OKC Thunder Blog – Page 24 – NBA Blog

Thunder exercise contract options on Cameron Payne and Josh Huestis

The Oklahoma City Thunder exercised its third-year options on forward Josh Huestis and guard Cameron Payne, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

During the 2015-16 season, Huestis appeared in five games for the Thunder, averaging 2.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.0 minutes per game. Originally drafted by Oklahoma City with the 29th overall selection in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Stanford product spent the 2014-15 season with the Oklahoma City Blue, averaging 10.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.57 blocks in 33.1 minutes per game.

Payne, the 14th overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft, averaged 5.0 points, 1.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 57 games (one start) during his rookie season. In two seasons at Murray State, the Memphis native averaged 18.5 points, 5.7 assists 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 32.4 minutes per contest.

OKC Thunder waive Mitch McGary, Ronnie Price, Chris Wright and Kaleb Tarczewski

The Oklahoma City Thunder waived forwards Mitch McGary and Chris Wright along with guard Ronnie Price and center Kaleb Tarczewski, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

McGary saw action in 52 games (two starts) during the past two seasons with Oklahoma City while recording averages of 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game.

Wright appeared in one preseason contest with the Thunder.

Price appeared in five preseason games with the Thunder and averaged 1.0 point, 2.0 assists and 1.20 steals in 13.6 minutes per game.

Tarczewski played in two preseason contests with Oklahoma City and registered averages of 2.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.00 block in 10.9 minutes per game.

Oklahoma City’s roster now stands at 15.

Thunder sign Reggie Williams

The OKC Thunder signed guard Reggie Williams today.

Williams (6-6, 205) spent the 2015-16 season in Russia with Avtodor Saratov, appearing in 16 games and averaging 13.6 points on 58.8% shooting from the field including 40.7% from long distance, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 25.0 minutes per contest.

The guard has appeared in 200 career NBA games (32 starts) with Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Charlotte and Golden State. He holds career averages of 7.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 18.3 minutes. The VMI product has also played internationally for San Miguel Beerman of the Philippines (2014), Caja Laboral of Spain (2011) and JDA Dijon of France (2008-09).

In a related move, the Thunder waived guard Alex Caruso who was originally signed by the club on Sept. 23rd.

Steven Adams dealing with ankle sprain

There are always lots of injuries in preseason, but most of them are day-to-day and usually very minor. Hopefully that’s the case with Thunder center Steven Adams. Here’s the Oklahoman with the latest:

The Thunder was back at practice on Saturday after a return trip from Spain. But Steven Adams didn’t participate.

Oklahoma City’s starting center sat out Saturday with what the team said is a sprained right ankle. He injured it in the second quarter of last Monday’s loss to Real Madrid and did not return. He missed Wednesday’s win against FC Barcelona Lassa.

Thunder lose preseason game to Real Madrid

It’s just preseason. The law states that needed to be the first sentence here. Because, it’s true. It’s just preseason, and often in preseason the best players on an NBA team play very limited minutes. It’s just a warmup. But when an NBA team plays an international team, preseason or not, the international team takes it seriously. And then anything can happen. Here’s the Oklahoman reporting:

Game on the line.

Russell Westbrook on the bench.

It’ll be a regular-season rarity for the Thunder, and should the situation arise in a game that counts, Oklahoma City will hope to handle it better than it did in Monday’s preseason debut.

With Westbrook watching — he played only the first and third quarters — multiple Thunder players tried to fill the go-to role down the stretch of Monday’s 142-137 overtime loss to Real Madrid…

Real Madrid made 20 of 37 3-pointers — many of them clean looks as a result of sloppy defensive rotations — in rallying from 22 points down for an upset win…

Victor Oladipo scored 34 points. Enes Kanter added 29 points and 10 rebounds.

Cameron Payne suffers broken bone in foot

Thunder guard Cameron Payne suffered an acute fracture to his fifth metatarsal (long bone in foot) in Tuesday night’s Blue-White Scrimmage, which took place in front of fans at a high school.

According to News9 OKC, “it’s the same bone he had surgery on in late July.”

The 14th overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft averaged 5.0 points, 1.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 57 games during his rookie season.

Payne will see his attending physician and additional specialists this week to determine the next course of action.

Victor Oladipo has big Thunder goals

The Thunder are a very different team coming into this season. Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka are gone, and Victor Oladipo and a lot of question marks are in their place. Russell Westbrook is a star, and the team has some capable big guys. As for Oladipo, there’s an opportunity for him to do big things, even as he shares the backcourt with Westbrook. Here’s the Oklahoman reporting:

“I don’t just want to be a three-point shooter. I don’t just want to be a defensive stopper,” Oladipo said at Thunder media day. “I want to be one of the best players in this league, and in order to do that, you have to affect the game on both ends and do multiple things.”

For two seasons, Andre Roberson started 135 regular season games for the Thunder as the heir to Thabo Sefolosha at shooting guard. While Roberson provides length and athleticism on defense at 6-foot-7, he’s a below-average perimeter shooter and shot creator, scoring just 22.8 percent of his baskets unassisted last season. In contrast, Oladipo scored 51.5 percent of his baskets unassisted last season, which would have ranked fourth on the Thunder behind Westbrook, Cameron Payne and Dion Waiters.

Defensively, Oladipo could improve simply by playing with better teammates. Roberson and Adams proved to be elite defenders in the postseason. Westbrook, when focused, can be a terror. Westbrook thinks he and Oladipo can be the best defensive backcourt in the league. Oladipo agrees…

Last season, Oladipo’s shooting struggles came mostly as a bench player, a role that saw him shoot 27.1 percent from 3 over 20 games. But in 52 games as a starter, Oladipo shot 36.8 percent from 3-point range.

Thunder sign Alex Caruso, Kaleb Tarczewski, Chris Wright

The Thunder today signed guard Alex Caruso, center Kaleb Tarczewski and forward Chris Wright. These were likely all non-guaranteed deals that merely bring the three players to training camp.

Caruso (6-5, 186), enjoyed a four-year collegiate career at Texas A&M where he finished as the school’s all-time leader in assists (649) and steals (276). As a senior, Caruso was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year in addition to receiving Second-Team All SEC honors. During his Aggie career, Caruso appeared in a total of 137 games and averaged 8.0 points, 4.7 assists and 2.02 steals.

Tarczewski (7-0, 250), concluded his four seasons at the University of Arizona with 110 victories, tied for the most in school history. After his senior campaign, Tarczewski was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference 2nd Team and the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. Tarczewski concluded his Wildcat career having appeared in 135 games and registering averages of 8.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.87 blocks.

Wright (6-9, 226), spent the 2015-16 season playing overseas in Israel with Maccabi Rishon LeZion where he helped lead his club to the Israeli National Championship. Wright had previously appeared in 32 NBA games with the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors, averaging 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per contest. Additionally, Wright has appeared is 93 career D-League games where he holds career averages of 18.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.45 blocks.

2016 Thunder Blue and White Scrimmage info

Fans will have the first opportunity to see the 2016-17 Thunder squad in action as the team brings its annual Blue and White Scrimmage to John Marshall Mid-High School on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

The Thunder team will take the court at 7 p.m. for an open practice that also includes several Thunder game-night features such as Rumble the Bison, the Thunder Girls, Thunder Drummers and Storm Chasers. Prior to the scrimmage, the team will hold Thunder Alley starting at 4 p.m. outside the school, where fans will be able to enjoy the OG&E ThunderBolt, pop-a-shot, sport court, the Thunder merchandise trailer, appearances by Thunder entertainers, and interactive games and sweepstakes at the U.S. Cellular tent.

“We are thrilled to bring the Thunder experience to John Marshall Mid-High,” said Brian Byrnes, senior vice president of Sales and Marketing. “Our tradition of the Blue and White Scrimmage gives us an outstanding opportunity to connect with communities across the state and show them how deeply we appreciate their support.”

Tickets for the scrimmage are being distributed by the John Marshall Mid-High School administration in order to best serve the school community.

Thunder renounce rights to Tomislav Zubcic

You probably don’t know forward Tomislav Zubcic, and if you’re a Thunder fan, you still won’t know him. OKC gave up the rights to him today, according to the Oklahoman:

The Thunder has renounced the rights to Tomislav Zubcic on Sunday, making the 6-foot-10 forward a free agent.

In June 2015, Zubcic, 26, was acquired along with a $2.85 million trade exception by the Thunder from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Luke Ridnour and cash.