Nerlens Noel backs out as OKC Thunder ink Mike Muscala
By Rylan Stiles
The OKC Thunder are off to a wild start to this year’s NBA Free Agency. After seeing Nerlens Noel back out of a commitment to re-sign, Sam Presti quickly inked Mike Muscala to a contract.
The night started slow for the OKC Thunder and general manager Sam Presti. While the rest of the NBA world rushed into free agency throwing money around with players going off the board left and right, Presti and the Thunder, like usual, stay silent.
As the dust settled from the first wave of NBA free agency news, Sam Presti reportedly agreed to a new contract with Nerlens Noel, who earlier this week opted out of his deal with OKC to hit the open market. Woj sent out this tweet, and the Thunder fanbase went crazy.
Nerlens Noel has agreed to a deal to return to the Thunder, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2019
However, shortly after Adrian Wojnarowski let that tweet fly, Nerlens Noel took to his personal Instagram to simply post a pair of question marks, leaving OKC Thunder fans to question everything.
Nerlens Noel’s current Instagram story. pic.twitter.com/OJyCHVn4g9
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) July 1, 2019
With OKC fans on high alert, the dreaded Woj notification came across everyone’s phone. Nerlens Noel decided to back out of his commitment with OKC, and for almost the first time, a Woj report was deemed fake news.
Free agent Nerlens Noel has asked OKC for time to re-evaluate their earlier commitment on a new deal, and sides are continuing discussions, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
As Thunder fans licked their wounds, Sam Presti wasted no time getting back out there, like someone going through a bad break out, Presti moved on fast and before Thunder fans could even piece together what happened he had a new free agent signed.
Free agent F/C Mike Muscala has agreed to a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, agent Sean Kennedy of Excel Sports tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
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- Paul Watson fills a big OKC Thunder void as the 3 and D specialist
- OKC Thunder: Presti avoids trends charting path to the future
Mike Muscala was apart of the Carmelo Anthony for Dennis Schroder trade last offseason when Atlanta shipped him to the 76ers, but now he seems to have inked a deal with the Thunder (though no deal is official until July 6th when players can put pen to paper.)
While this is not as bad as the entire Clippers team kidnapping DeAndre Jordan and locking him in his house until he back out of his commitment with the Dallas Mavericks, it also is not something you see every day.
As for Mike Muscala, the Thunder got a guy who they hope can do what they expected out of Patrick Patterson. A power forward that can space the floor and knock down 3 pointers, something Muscala has done at a 36 percent clip over the course of his NBA career.
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