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During T.J. Leaf’s first press conference as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, he was asked what he had heard about the organization from others who he had played with during his time with the Indiana Pacers.
Funny enough, as the trade went down, he was actually hanging out with a former Thunder forward.
“When I was traded, I was with Doug McDermott. He was really excited for me,” Leaf said. “He knew this place was just a first-class place, and he was excited that I was going to be able to come experience that for myself.”
McDermott’s time with the Thunder was short, but he remembered enough of the 2016-17 season to share with Leaf. That year, Oklahoma City acquired McDermott and Taj Gibson at the trade deadline to help with a playoff push behind MVP Russell Westbrook.
McDermott played 22 games with the Thunder and averaged 6.6 points while shooting 36.2% from 3.
Oklahoma City traded him that offseason as part of the package for Carmelo Anthony. In 2018, McDermott joined the Pacers and Leaf.
He’s one of a handful of players to have left Oklahoma City and later played with Leaf in Indiana.
Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis were on the 2016-17 Thunder team with McDermott, and Jeremy Lamb played for the franchise from 2012-15. Damien Wilkins, who played 19 games for the Pacers in Leaf’s rookie year, was on the Thunder the very first year they played in Oklahoma City and the final four the franchise was the Seattle SuperSonics.
Leaf said he talked to multiple former Thunder players about the organization.
“I’ve played with lots of people in my time in Indy that have played here and they’ve had nothing but great things to say about this organization and this city,” Leaf said.
“That’s definitely exciting coming to a place you know you’re going to be treated like a pro and it’s a first-class organization.”
Leaf was traded to the Thunder this offseason for guard Jalen Lecque and a future second-round draft pick. After playing more than 50 games in both of his first two seasons with the Pacers, he fell out of the rotation last year and only appeared in 28 contests. He has career averages of 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
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