The Oklahoma City Thunder are heading into a very important season after being eliminated in the playoffs one year after making it to the NBA finals and after signing Derek Fisher and Ryan Gomes in the offseason, the team may be looking to add another veteran and some options include Ivan Johnson, Ronnie Brewer, Leandro Barbosa, Richard Hamilton and Sebastian Telfair as well as Antawn Jamison and others.
There are a number of free agents left on the market and according to SB Nation, those players could possibly be fits to play with the Thunder and star Kevin Durant. The team clearly needs more depth after what happened in the playoffs last season and after seeing what the trade of James Harden took out of the offense, the bench will need to step up more for the team to challenge in the west against improved clubs like the Rockets and the Clippers as well as the Grizzlies and the Spurs.
Many feel that the Thunder made a mistake in trading James Harden, but now that is in the past and the team must look towards the future as they try to build around Durant and Russell Westbrook. Things really broke down for the team when Westbrook was injured for the playoffs in the first round and after signing back Fisher the team will need some more depth at the position in case something happens again. Durant was forced to play with the ball and couldn't find open shots in the playoffs and now the team is looking for ways to improve and names like Ivan Johnson, Ronnie Brewer, Leandro Barbosa, Richard Hamilton and Sebastian Telfair cold help with that.
The team re-signed Fisher to a one-year, $1.4 million contract and he comes back after the 38-year-old averaged 4.5 points in 44 regular-season games and 7.1 points in 31 playoff games for them over the past two seasons. Fisher is a very experienced player, but with his old age he can play only so many minutes and the team will need more on the bench to make up for that. The Thunder also added two solid picks in the draft this offseason with Steven Adams and Andre Roberson in the first round.
The Thunder signed both players to contracts and took Adams with the 12rth overall pick after getting that selection in the previous trade and he now becomes the first player from New Zealand to be taken in the first round after starring at Pitt while averaging 7.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. Roberson comes to the team after going 26th in the draft and he was traded from the Warriors and brings averages of 9.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks during this three-year career at Colorado.
