OKC Thunder in the news: Farewell Taj, busy Free Agency weekend, no Rudy Gay yet

Welcome to OKC Thunder – In the news for Monday, July 3 featuring topical daily news on your favorite team and the NBA.

The opening weekend of the free agency moratorium witnessed the top end talents fall one at a time with about an equal amount re-signing to those who sought greener pastures. With the very top tier taking precedence and mostly depleted, Gordon Hayward is the biggest name remaining on the list.

The OKC Thunder made arguably the biggest (and most surprising) splash with the trade to land Paul George. Ever adept Sam Presti almost shut down Twitter with the deal which leaked out just hours prior to the moratorium start.

Gibson to reunite with former Bulls coach and teammate:

Yet, not all news was happy in OKC as Taj Gibson, long considered a must keep asset chose to realign with his former coach and teammate (Thibodeau/Butler) in Minnesota. As much as this may be deemed disappointing it does clear the way for the OKC Thunder to be more aggressive in their efforts to retain Andre Roberson.

That said, with the loss of Domantas Sabonis and Gibson the once extremely deep OKC frontcourt has taken a hit. Certainly the OKC Thunder brain trust will be looking to increase the usage of Steven Adams, Enes Kanter with potentially Doug McDermott and Jerami Grant getting more playing time and bigger roles. That said, Presti will need to refill the depth chart with two of their main bigs from last season leaving.

ESPN’s Royce Young offered the following on Gibson’s reunion with his former coach and teammate;

"The Minnesota Timberwolves and forward Taj Gibson have agreed to a two-year, $28 million deal, league sources told ESPN’s Chris Haynes.The agreement reunites Gibson and Tom Thibodeau, who coached the 32-year-old from 2010 to 2015 while both were in Chicago. Gibson will also be playing with former Bulls teammate Jimmy Butler, who was traded to the Timberwolves last month."

Rudy Gay leaves OKC without a deal:

As Tony Heim noted Rudy Gay was a player the Thunder appeared to have some interest in.

"The Gay conundrum is fascinating. Here we have an uber-talented wing scorer choosing to walk away from $14+ million just to get away from the Sacramento Kings. The 30-year old is currently rehabbing a torn Achilles, making the decision to leave eight figures on the table a questionable one.Recent reports now say the Thunder are targeting Gay in free agency; the move makes sense for a plethora of reasons."

Although the Thunder met with him he left OKC without a deal. Furthermore, the path to signing him is less than ideal. This due to the salary situation and Presti’s historic penchant for not wanting to be hamstrung by the luxury tax.

Adrian Wojnarowski offered the option exists for a sign and trade with the Kings. But, with limited assets remaining on the OKC roster it’s not a likely option. Then again, this is Sam Presti who has copious rabbits on stand by, so never say never. As per Brett Dawson of News OK:

"There’s also the option of a sign-and-trade with the Kings, Gay’s former team. Wojnarowski reported that “remains difficult.”That could be because Oklahoma City has limited assets to offer in a trade. But a sign-and-trade to acquire Gay also would trigger the hard cap. And a hard cap would be out of character for general manager Sam Presti. It’s a locked-in total that precludes the addition of any salary in season – including to sign a hardship player in the case of significant injuries."

OKC Thunder Free Agent Focus:

As Royce Young deftly opined the move to get Paul George would not be OKC’s last this offseason.

Heading into Friday’s moratorium I looked at three specific areas of focus for the Thunder. While some of the names on my lists were quickly scooped up, there remains a need to fill the backup point guard, 3-point shooting and x-factors to pair alongside Westbrook to push them from the second tier of Western competitors into viable contenders.

Adding George has definitely moved the OKC Thunder up a notch. But, adding one more major piece would put them squarely back among the top tier.  Of the 15 players I earmarked two from each list were signed in the opening weekend leaving 9 still available for Presti to consider.

5 X-Factor free agents OKC Thunder should target

5 free agents who address OKC Thunder perimeter scoring

OKC Thunder free agents point guard short list

That wraps up OKC Thunder In the News for July 3. Check back with TI tomorrow  and we’ll have your most up to date news and more free agency updates.