Oklahoma City Thunder

If Chris Paul plays for a championship contender in the next three years, it will not be coming at a discount.

The Oklahoma City Thunder guard says he has no intention of opting out of the $44.2 million he's due in 2021-22 to facilitate any future trades.

“No chance. That's not happening. Nope," Paul told Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated.

The 34-year-old has a player option for the final season of the four-year, $159.7 million deal he signed with the Houston Rockets in 2018. His contract has been viewed as the biggest roadblock the Thunder face in finding a new home for the future Hall of Famer, who was essentially acquired to later be flipped for more assets as the franchise rebuilds.

The rebuild won't be happening this season, as Paul and a group of solid veterans (and Paul mentee Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) have the Thunder essentially locked into a playoff spot. They enter Tuesday night as the No. 7 seed with a 25-19 record and a five-game advantage over ninth-seeded San Antonio Spurs. 

Oklahoma City's best chance at trading Paul could be this summer. There is a limited crop of top free agents, especially considering Anthony Davis is all but certain to re-sign with the Lakers. With Paul continuing to play at an All-Star level (his 5.7 win shares rank 12th in the league) and showing his continued hard-headed will to win, opposing teams could see him as a more viable option than they did last summer. The point guard is averaging 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game. 

The Thunder are too competitive for a full-scale rebuild, which would be in the best long-term interest of the franchise after trading Russell Westbrook and Paul George for a treasure trove of picks this summer. But aside from Danilo Gallinari and Nerlens Noel, every major contributor on this roster is under contract for 2020-21.

Hence the only avenue for a more immediate teardown is trading the likes of Paul, Steven Adams and Dennis Schroder. Adams and Schroder are more palatable trade chips given their relative youth and contracts that expire after the 2020-21 season. The Thunder would have no trouble finding takers this summer. 

If a team doesn't roll the dice on paying a 36-year-old Paul $44.2 million, it's possible he'll wind up playing out the waning years of his career competing for pingpong balls rather than championships. 

Oklahoma City Thunder big man Steven Adams has been ruled out of the remainder of Monday's game against the Houston Rockets after suffering a sprained left ankle early in the first quarter, according to the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen.

As ESPN's Tim MacMahon noted, Adams' injury leaves OKC thin down low:

Adams already missed time earlier this season with a knee injury, although he has been durable since he entered the league as a first-round draft pick in 2013. He has never played fewer than 70 games in a season and appeared in 80 in three of the last four years.

When healthy, Adams provides the Thunder with a postseason-tested post presence who is a double-double threat every time he's on the floor. He is averaging 11.6 points and 9.9 rebounds this season, his first without Russell Westbrook setting the table in Oklahoma City.

Adams averaged 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per night last season, which were both career-high marks.

While the former Pittsburgh Panther is the anchor for the Thunder's frontcourt, they have other pieces who will see more minutes while he is sidelined. Look for the combination of Mike Muscala, Danilo Gallinari and Darius Bazley to handle the primary frontcourt duties until Adams is ready to return.

BR Video

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has gone from solid rookie to breakout NBA star with Oklahoma City after being traded from the Los Angeles Clippers.

Watch the video above for more about his breakout second year.

Bleacher Report is the go-to destination for basketball fans everywhere. B/R's NBA coverage delivers must-see on-court analysis and highlights on a daily basis. Connect to the NBA stories, teams, athletes and highlights that make the game more than a game.

Download the free Bleacher Report app to catch all the moments that matter in one place. Get the app to get the game.

Kendrick Perkins is not one to back down.

Perkins appeared on Friday's episode of The Jump on ESPN and addressed his Twitter beef with former teammate Kevin Durant and did not exactly apologize to the two-time NBA Finals MVP.

Host Rachel Nichols started the show by summarizing the Thursday exchange between the two, who played together on the Oklahoma City Thunder for four seasons from 2011 through 2014. It started with Perkins saying Russell Westbrook is the best player in Thunder history. Durant jumped into the discussion and criticized the big man for his lack of production.

Perkins retorted that Durant made the "weakest move in NBA history" by leaving the Thunder in 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors after the team blew a 3-1 lead to the Dubs that summer and suggested he doesn't feel like a real champion.

Nichols wasted no time addressing the barbs and gave Perkins the floor to start Friday's episode.

He apologized to Westbrook right away for overshadowing his moment in his first return to OKC after being traded to the Houston Rockets and explained he never meant to say the point guard is a more talented player than Durant. Instead, Perkins sees Westbrook as Mr. Thunder because he stayed there longer, won an MVP award with them in 2017 and kept the team in playoff contention while stuffing the stat sheet.

"I was stating the facts—he is Mr. Thunder," Perkins said.

The comments echoed the ones he made while appearing on Scal and Pals: "Clearly, I'm not saying that Russell Westbrook is the best player in that he's a better player than Kevin Durant, right? I'm saying that when you talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook is Mr. Thunder."

Things got more interesting when Nichols asked Perkins if he regretted getting personal with Durant.

"I didn't start with Kevin; Kevin started with me," he said while also suggesting the "sensitive" Durant "could call me at any time" but that KD wanted to make it about himself by going public on Twitter. Perkins also said it "rubbed me the wrong way" when Durant went after his stats because "I sacrificed a lot" on the Thunder because "I was OK with setting screens for Kevin Durant and getting him wide-open shots."

The big man also emphasized that Durant and the Thunder never advanced past the first round of the playoffs until they acquired him in a trade with the Boston Celtics.

"Y'all needed that enforcer inside," he said.

Safe to say, Perkins and Durant probably won't be enjoying any Thunder reunions with each other anytime soon.

Former NBA center Kendrick Perkins said Friday he wasn't taking a shot at Kevin Durant when he wrote on Twitter that Russell Westbrook was the best player to ever wear an Oklahoma City Thunder jersey.

The comment led to a sharp rebuke from Durant, who called out his former OKC teammate as part of an extended exchange Thursday night on the social media platform.

Perkins appeared on the Scal and Pals show Friday to clear up the situation from his perspective.

"Clearly, I'm not saying that Russell Westbrook is the best player in that he's a better player than Kevin Durant, right?" he said. "I'm saying that when you talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook is Mr. Thunder."

Perkins went on to call Durant's decision to join the Golden State Warriors the "weakest move in NBA history" and expanded on his original thought:

"That was my whole point. Like, why do you even care? First of all, you ... left that organization for dead. Like, you thought when you left that organization, you thought that that organization would go to nothing. And Russell Westbrook kept that organization afloat. He never missed the playoffs, he always kept them in the middle of the hunt, he did what he was supposed to do. He won the MVP, he did all types of things. So, why not—and like I said, my whole argument wasn't to shoot a slug at KD; my whole argument was to rightfully praise Russell Westbrook for what he deserves."

Here's a look at the complete interview, via Radio.com Sports:

The duo played together with the Thunder for four years from February 2011 to February 2015.

Perkins currently works as an ESPN NBA analyst, while Durant is expected to miss the 2019-20 season while recovering from a ruptured Achilles suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals. He joined the Brooklyn Nets in July after three seasons and two championships with the Warriors.   

Houston Rockets point guard Russell Westbrook told reporters that he has no regrets about his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he played for 11 seasons before a July trade sent him to Texas:

On Thursday, Westbrook returned to OKC's Chesapeake Energy Arena as a member of the visiting team for the first time since the deal. The two-time NBA scoring champion dropped a game-high 34 points, but the Thunder crushed the Rockets 113-92 behind five OKC players with 15 or more.

The eight-time All-Star also provided other remarks, noting that he felt like he was "home," per ESPN's Rachel Nichols. Westbrook also said it was strange to go into the visitors' locker room, noting that he had "never been in there."

Thunder fans gave him a raucous ovation upon his return, and the team produced a tribute video released pregame:

The ex-UCLA Bruin acknowledged the fans' adoration, which continued into pregame introductions:

Westbrook averaged a triple-double in each of his last three seasons in a Thunder uniform. 

He shouldn't have any regrets about his OKC tenure. Although it didn't end with a championship, the Thunder made the 2012 NBA Finals and reached the Western Conference Finals four times with Westbrook running the point. He won the 2016-17 NBA MVP and helped lead OKC to the playoffs in all but two of his 11 seasons there.

He and Kevin Durant formed one of the league's best one-two punches for the first half of the 2010s, when they had a winning percentage of .671 or greater from 2010-11 to 2013-14.

Durant's departure in 2016 for the Golden State Warriors caused some regression in Oklahoma City. Partnerships with Paul George and Carmelo Anthony ultimately did not work out, as the team lost in the first round of the playoffs from 2017 to 2019.

Still, Westbrook was largely sensational in Oklahoma City, where he's clearly beloved, as Thursday's fan reaction showed.

There will be no return trip to play OKC this year barring a Rockets-Thunder postseason matchup. However, Houston will host Oklahoma City on Monday, Jan. 20, in the two teams' final meeting of the 2019-20 campaign.

Houston Rockets point guard Russell Westbrook, who played his first 11 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder before a 2019 offseason trade, received a vociferous standing ovation from the fans in Chesapeake Energy Arena upon his return to OKC on Thursday.

The sellout crowd loudly cheered for Westbrook upon the conclusion of a pregame tribute video:

They kept it up when he was officially introduced to the crowd:

Westbrook averaged 23.0 points, 8.4 assists and 7.0 rebounds for the Thunder. He made eight All-Star Games, won two scoring titles and earned the 2016-17 NBA MVP.

He will go down as the top pick in the final draft class of the Seattle SuperSonics, who became the Oklahoma City Thunder beginning in the 2008-09 season. The Sonics took Westbrook fourth overall in 2008.

The point guard then teamed with Kevin Durant and led the Thunder to an impressive run of success, which included four Western Conference Finals appearances and one win. OKC made the 2012 NBA Finals, where it lost to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in five games.

That team also featured James Harden, who is currently the NBA's scoring leader. The 2017-18 NBA MVP now teams up with Westbrook in the Rockets backcourt, which has led Houston to a 25-11 mark.

The Thunder have been impressive despite losing Westbrook. Nine-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who went the other way in the Westbrook deal, has guided the Thunder to a 21-16 record and a seventh-place mark in the West. OKC has won six of its past seven games.

Oklahoma City guard Dennis Schroder's wallet will feel the effect of his technical foul in Friday night's 104-102 overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets.

The NBA announced Saturday it fined Schroder $25,000 for "intentionally making contact with a game official." 

Schroder committed the technical with 1:20 left in the third quarter after he appeared to be upset that a foul wasn't called on Hornets big man Cody Zeller. While pleading his case, Schroder swiped at referee CJ Washington.

The 2013 first-round pick otherwise had a successful outing against the Hornets. He posted 24 points, three assists and two rebounds in 35 minutes off the bench. It marked Schroder's fifth straight game in which he scored at least 20 points:

The 26-year-old was named the Western Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 23:

The Thunder have won five of their last six. Beating Charlotte put Oklahoma City at 16-15 and above .500 for the first time this season.

Paul George returned to Oklahoma City on Sunday, this time as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, losing to the Thunder 118-112 without Kawhi Leonard and Pat Beverley.  

George was greeted warmly by the Oklahoma City crowd before the contest, and after the game had nothing but praise for the organization, per Mark Medina of USA Today:

"I will always view this as one of the best organizations that I could have ever played for. They set the bar in many ways from community, again front office, the way they run things, the way they handle things, they just set the bar in so many ways it was a great imprint. A lasting impression on me that I know in a mid-market what’s capable and what’s possible."

Players returning to former teams don't always receive the warmest welcome, but many of Oklahoma City's fans gave George a standing ovation after he was introduced before the game. 

"It just made me feel appreciated of being here," he said. "I enjoyed my time here."

George's return didn't go as well on the court, as he shot just 6-of-17 from the floor and scored 18 points in the loss. 

The 29-year-old spent two seasons with the Thunder after being traded from the Indiana Pacers in 2017. He was a free agent after his first season and many people expected him to sign with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers, but George instead chose to return to the Thunder on a four-year, $137 million contract. 

He only played one year on that contract in Oklahoma City, asking for a trade once Leonard approached him about teaming up on the Clippers. But he clearly made his mark on the city and the organization in that time.

"Paul's a great guy. I loved working with him," Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said before the game, per Royce Young of ESPN. "I think everybody felt like he was just going to leave after the first year, but he always had both feet in the circle, treated everyone with respect, and still continues to do that. He's a great guy. I hope it's a good one for him, because he's a really great guy and gave us everything he had for the time he was here."

Oklahoma City Thunder players are safe after being near a shooting that took place Thursday at the Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, per Erik Horne of The Athletic. 

The players were attending a private movie screening at the time of the shooting.

"Thunder security was made aware immediately," a spokesman said. "The team was never in danger and was safe during the entirety of the event."

According to the police, two people got into an argument at a shoe store inside the mall when one took out a gun and shot the other, per KOCO. It wasn't an active shooter situation, but police were still searching for the suspect.

The Thunder had Thursday off in the midst of a five-game homestand.

They are set to take on the Phoenix Suns Friday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.