The Oklahoma City Thunder are continuing their incredibly busy offseason, with a new report indicating that the team is in conversations with the Golden State Warriors on a deal involving one of their recently-acquired players. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Thunder are conversing about a deal that would send Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Bay Area.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are in serious talks to move Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Golden State Warriors, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2020
The news of a deal was confirmed by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who later reported a top-20 protected 2021 first rounder will be going back to the Thunder.
Golden State is nearing a deal with Oklahoma City to acquire Kelly Oubre Jr., sources tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 19, 2020
Sources: The Warriors will only convey that first-round pick next season should they finish 21-to-30 in the final regular season standings. If the Warriors land in the top 20, they’ll send two second-round picks to OKC. https://t.co/ltzvx7cIhQ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 20, 2020
The Thunder got Oubre in the deal that saw Chris Paul join the Phoenix Suns. While the soon-to-be 25-year-old wing does theoretically fit the Thunder’s timeline as a rebuilding team, he is coming off of a season in which he was incredibly productive, averaging a career-high 18.7 points and 6.4 rebounds in 34.5 minutes per game. He also connected on 35.2 percent of his attempts from three, which also served as a career-best mark.
The last 24 hours have been rather hectic for the Warriors. In more somber news, Klay Thompson suffered a torn achilles, which is slated to keep him out for the entirety of the 2020-21 season. Golden State did have a good night in the NBA Draft, though, acquiring Memphis center James Wiseman with the No. 2 overall pick and selecting former Arizona guard Nico Mannion in the second round.
It doesn’t appear the Warriors will send much in the way of players to OKC, as Woj reports they’ll simply absorb the young wing’s salary into their TPE.
The Warriors will absorb Oubre Jr., and his $14.4M salary into their $17.2M trade exception once deal is done. https://t.co/GcLaIlnwNF
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 19, 2020
One would expect, given every move the Thunder have made the last two years, draft compensation will be headed back to Sam Presti as he continues to hoard draft picks.
