Tag: Derrick Favors

Players who the OKC Thunder could move on from

The Thunder are currently over the amount of players allowed on an NBA roster. Here are some candidates who could be on the chopping block.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently experiencing a roster crunch.

The team currently has 22 players under contract — 20 on full-time NBA contracts and two two-way players.

Even though the Thunder are five players over the allowed amount on an NBA roster, general manager Sam Presti said the team is in no rush to start trimming that down and will likely wait until the start of the regular season to get that number down to 17.

The Thunder will use Summer League and training camp to let roster spot battles play out to see who makes the opening night roster.

With that said, let’s take a look at some of the players who are on the bubble of the roster and are prime candidates of being let go.

Bleacher Report suggests a player the Thunder should go after in the offseason

The Thunder will likely not be active in free agency, but here’s a player the team should go after.

Bleacher Report writer Andy Bailey paired every 30 NBA teams to a player they could require in the offseason whether it’s via signing or trade.

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, they were involved in two of the additions both for themselves and for another team.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti already admitted during his exit interview that he will likely not be active when it comes to signing outside free agents as the team will focus on player development with their young talent.

Let’s take a look at what Bleacher Report had to say about the Thunder and which player they could realistically get in the offseason.

Trades that make a lot of sense: Kyrie Irving to the Lakers and more

With free agency just three days away, HoopsHype’s salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan came up with several trades he’d like to share.

With free agency just three days away, HoopsHype’s salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan came up with several trades he’d like to share.

Trades that make a lot of sense: Kyrie Irving to the Lakers and more

With free agency just three days away, HoopsHype’s salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan came up with several trades he’d like to share.

Derrick Favors officially picks up 2022-23 player option

Derrick Favors had until June 29 to make a decision.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Derrick Favors has officially picked up his $10.2 million option for the 2022-23 season, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

This was all but a courtesy call as Favors mentioned during his exit interview that he was probably going to pick up his option. Favors makes that decision over a month early as he had until June 29 to decide on it.

With Favors officially on the books, this now means the Thunder could trade him before the 2022 NBA draft, which will be held on June 23. The Thunder will find out where their two lottery picks will land on Tuesday during the 2022 NBA draft lottery.

There’s also the possibility that the Thunder simply eat up his $10.2 million salary and buy him out. At almost 31 years old, Favors doesn’t fit the team’s timeline and his minutes next season would be better off distributed to the younger players.

In 39 games last season, Favors averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds.

Bleacher Report proposes trade that sends Derrick Favors to the Nets

If the Thunder can dump Derrick Favors’ $10 million salary without having to buy him out, then that should be considered a win for the franchise.

Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz released an article recently that suggested one trade idea for all 30 NBA teams. The Oklahoma City Thunder were involved in two such trade proposals. The second one included the Thunder trading Derrick Favors to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a 2028 second-round pick.

“Moving Favors to a championship-caliber team would be a welcome move for all parties, getting $10.1 million of salary off the Thunder’s books while helping a Nets team with a thin frontline.

If they don’t mind adding on to an already larger luxury tax bill, the Nets could actually absorb Favors into a $11.3 million trade exception without having to send any salary back to OKC.

A future second-round pick down the road should be all it takes to get Favors out of Oklahoma City and back to the Nets, where the now 30-year-old began his career 12 years ago.”

Favors already announced in his exit interview that he plans on picking up his $10 million player option — which makes sense, it’s hard to see Favors get even half of that in the open market. If the Thunder can find a way to avoid buying out Favors and actually gain a draft asset back — even if it’s a second-round pick that’s years away — that would be a win for the team.

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2021-22 Thunder player grades: Derrick Favors

Handing out a final grade for Oklahoma City Thunder center Derrick Favors’ 2021-22 regular season.

(Editor’s note: We are starting individual grades for all players from the 2021-22 Oklahoma City Thunder. To access other reviews as part of this ongoing series, click here.)

With the 2021-22 regular season now officially in the books, the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-58) finished their season with the fourth-best lottery odds. This means it is now time for individual player grades for all 26 players who suited up for the team this season during the 82 games. The grades will be determined by what the season expectations were for each player and how they lived up to them.

The sixteenth player in the installment is Derrick Favors, who was limited to just 39 games this season.

OKC Thunder news: Key offseason dates to be aware of for the summer

Here is a list of key offseason dates to keep an eye on for the Oklahoma City Thunder in terms of contract options.

With the offseason fully underway for the Oklahoma City Thunder, roster decisions will be imminent in the following months as the team tries to narrow down to 15 regular players and two two-way players.

The Thunder currently own four 2022 draft picks with three of them being in the first round. In terms of who has fully-guaranteed money next season, the list includes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Derrick Favors, Josh Giddey, Darius Bazley, Ty Jerome, Aleksej Pokusevski, Tre Mann and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Mike Muscala, Isaiah Roby and Lu Dort have team options as well.

Let’s take a look at some important dates during the summer that will decide who will and won’t be on the team at the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign.

OKC Thunder news: Derrick Favors expected to pick up player option

Expect to see Derrick Favors’ $10.2 million salary on the payroll for next season.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Derrick Favors revealed during Tuesday’s exit interviews that he will most likely pick up his $10.2 million player option for the 2022-23 season.

Favors also said he expects to be back with the team next season but it’s important to keep in mind what a player says and what Thunder GM Sam Presti does are two completely different things. I would expect that Presti tries to offload Favors in the offseason but if it requires draft compensation, I think he would rather just keep or waive him.

For Favors, it’s probably the smart move to pick up the $10.2 million option; it’s hard to envision Favors making that type of money in the open market as the 30-year-old did not have the best season and has a ton of miles racked up.

Favors finished the season averaging 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in 39 games before being shut down due to lower back soreness.

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OKC Thunder rumors: Bleacher Report proposes a Russell Westbrook to Thunder offseason trade

Are a couple of first-round picks worth possibly over $47 million?

Bleacher Report recently published an article with six possible trade destinations for Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook. Westbrook is set to be owed $47.1 million next season if he picks up his 2022-23 player option. With how hostile things appear between Westbrook and the Lakers, a divorce seems inevitable between the two parties.

One of the six possible trade partners includes Westbrook’s former team the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he spent the first 11 seasons of his career at. The proposed trade has the Thunder sending Mike Muscala and Derrick Favors to the Lakers for Westbrook with the possibility of a third team entering the trade to compensate Oklahoma City. The Lakers could also give up either/both the 2027 first-round pick and 2029 first-round pick with various protections.

“The Oklahoma City Thunder are the only team with significant cap space (approximately $32 million). That’s not enough to absorb Westbrook’s $44.2 million in June, but it would work if the Lakers took on Derrick Favors and Mike Muscala (assuming both of their options are picked up for next season before July).

Oklahoma City is likely to climb over the cap July 1, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s extension kicks in. The franchise could aggressively look to take on unwanted contracts in May or June to help two or three teams dump salary—for multiple draft considerations, naturally. For a contract as big as Westbrook’s, the Thunder would certainly demand a pair of first-rounders (likely in 2027 and 2029).

The Lakers wouldn’t get appreciably better with Favors and Muscala, but it could mark an intermediary step. The deal would drop them under the projected luxury tax ($149 million), which would open up the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($10.3 million) and the bi-annual exception ($4.1 million). Without a Westbrook trade, the Lakers project to have only the taxpayer mid-level exception ($6.4 million), which may not be enough to re-sign Malik Monk.

L.A. would also get a massive trade exception via the Thunder ($31 million), available for an entire year to help the Lakers find additional talent in future trades. If the team used its NTMLE or BAE, it would have a hard spending limit of $155.7 million, so the Lakers might need to redirect players such as Favors to another franchise to utilize a full exception.

The Thunder could also be the key to unlocking a multiteam trade with any number of franchises eager to get rid of expensive veteran talent but unwilling to take on Westbrook’s salary.

The key for a deal with the Thunder might be finding another team to compensate Oklahoma City so that dumping Westbrook only costs a single first. Getting that done while bringing back impact talent may be too much to ask. The compromise might be a lottery-protected 2029 first that converts to a second if the Lakers miss the playoffs.”

Unless the Thunder get several draft picks, I have a hard time seeing this scenario manifest into reality. The Thunder already owe $28.4 million in dead cap for its 2022-23 season payroll with Kemba Walker an Kyle Singler, adding nearly double that with Westbrook’s $47.1 million would be a huge pill to swallow for Clay Bennett and Thunder ownership. Even if Westbrook gives some of his salary back in order to get bought out, that’s still a huge amount to pay for what I assume will be a couple of lightly-protected first-round picks.

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