Category Archives: News

Thunder sign Yannis Morin

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After signing Dakari Johnson yesterday, the Oklahoma City Thunder have now signed 24 year old French big man Yannis Morin. The news was first reported by international website Sportando. 

Morin is an athletic 6’11” PF/C who can develop into a prototypical big man for the pace and space NBA. He moves well without the ball and can even float out to 3-point territory to space the floor. He’ll initially to be a rim runner, but he has good mechanics on his shot and may develop into a pick and pop option. He’s a little on the light side and may need some time in the weight room before he has an impact in the NBA. 

Morin played with Le Havre of the French Pro B League last season averaging 6.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He played with the Thunder in this recent summer league, appearing in 4 games. Morin was scheduled to play with Chalons-Reims of the LNB Pro A league next season, but opted out of his deal to join the Thunder. 

According to Steve Kyler of BasketballInsiders.com, the thinking is that this might be a 2-way contract to allow Morin to develop in the G-League with the OKC Blue. 

Here’s a highlight of Moran to get to know him a little. 

Thunder sign Dakari Johnson

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According to Shams Charania of the Vertical, the Oklahoma City Thunder have signed center Dakari Johnson to a guaranteed two year deal. Johnson, who was drafted by the Thunder in the 2nd round of the 2015 NBA Draft, has been playing on their D-League affiliate for the past two seasons.

Johnson is a big, burly center in the Kendrick Perkins mold. He’s a legit 7-footer with a 7’2″ wingspan. He played two seasons at Kentucky, mainly at back-up center, averaging 15.2 minutes, 5.8 points, and 4.3 rebounds over 78 games. On a different team he may have had better numbers, but playing for Kentucky meant Johnson was usually lower on the depth chart. In Johnson’s two seasons in Kentucky, the players ahead of him were Julius Randle, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Willie Cauley-Stein. All three of those players were selected in the Top-10 of their respective drafts.  Continue reading →

Thunder re-sign Nick Collison

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Jim Mone – AP Photo

The Oklahoma City Thunder re-signed 14-year veteran Nick Collison to a one year deal on Friday afternoon. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but it is expected the deal is for the veteran minimum. Shams Charania of The Vertical was the first to report the deal, also adding that this will be Collison’s final season in the NBA.

In trading for Paul George and signing Patrick Patterson and Raymond Felton, this has been a whirlwind of an off-season for the Thunder. But re-signing Collison brings back a player that has been with the organization his entire career, and is the only other player besides Russell Westbrook to have been on the Thunder since they landed in Oklahoma City in 2008.

Collison played in 20 games last season, averaging 6.4 minutes, 1.7 points, and 1.6 rebounds. During exit interviews in April, Collison was asked if he planned to be back the next season. Collison’s response was, “I plan to play, for sure. I wasn’t sure going into the season how I would feel at the end of the year. But I still enjoy playing. I enjoy being around the group. I enjoy being on the team. And I still feel I have a lot to offer.”

Paul George Arrives into Oklahoma City

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Paul George arrived into Will Rogers airport with much fanfare. Oklahoma City Thunder Storm Chaser and airport pep rally organizer Devin Newsom held another successful airport gathering. He supplied the party goers with free PG shirts,  pizza, and water. 

About 200 fans braved the blazing heat to show George a little OKC love. George arrived about an hour later than scheduled, but that didn’t matter. Sam Presti and many Thunder staffers were there to greet him when he arrived. 

When he got off the plane with his gray OKC Thunder hat, the place erupted with cheer. George walked along the barrier fence giving high fives and wearing a huge smile on his face. After a couple minutes of showing fans some love, he got into an SUV with his family and was whisked off likely to the practice facility. 

Paul George is here. Will he be here this time next year? That remains to be seen. If nothing else, this was a great start. 

Thunder sign Raymond Felton

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The Oklahoma City Thunder signed free agent point guard Raymond Felton to a one year deal on Friday. According to Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript, the deal is for the veteran minimum, which is around $2.3 million.

The 12-year vet played for the Los Angeles Clippers last year, primarily as Chris Paul’s back-up. He played in 80 games, starting in 11 of them. He averaged 6.7 points and 2.4 assists on 43% shooting from the field and 32% shooting from deep. Felton was a key stabilizing figure in the Clippers’ locker room, during a season that saw both Paul and Blake Griffin go down with significant injuries.

This will be the 7th team Felton has played for in his career. He will almost assuredly slide into the back-up point guard spot ahead of 2nd year player Semaj Christon, who’s team option the Thunder have yet to pick up. The Thunder have until July 15th to pick up Christon’s option. With this signing, the Thunder have 12 guaranteed contracts totaling about $125 million. The luxury tax line for the 2017-18 season sits at $119 million.

Paul George traded to the Thunder

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Sarah Phipps – The Oklahoman

Just as I was about to release a primer for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s foray into this summer’s free agency, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN dropped this bomb:

It was just 12 days ago that George put out the feelers that he wanted out of Indiana and was not going to re-sign with the Pacers when his contract expired after the 2017-18 season. I wrote about the Thunder’s chances of obtaining George when the statement came out. He included in his statement that he had an eye towards signing in his native Los Angeles when he became a free agent. That statement was released a full three days before the draft. The timing of the statement was no accident.  Continue reading →

Russell Westbrook wins the 2016-17 NBA MVP

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The NBA held their inaugural NBA Awards Show and the Oklahoma City Thunder racked up their fair share of accolades. First up, Russell Westbrook won the Best Style award voted on by the fans. I mean, was there even a debate with this award. This was the first of three fan awards the Thunder would win.

Next up, Victor Oladipo won Dunk of the Year for his viscous two-handed double pump on Dwight Howard in Atlanta. The dunk was so savage that Hawks’ management moved Howard to Charlotte under the assumed identity of Hight Doward.

The third fan award won by the Thunder went to Russell Westbrook who won Gamewinner of the Year for his 35 foot bomb in Denver that knocked the Nuggets out of playoff contention and capped off Westbrook’s record setting 42nd triple double.  Continue reading →

The Terrance Ferguson press conference

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Terrance Ferguson had his introductory press conference today at the CHK Boathouse. While you could notice his youthful nervousness, Ferguson had an air of confidence about him that will likely fit in well with this team. Here are a couple highlights from the presser.

​On what Ferguson can bring to the Thunder

​​​​On what Oklahoma means to him and what the journey to get to where he is now means to him

On what it was like when he heard his name on draft night Continue reading →

The Thunder select Terrance Ferguson at 21

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With all the build-up to this draft, the Oklahoma City decided to stay at 21 and selected hometown kid Terrance Ferguson. The 6’7″ wing last played for the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League in Australia. He played in 30 games averaging 15 minutes per game. He scored 4.6 points on 39.1% shooting from the field and 31.3% shooting from deep.

Ferguson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but grew up in Dallas, Texas. After high school, he had many scholarship offers from different universities, most notably Alabama and Arizona, but instead chose to go overseas to pursue professional opportunities. He signed with Adelaide and played in 30 of their 31 games. The one game he did miss was due to suspension after striking Mark Worthington of the Cairns Taipans a player from another team. He helped lead the 36ers to the league semifinals, where they eventually lost to the Brisbane Bullets in the 3rd game of a 3 game series.  Continue reading →

Thunder sign Semaj Christon

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On Saturday, the Oklahoma City Thunder signed guard Semaj Christon. The 2014 2nd rounder played last season with Consultinvest VL Pesaro of Lega Basket Serie A, the top professional league in Italy. While there, he averaged 14.3 points, 3.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 33.2 minutes of playing time. Previous to that, he spent his first two professional seasons with the Thunder’s D-League affiliate, the Blue. In addition, he has also been a member of the Thunder’s summer league team the last three seasons.

The 6’3″ point guard out of Xavier has shown a penchant for getting into the lane and causing havoc once he gets there. His sturdy frame and long arms allow him to finish in traffic, while his floor game allows him to find teammates for higher percentage shots. His jumper, while not the best, has improved over the past 3 seasons to the point where he has a pretty solid mid-range game.

With the signing of Ronnie Price earlier this offseason, the Thunder’s roster currently sits at 15 guaranteed contracts, with 3 of those contracts belonging to point guards (Russell Westbrook, Cameron Payne, and Price). So why did the Thunder sign Christon, if their roster is already at max capacity with contracts and points guards? The reasoning for that could be two-fold. Number one, the Thunder don’t appear to be done wheeling and dealing. The roster, as it currently stands, is a weird mixture of bruising big men, offensively challenged wings, and athletic guards who aren’t great at shooting. They have a sizable expiring contract in Ersan Ilyasova, and a young big they may be ready to move on from in Mitch McGary. If the right deal comes along, they could also feature Payne, who could net something substantial from a point guard starved team.

The second reason for signing Christon is to play the long game with him. While his contract can’t be guaranteed because of the Thunder’s 15 other commitments, there could be guaranteed money attached to it if he gets waived before the season starts. Then the Thunder could sign Christon to the Blue and see how the season plays out in terms of roster moves. If the trade deadline leaves the Thunder with an open roster spot, you can almost guarantee that spot will go to Christon. Another issue that is clouding the water in terms of Christon’s future is whether Price’s 2nd year is fully guaranteed.

If anything, the Thunder have secured themselves another weapon to throw at guard happy teams, while maintaining roster flexibility. Christon’s strength and wing-span could make him an asset on the defensive end of the floor, similar to what the Thunder saw from Dion Waiters in the playoffs last season. And while Christon’s offensive repertoire may not necessarily be what the Thunder need, it’s not like he’s offensively challenged. In the end, his contract is not currently guaranteed, and the Thunder have time to see how everything plays out in these next two months before the season starts.