OKC Thunder Update: Trey Burke passes on deal
The OKC Thunder were working to a deal to bring Trey Burke to the team, but in the final stages of negotiations the deal fell through.
In a move that ultimately would have fallen under the radar after the addition of Carmelo Anthony, OKC was finalizing contract negotiations with unrestricted free agent Trey Burke.
The initial news was broken by Shams Charania of The Vertical shed light on the potential deal.
Trey Burke presumably will occupy the third point guard spot, displacing Semaj Christon off the roster. OKC were stuck in a precarious position of entering training camp with 16 players. However, following the trade of Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott to New York, the roster is now down to 15.
In a prior article this scribe noted the value of pursuing Trey Burke as a logical third string point guard.
Related Article: Three point guard options for Presti to pursue
Trey Burke shot 44.3% from 3 in 57 games last year. Did not know that.
— Thunder Heads (@OKCThunderHeads) September 23, 2017
UPDATE: NO DEAL
Update: Burke has changed course on deal with OKC and will remain a free agent, league sources say. https://t.co/O6CYwtHU9A
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 24, 2017
Just as abruptly as the deal was reported as being close to done news followed Burke changed his mind.
While it seems the deal is dead in the water, after a night of thought, perhaps Burke will once again change direction. In the interim let’s examine what Burke could add to the OKC Thunder.
Averaging 10.6 points and 3.6 assists per game over his career, Burke was a quiet achiever last season for the Washington Wizards. He shot career highs in field goal percentage (45.5) and three
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point percentage (44) in 12.4 minutes of action. Burke is a microwave scorer and offers the OKC Thunder second unit another scoring threat.
Burke’s game resembles similarities to former Thunder guard Dion Waiters. Both possessed loads of talent but struggled to put it all together. Since Waiters time in OKC, he has since gone on to have a career year for the Miami Heat. If these spikes in shooting efficiency are indications of what is to come, the OKC Thunder may have found a diamond amongst this years crop of free agents.
Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has done an other worldly job this offseason and this low-risk, high reward move adds to an intriguing season ahead.