The Oklahoma City Thunder are looking to stay afloat in the Western Conference despite losing Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka over the summer. While the team moved one to get some assets back and lost the other for nothing, the team has recovered well from their worst summer to date.
They brought in Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis through the Ibaka deal with the Orlando Magic. Then they flipped Ersan Ilyasova from that same deal and turned him into Jerami Grant from the Philadelphia 76ers. So far, so good when it comes to stockpiling young talent but the Thunder need to win now. And if history has told us anything, it’s really hard for one guy to do it all alone.
Despite extending Russell Westbrook’s contract for a couple more years, his contract will still expire at some point and he’s not getting any younger. So the Thunder are looking to pair Russ with that second star, or at least a guy who is a level below a star.
Rudy Gay has been rumored to be connected to the Thunder since he declared he wouldn’t be returning to the Sacramento Kings. The former fringe all-star wing would be a great addition to the Thunder in need of a second scorer to compliment Russ.
But the more intriguing move would be the possibility of bringing Blake Griffin back home to Oklahoma. The former Sooners star can be a free agent next summer and that has some around the league thinking about a posisble return home for Blake.
As of right now, one scenario looks more likely than the other.
Zach Lowe of ESPN has the report on the Thunder situation in terms of the two forwards.
They remain interested in bigger wings, including Rudy Gay, sources say, in part because such a player would slide everyone down to their intended spots: Oladipo to the bench, and Andre Roberson back to defending shooting guards.
The Thunder aren’t naive about this. Finding that second star will be hard, especially in a teensy market. There is no sign Blake Griffin wants to come home, per several sources.
