OKC Thunder have a secret weapon this offseason

The Oklahoma City Thunder are preparing for the 2023 NBA Draft and the Offseason at large. Fresh off a 40-win season, Sam Presti lost one of his top executives, Will Dawkins, this offseason. The Thunder also landed with the 12th overall pick in the draft after the lottery and have top-five in the league cap space to work with this summer. Now, the OKC Thunder officially have a secret weapon on their hands.

For the past decade, okay, more like three years, the Oklahoma City Thunder and star Euroleague guard Vasilije Micic have put on a flirty back-and-forth that usually ends with Micic staying overseas. Now, things might just change.

The OKC Thunder have a secret weapon at their disposal this offseason in Vasilije Micic.

I know you have heard this before. Many times, in fact. This is like Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy flirting with the Tennessee job after they fired Derek Dooley…and Butch Jones…and Jeremy Pruitt, only to return to Stillwater with a nice pay increase each time. However, this time the negotiations between the Thunder and Micic seem a bit more real.

Vasilije Micic has touched down in Oklahoma City. The Euroleague star would not make the trip to Bricktown in the age of Zoom calls and video chat if he were not serious about making the leap to the NBA. Micic is represented by the same agency that OKC General Manager Sam Presti is very familiar with, Wasserman. The same agency represents Aleksej Pokusevski, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, and OKC Blue Guard Ryan Woolridge, including past players such as Hamidou Diallo and Kendrick Perkins.

Micic has dominated for Anadolu Efes Istanbul, ranking in the 83rd percentile in spot-up offense, 88th percentile in overall offense, 90th percentile in the half-court offense, a jaw-dropping 97th percentile as a pick-and-roll ball handler (1.167 points per possession), 95th percentile when coming off hand-offs. He even shoots 45 percent as a catch-and-shoot option.

It is easy to see how Micic, 29, can make an impact at the NBA level after dominating some of the toughest competition overseas to the tune of championships and MVPs. However, that does not necessarily mean his NBA jump will be with the OKC Thunder.

While the Thunder own his right, they can pawn him off in a trade as a sweetener to get the deal done. According to reports of his agents demands, Micic wants 6-7 million dollars, a starting role (or starting-level minutes), and to play on a contending team.

Micic coming stateside proves he is serious about joining the NBA this off-season. It is to be determined if these negotiations are to work out a plan for him to play with the Thunder or talks to reroute him to a different team. If the latter is the case, a team to monitor is the Dallas Mavericks.

It is once again Monitoring Micic season.