unproven or completely terrible is getting offered close to Perk money by teams. It's insane. If we trade Ibaka for anything less than a good young player plus a good future pick, we're probably putting ourselves in a tough spot financially.
However, I'll continue my rant about retarded free agency by saying that this year's insane free agent fest could help us next year. If this year's free agent class is getting overpaid all over the place, maybe teams end up too tight to the luxury line next year to overpay guys quite as mightily and drive prices down a little... wishful thinking probably
@JimboSlice Clearly i cant stop talking about MKG and Ill assert my first amendment right. I admit, its a problem. Please dont supress non-hostile or non-inflammatory language. That would set a bad precedent Id hope youd come regret.
I already said I think Taj might get some big offers too, however I think most teams are gonna start balking now, as opposed to next season as you suggest. Even though,I agreeTaj may to be too much. Who knows, Im just workshopping this inevitable event that is Serge taking his talents elsewhere. Too, we shoudl ride this wave of nutso GM's buying high on talent alone. I could see someone paying Ibaka 1o-12 mil a year. We cant match that.
@Daniel Plainview
If were not even willing to pay Ibaka 10 million a year. Then
we don't deserve to ever win a championship. If we are foolish enough to let Ibaka get to the market he will get max offers as he will improve greatly next season. The guy has insane potential, and I think we see a huge jump in his game next year.
@Daniel Plainview @JimboSlice I'm not sure why OKC would trade Ibaka before the trade deadline... The only reason you'd do that is if other teams would be willing to give up more for a whole season or because Ibaka agrees to sign an extension with them (a sign and trade). Otherwise, OKC is best served by keeping him as long as possible to have the best record as possible before trading him. Also it sets his market a lot different than what it would be at right now. Finally, trading him just to sign another FA doesn't exactly control costs. It would be better to trade for someone with a longer contract such as someone on their rookie scale or who was a FA last year on a reasonable price.
@JimboSlice Yeah, I wonder that same thing. Sooner or later this new salary cap is going to drive down salaries of these less marquee names. I don't think some of these GMs have adjusted their thinking to this new reality yet.
And what about Darrel Arthur? He really started to come on before his injury
Ive always liked Ilyasova but I think someones gonna over pay on him but if he coudl be had for about 6mil a year, Id like him to be our plan B at PF
Trade him to Charlotte for 2 firsts . They're going to stink next yr too
@Daniel Plainview We need to trade him for a high first round pick so we can get a really talented player for cheap. Other wise we're going to have to pay a lot for a decent player.
Other PF names, Al Thortnon, Anthony Randolph, even DJ WHite. Again, these are lans B and C in the event Ibaka leaves. I know Mahinimi is acenter, but he looked quite good in the few spots I saw him in teh Dallas series
Happy 4th July to all of you Americans!
Harden could sign for $14m/y and be able to legitimately say he's sacrificing salary to stay on the team.
If Harden hits RFA, Ferry is offering him the max at 12:01 am, July 1, 2013.
Does that photo look unnaturally bright for the Lakers' Staples Center lighting? Or am I imagining things?
http://webcast.web.cern.ch/webcast/play_higgs.html lol. if any one is interested in the higgs boson.
@thunderatom Says "subscription failed."
Obviously Lost One just fell into the trap of Royce Young. hahhaa The Thunder havent talked about extending Maynor because thats a given. Harden and Ibakas contracts are not so much:) You obviously didnt watch any games this past season after Maynor went down. Can you say delusional
@OkcBaby If not signing mayor increases the chances of signing serge and harden than he's outta here...sorry bud
@OBoymuzik @OkcBaby Lets assume the top priority is to resign Harden. After that, Id say resigning Maynor is more important than Ibaka because Ibaka is going to demand - and get - 2 to 3 times more than Maynor. Obviously, Ibaka is a more impacting player but we could sell high on him right now because people are gonna gamble on his ceiling and likely over pay (see Asik.) If we use all our finances to resign Ibaka - which is almost assured 10+/yr - we would have nothing else to sign any othr F/A. And as you see this F/A period, despite having money right now, the City has no draw. Were not Miami, we dont have the boon of endorsements here.
@OBoymuzik @OkcBaby I just lost all respect for your opinion. Not only is Manor a really skilled player, his BBIQ is really high.
@OBoymuzik @dbenge Id say 4th with Collison. Just sayin though
@dbenge @OkcBaby not disputing that but hes the teams like 7th or 8th most important player for being successful...and if not having him means we can keep our 3rd and 4th he'll be gone
no need to get upset
@OBoymuzik @OkcBaby What if:)
I'm not at all worried about losing Harden. I'm nearly certain he'll be extended for a bit less than the max. I also think we keep Ibaka by using the amnesty clause on Perk. Maynor may or may not have to go (depending on what it takes to lock up Serge). Other tweaks will have to be made as well but i'm confident that the organization realizes it's alot harder to replace a 23 year old power forward with alot of untapped upside left over an injury prone and declining center with one skill (post defense). The sky isn't falling quite yet.
P.S. - That Thunderchick is mighty smart as well.
@ReignOfSerge Yeah, I don't get the panic exuded by some of these posts. Just see how this plays out a bit. KD said last night on twitter that Harden isn't going to hit free agency anyway. I really think he knows something we don't. He and James are reportedly very close.
@Old Man Game @ReignOfSerge
According to didoff (in the new thread), KD deleted the tweet.
@ThunderChick2010 @ReignOfSerge oh.
@ReignOfSerge
Thanks! :)
Reading through the comments over the past several days, I see there's been a lot of aggression (good on the basketball court, not so much on DT) and strife among us. Here's something to be thankful for and feel good about . . . At least we're not where we were last year at this time. Some early July excerpts from Royce, lest you've forgotten:
The NBA’s owners voted to lock out the players on Thursday, meaning that officially, the league is operating under a lockout.
We’re all hearing that term being tossed around a lot. I overheard two guys talking about it at a restaurant yesterday in fact.
“You hear there’s a lockout? I can’t believe this!”
“Me either. So ridiculous. What exactly does that mean?”
“Something about a Collective Bargaining Agreement. And money.”
Pretty much, yeah. But there’s more to it than that. What is a lockout? What happens to the players? Why does the league do it? What’s decertification?
22. Doesn’t this totally suck?
Yes. Yes it does.
@ThunderChick2010 as mostly a spectator I appreciate when the Mother hen prods the warring factions to consider options
@ThunderChick2010 during the regular season we don't have as many serious talks about trading for dwight or how we HAVE to sign Jason Kidd...HAVE TO
@OBoymuzik
It's not so much the crazy basketball stuff . . . There's just been a lot of back-and-forth about the right to express opinions, the acceptable topics, who is/isn't smart enough to be here, who's been here longest, etc. We need some basketball before we completely devour one another!
Of course, there's been a lot of good stuff too . . . just so you don't think I'm being a pessimist/realist like Lost Ones. :)
@ThunderChick2010 people are just REALLY passionate about this team...which is good...we could be like the raptors, memphis, etc fans and not really care lol
I want someone to make a Beard shirt that says, "He not hittin' the market." I'd buy one.
We might have the most delusional fans on the net, if we low ball ibaka his agent will advise him to hit the market plain and simple.
@Lost Ones Yeah Ibaka will be hard to keep some dumb team will offer him 14 million a year and we can't match that. Heck we may even have a team purposely drive up the price.
@Lost Ones We have fans that are optimistic. Get over yourself & your pessimistic attitude. You aren't making friends.
@Bryson Im not here to make friends, Im a realist
@Lost Ones @Bryson "you guys" ?....showing your true colors?
@Lost Ones @Bryson It's not impossible... not very likely but not impossible. So if you want to argue semantics we can play the possible not possible game all day. Just like we can play the IFs and COULD game as well. There is no need to call people names or treat them in some manner just because they speculate on various things.
@Lost Ones Of course sacrifice is going to be necessary, and -most- of us realize this.
@Lost Ones @Bryson hahahhahahahhahahhahahahhahahhahahah
@Bryson If you guys are content on keeping every role player than yes it is impossible.
@Lost Ones A realist analyses the options and accepts all possibilities. You are claiming no possible way to keep both Serge & James. You are a pessimist, not a realist.
@Lost Ones Clearly you've never read the Bobcats fan pages... they're claiming they're going to win the title next year.
@Prye05 @Lost Ones if you are reading the Bobcat's fan pages clearly you have too much free time,,.
@Prye05 @Lost Ones Damn .... Smooth talk'n city feller ain't Ya?....RIP Andy.
@dbenge @Prye05 @Lost Ones More than that --you are one sick f---er. Save yourself and get off the internet.
@dbenge @Lost Ones Or maybe I like to follow what other teams are saying say that my opinion isn't solely based on one source of information such as this site. Since there is bias to every site and every writer and every source... having multiple sources evens out the credibility of certain ideas.
@Prye05 well in that case lol