Thunder exercises third-year option on Ferguson
The Thunder announced Monday that it exercised the third-year team option on Terrance Ferguson for the 2019-20 season.
Ferguson, 20, has averaged 3.1 points and 13.1 minutes per game in 66 regular-season games over two seasons.
The Thunder picking up Ferguson's option locks in the second-year shooting guard at around $2.47 million next season. If Ferguson's option was not exercised, he would have become a restricted free agent on July 1, 2019.
"As a young guy that’s awesome to know that you don’t have to worry about that," Thunder forward Paul George said upon hearing Ferguson had his team option exercised. "You don’t have to press on ‘Am I doing enough? I know I’m not playing well, but is that OK?’ He doesn’t have to ask those questions in his head.
Ferguson has struggled on offense in five games, shooting just 27.9 percent (6-of-22), including 1-of-13 from 3-point range, but is coming off his most efficient performance of the season against Phoenix.
Ferguson had six points (3-of-6 FGs) and two steals in 27 minutes in the Thunder's 117-110 win Sunday.
"We’re sticking by him," George said. "Terrance has tremendous upside but he’s young. I don’t think he understands that. He’s going to go through some ups and downs, some highs and lows. I believe in him. Everybody here believes in him. He’s going to be great. He’s going to be good for us."
Donovan talks up Pitino
If former Louisville coach Rick Pitino does indeed pursue a return to the NBA, Thunder coach Billy Donovan said he thinks he would be "great."
“He’s a great people person,” said Donovan, who both played for and coached under Pitino. “Obviously he has a wealth of experience in the NBA.”
Pitino, who was fired from his coaching post at Louisville last year amid an FBI inquiry, told ESPN that he hoped to return to the NBA and planned to use this season to set himself up as potential coaching candidate in the spring.
Pitino spent four years with the Knicks in the 1980s, first as an assistant and then as the head coach. The Knicks reached the Eastern Conference semifinals in Pitino's last year at the helm, before he left for Kentucky. Pitino's second NBA stint came roughly a decade later, when he served as Boston's president and coach for 3 ½ seasons. He amassed a 102146 record before resigning in January 2001.
Pitino and Donovan’s paths first crossed at Providence, where coach and player made it to the Final Four in 1987. Donovan also briefly played for Pitino on the Knicks and served as a graduate assistant for him at Kentucky.
“It doesn’t really make a difference of level,” Donovan said. “I think he’s a great teacher, a great communicator. I think a transition in the NBA would be smooth for him based on his personal experiences."
Injury update
Steven Adams (left calf tightness) was able to participate in the Thunder’s light practice Monday, according Donovan, but the session did not include contact or running.
“I think we will have a much better idea tomorrow morning at shootaround, to see how he feels,” Donovan said.
Adams was a late scratch from the Thunder’s starting lineup Sunday in a 117-110 win over the Suns. Next up, OKC takes on the Clippers at Chesapeake Energy Arena Tuesday.
MADDIE LEE AND ERIK HORNE,