Thunder Play Let's Make A Deal With Nuggets
By Randy Renner
At about 11:30 this morning inside the INTEGRIS Thunder Development Center, GM Sam Presti could be seen on the phone, pacing back and forth, in his office as reporters gathered at the other end of the gym floor to talk with players after today’s practice.
Turns out he was in deep negotiations with the Denver Nuggets hammering out the final details that would bring combo guard Randy Foye to Oklahoma City.
Presti is sending now third team point guard D.J. Augustin and veteran forward Steve Novak to Denver along with a couple of 2nd round draft picks. Both Augustin and Novak have expiring contracts and Augustin may be able to get more playing time with the Nuggets to showcase his talents as he works toward his next contract.
Foye is a veteran who is mostly used as a shooting guard but can play the point in a pinch. He’s listed as 6-4, 213 pounds by Basketball-Reference. He is also a career 40.4 percent shooter overall and 37.0 percent on threes. However, Foye’s shooting percentages have fallen off the last few years going from 41.3 percent overall in the 2013-14 season to 36.8 percent last season and 35.1 percent this season. All three of those years have been with the Nuggets.
His 3-point percentages have dropped off too. In the 2012-13 season with Utah, Foye hit 41.0 percent from deep (the second highest percentage of his career). The next season in Denver he was good on 38.0 percent from deep, last season he fell to 35.7 percent and so far this year he’s all the way down to just 29.6 percent (the worst 3-point percentage of his career).
Foye is averaging 11 points a game for his career but just 6.0 this season.
It’s not clear how (or if) Foye will fit into the rotation but being on the Thunder roster could give him more open looks than he was getting in Denver.
The Thunder will also save $9.8 million in salary and luxury taxes in the deal plus they get a trade exception and will have an open roster spot if anyone strikes their fancy on the waiver wire.