Thursday Bolts: 7.6.17
Andre Roberson is staying put: “Restricted free-agent forward Andre Roberson has agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder, league sources told ESPN. Roberson, 25, preferred a shorter three-year deal over the four years available to him, league sources said.”
Dan Devine (Yahoo) on Roberson’s contract/OKC’s strong summer: “Sam Presti’s killer summer continued on Wednesday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder general manager agreed to terms with restricted free agent swingman Andre Roberson on a three-year, $30 million deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, bringing back one of the league’s best perimeter defenders to work on the wing alongside incumbent league MVP Russell Westbrook and newly acquired All-Star Paul George for an awfully cozy price.”
Bobby Marks on how Roberson’s deal impacts the finances: “The Andre Roberson three-year $30M contract now puts Oklahoma City with $125.1M in salary. The Thunder are now $5.8M over the luxury with an early tax bill of $8.9M. The Thunder will have the entire season to reduce (or add) salary.”
Ryan Wolstat (Toronto Sun) on why the Raptors will miss Patrick Patterson: “The club was 10 points better per 100 possessions in each of the past two seasons when Patterson was on the floor. Per colleague Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca, Toronto was +1004 with Patterson on the court over the past three seasons, -38 when he sat. He shot 37% on three-pointers in Toronto, hitting 351 of his 941 career triples.”
Danny Chau (The Ringer) ranks OKC 4th in the Western Conference: “Landing Paul George accomplishes a similar effect in Oklahoma City. His jack-of-all-trades skill set is the perfect complement to Russell Westbrook’s overlord-ball, but more importantly, he will balance the team’s pH during those precious minutes when Westbrook has to take a breather. Russ’s on-off numbers, if you’ll recall, were farcical in their five-game first-round series against the Rockets less than three months ago. With Westbrook on the floor, the Thunder had a plus-4.9 net rating; in the 46 minutes he spent off the court, everything descended to hell, with the Thunder managing to get outscored by 51.3 points per 100 possessions.”
Brett Dawson on how player rentals are about risk and reward: “In sending Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to Indiana, the Thunder is gambling, knowing well that it’s guaranteed only a year of George. But the chance to pair an elite wing scorer with Russell Westbrook – the formula the Thunder used, with Kevin Durant, to build a championship contender – was a reward too sweet to pass up.”
Matt Craig’s reaction/video recap of yesterday’s Summer League loss: “The Oklahoma City Thunder continued play in the Orlando Pro Summer League on Wednesday, falling to the undefeated Dallas Mavericks 96-75 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate.”
Dion Waiters is getting paid in Miami: “Free-agent guard Dion Waiters has agreed to terms on a four-year, $52 million deal to return to the Miami Heat, league sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Waiters, 25, turned down a player option worth a little more than $3.2 million to test free agency.”
ESPN’s running list of every free agency signing: Pieces are still moving around. Here’s all of it.
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