Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors
Vasilije Micic, Thunder to wait until after the draft to decide their future
The Thunder isn’t prepared to commit to anything until after the July 29 NBA Draft — when it could have as many as two top-five picks. Neither Vasilije Micic nor his agent were available for an interview, but it’s expected that Micic, like the Thunder, will want to wait until after the draft to see what OKC’s roster looks like.
As translated by Serbian reporter Sasa Ozmo, Micic’s agent, Misko Raznatovic, said that Micic is “ready to be a great player in the NBA, but I am not sure that it will happen this year.” Raznatovic reportedly went on to say, “if the NBA is not good enough and fair enough towards him, they will have to wait for (Micic) for another year.”
Nenad Krstic recalled a recent conversation with Micic, whose contract in Europe just expired. “First time in my career I have a chance to decide my future,” Micic told Krstic. But it’s not that simple. Micic first must decide if he wants to play in the NBA, and then the Thunder must decide if and when it wants to add Micic to its roster.
Wednesday’s Nuggets-Suns NBA second round Game 2 averaged 3.53 million viewers on TNT, per John Ourand of Sports Business Journal — up 1% from Blazers-Nuggets on the comparable night two years ago (3.51M). Viewership actually declined 18% from the comparable game in the “bubble,” with the caveat that last year’s game was a first round Game 7 (Thunder-Rockets: 4.29M).
Shifting to the highest-profile series of the first round, last Thursday’s Suns-Lakers Game 6 averaged 4.5 million viewers on TNT — the network’s largest opening round audience since 2018 (Cavaliers-Pacers Game 4: 6.07M). The Suns’ Game 5 rout last Tuesday averaged 3.5 million, up 44% from last year in the “bubble” (Mavericks-Clippers: 2.43M) and up 12% from Thunder-Blazers in 2019, a game that ended on a series-clinching three-pointer by Damian Lillard (3.11M).
Bulls interested in trading for rights to Vasilije Micic?
The Chicago Bulls are reported to be interested in trading for newly-crowned EuroLeague and Final Four MVP Vasilije Micic. According to Mozzart Sport, the Bulls have been considering to acquire Micic and are ready to hit the market to get the player’s rights from the Oklahoma City Thunder even before the NBA Draft night (29/7).
Recently, Micic’s agent mentioned to Novosti that he won’t allow his client to head to the NBA just to be a bench guy. He also said that if he doesn’t get guarantees that there is a “good and right” situation in store for Micic, then the Serbian guard’s NBA debut will be postponed for another year.
