Category: OKC Thunder Blog

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Thunder guard Luguentz Dort diagnosed with concussion

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort sustained a concussion during yesterday’s game against the Boston Celtics and he has been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol.

Per the NBA’s Concussion Policy, Dort will now begin the NBA-mandated Return-to-Participation Protocol. This process includes a series of steps designed to ensure an athlete exhibits symptom-free behavior before resuming basketball activities.

There is no predetermined timetable to complete the protocol, as each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case.

Three-team trade sends George Hill to Sixers, Austin Rivers to Thunder, Terrance Ferguson to Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has acquired George Hill from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Ignas Brazdeikis from the New York Knicks in a three-team trade.

Philadelphia sent Tony Bradley and two second-round picks (2025 and 2026) to Oklahoma City and Terrance Ferguson, Vincent Poirier, the rights to Emir Preldžić, a 2021 second-round pick and Miami’s 2024 second-round pick (protected Nos. 31-55) to New York.

The Knicks also traded Austin Rivers to Oklahoma City as part of the deal.

In his 13th NBA season, Hill has appeared in 14 games (all starts) with the Thunder, averaging 11.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 26.3 minutes per game. He’s shot .508 from the field, .386 from beyond the arc and .840 from the free-throw line. Hill posted a season-high 22 points on Jan. 24 at the L.A. Clippers, shooting 9-12 from the field and 3-4 from three-point range and has scored in double figures in nine of his 14 contests this season.

All told, Hill has seen action in 799 career games (463 starts) with Oklahoma City, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Sacramento, Utah, Indiana and San Antonio, averaging 11.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 27.7 minutes per contest. Last season’s NBA leader in three-point percentage (.460), he’s shot .384 from beyond the arc in his career. A two-way talent, Hill has collected more than 700 steals in his career and is one of nine active players shooting at least 38-percent from three-point range in 20,000-or-more career minutes. Hill’s teams have made the playoffs in 11 of his 12 NBA seasons as he’s seen action in 127 postseason games (91 starts), boosting his scoring average to 12.1 points in those contests.

A native of Indianapolis, Hill played collegiately at IUPUI, earning Summit League Player of the Year honors in his final season, before he was selected by San Antonio with the No. 26 overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Brazdeikis has played in 13 NBA games over two seasons with New York. Most recently, he appeared in 12 NBA G League games with the Westchester Knicks during single-site play at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando. With Westchester, Brazdeikis averaged 20.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 34.1 minutes per game. He and the 76ers’ Paul Reed were the only two players to average at least 20 points and nine rebounds during the 2021 NBA G League season.

Brazdeikis was originally selected by Sacramento with the No. 47 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, following a standout 2018-19 season at Michigan, during which he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He averaged 14.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per game as he helped lead the Wolverines to a 30-7 record and an appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Originally from Lithuania, Brazdeikis grew up in Canada and has represented the country internationally, earning a silver medal at the 2015 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship.

Bradley, Ferguson and Poirier were acquired by Philadelphia prior to the 2020-21 season. Bradley has played in 20 games this season, Ferguson has seen action in 13 and Poirier has appeared in 10. The rights to Emir Preldžić were originally acquired by Philadelphia on Feb. 6, 2019.

Ferguson, 6-6, 190-pounds, has appeared in 204 NBA games (124 starts), averaging 4.5 points and 1.3 rebounds over 19.6 minutes in four seasons with Oklahoma City and Philadelphia. He has appeared in 13 games for Philadelphia this season. The Tulsa-OK native, was originally selected by Oklahoma City with the 21st overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Poirier, 7-0, 235-pounds, has appeared in 32 games, averaging 1.5 points and 1.8 rebounds over two seasons with Boston and Philadelphia. The Clamart, France native was originally signed by Boston as a free agent on July 15, 2019.

Brazdeikis, 6-7, 214-pounds appeared in 13 games for New York, averaging 1.5 points over 4.6 minutes over two seasons. He was originally selected by Sacramento in the second round (47th overall) of the 2019 NBA Draft and had his draft rights traded to New York.

Rivers, 6-4, 204-pounds appeared in 21 games (two starts) for New York this season, averaging 7.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists over 21.0 minutes. He was originally acquired by New York from Houston on November 27, 2020.

Bradley (6-10, 260) has appeared in 20 games (eight starts) with the 76ers this season, recording averages of 5.5 points and a career-high 5.2 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per contest, shooting a career-best 68.0 percent from the floor. The UNC product has made appearances in 90 career games (11 starts) and averaged 4.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 11.3 minutes, shooting 64.6 percent from the field.

Thunder waive Meyers Leonard

The Oklahoma City Thunder has waived forward/center Meyers Leonard, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Leonard was originally acquired from the Miami Heat on March 17, 2021. He was traded by the Heat after getting caught spewing an antisemitic slur during a live video game stream.

He can now sit at home, where he’ll have more time to play video games.

Heat trade Meyers Leonard, draft pick to Thunder for Trevor Ariza

The Oklahoma City Thunder yesterday acquired a 2027 second-round draft pick, forward/center Meyers Leonard and generated a trade exception in a trade with the Miami Heat for forward Trevor Ariza.

Leonard, who was recently caught on a live video game stream spewing an antisemitic slur, will not be reporting to Oklahoma City and will not be an active member of the organization.

Oklahoma City will have one year from today to exercise the trade exception.

As part of the announcement, the Heat issued the following statement: “Meyers was a key part of our team that made a run to the NBA Finals and we will always be grateful for his contributions and leadership last season. His recent comments were very hurtful and disappointing, but, we are encouraged that he has spent this last week meeting with community leaders, Rabbis and Holocaust survivors to greater understand the impact of his words and we hope that his education will continue. We wish Meyers and Elle the best of luck in the future.”

Ariza, a 16-year NBA veteran, has appeared in 1,064 career NBA games (731 starts) averaging 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.49 steals and 29.7 minutes while shooting 42.3 percent from the field. He split last season between Sacramento and Portland, appearing in 21 games (all starts) most recently with the Trail Blazers averaging 11.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.62 steals and 33.4 minutes while shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 87.2 percent from the foul line, helping Portland to a postseason berth. He scored in double-figures 19 times last season, including four 20-point performances. He recorded 22 multi-steal games, including a season-high six against the Los Angeles Lakers on January 31. Ariza, who was born in Miami, has made nine postseason appearances where he helped the Lakers win the 2009 NBA Championship after appearing in 23 games (all starts) in their playoff run.

Zach LaVine scores 40 points in Bulls win over Thunder

Zach LaVine dropped 40 in a Bulls win over the Thunder tonight. Via the Chicago Tribune:

While playing professionally in Europe, Chicago Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky became used to constantly shuffling in and out of the starting lineup. So even though the Bulls elevated him into the starting five this week, he took it in stride.

“I’m the guy who never really overreacts to starting,” Satoransky said. “Where I came from, we always changed the different lineups in European basketball. I said this to (coach Billy Donovan): I am ready for whenever he puts me in. I never overthink that too much.”

The Bulls were plus-28 with Satoransky on the floor Tuesday as their new-look starting lineup — and a 40-point performance from Zach LaVine — helped carry them to a 123-102 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the United Center.

LaVine put up his points with efficiency, going 15 of 20 from the field and 7 of 12 from 3-point range. He was aided by strong performances from the two veterans inserted into the lineup: Satoransky, who had 13 points and seven assists, and Thad Young, who had 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

The Thunder, who are undergoing a rebuild, were missing a number of key players tonight.

The Bulls are 18-20 this season. They’re being led in scoring by LaVine at 28.1 points per game, Lauri Markkanen at 19.1 ppg in 17 games played, Coby White at 16.0 ppg, and Young at 12.1 ppg off the bench.

Thunder trade Hamidou Diallo to Pistons for Svi Mykhailiuk and draft pick

The Oklahoma City Thunder has acquired guard/forward Svi Mykhailiuk and a 2027 second-round draft pick (via Houston) in a trade with the Detroit Pistons for guard Hamidou Diallo.

Mykhailiuk [mee-HIGH-luke] (6-8, 205) has appeared in 134 career games (32 starts) with the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons and averaged 6.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 17.5 minutes per game, while shooting 36.9 percent from beyond the arc. This season with the Pistons, he has seen time in 36 games (five starts) and is averaging 6.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 17.6 minutes per game. He has 16 games with two or more three-point makes this season, including a career-high-tying five makes on March 3 at Toronto.

Last season, Mykhailiuk was selected to play in the 2020 Rising Stars game as a member of Team World during All-Star Weekend.

Diallo, 6-5, 202, has played for the Thunder since he was selected 45th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets and subsequently involved in two trades to Charlotte and then Oklahoma City following the draft. Through 32 games (five starts) this season, Diallo is averaging career highs in scoring (11.9 ppg), rebounding (5.2 rpg), assists (2.4 apg), steals (1.0 spg) and minutes (23.8 mpg). In 129 career NBA games (11 starts), Diallo has posted clips of 6.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.7 steals in 16.9 minutes.

The Queens, N.Y. native won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest as a rookie at the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte. Diallo played one season collegiately at Kentucky in 2017-18, averaging 10.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.8 steals in 24.8 minutes over 37 games (all starts).

Thunder recall forward Aleksej Pokusevski from G League

The Oklahoma City Thunder recalled forward Aleksej Pokuševski from the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League today.

Pokuševski appeared in 13 games (12 starts) with the Blue this season and recorded averages of 7.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.08 blocks in 25.2 minutes per contest. He logged two double-doubles in his time with the Blue, recording a 12-point, 19-rebound performance on Feb. 26 against the Austin Spurs while registering 19 points and 10 rebounds against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Feb. 21.

The Serbian native has appeared in 17 games with the Thunder where he is averaging 3.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.12 blocks (most among rookies) in 17.4 minutes per game.

Luguentz Dort a defensive stopper for Thunder

Thunder guard Luguentz Dort is great on defense, not so great on offense. Via the Oklahoman:

Luguentz Dort keeps jacking up 3-pointers. And missing. Missing badly, in most cases.

Dort has missed 13 straight from deep. Over the last six games, he’s made three of 30. Thunder fans know the drill well. A defensive stopper who can’t shoot a lick.

It can be quite frustrating. Slammed if you do. Slammed if you don’t.

But the Thunder is not careening down Andre Roberson Boulevard. Dort is different from Roberson and Thabo Sefolosha and Terrance Ferguson, the latter a wannabe in OKC’s pantheon of defensive aces.

Dort is bold. Bold on defense, yes. But bold on offense also. And that’s a good thing. That’s a very good thing.

Dort is young. And with the Thunder in a rebuilding state, there is plenty of time for his offense to develop.

Thunder forward-center Mike Muscala sustains concussion

Oklahoma City Thunder forward/center Mike Muscala sustained a concussion during last night’s 120-118 victory vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves and he has been placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol.

Per the NBA’s Concussion Policy, Muscala will now begin the NBA-mandated Return-to-Participation Protocol. This process includes a series of steps designed to ensure an athlete exhibits symptom-free behavior before resuming basketball activities.

There is no predetermined timetable to complete the protocol, as each injury and player is different and recovery time can vary in each case.

In 21 games this season, Muscala is averaging 9.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18.2 minutes per contest.