Kevin Durant wants Derek Fisher to join Oklahoma City Thunder – NBA Update
The race to sign veteran point guard Derek Fisher is heating up. The latest team to have been linked with Fisher are the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Thunder super star Kevin Durant has declared that he would love to have Fisher by his side in the coming playoffs.
Fisher was traded away by the Los Angeles Lakers at the deadline to the Houston Rockets. It ended a long association between Fisher and Lakers, who won 5 NBA World Championships together. The player was courted by the Houston Rockets because of his experience
at the top level, but Fisher negotiated a buy out with the club after being traded.
Derek, who is in the twilight of his career, is believed to be interested in playing for an NBA World Championship contender. The Miami Heat, hot favourites for the NBA title, were linked earlier and now it has emerged that the Oklahoma City Thunder are
also hot on his trail.
Thunder are now believed to be in advanced negotiations with the point guard. They can probably offer him more of a role because of the season ending injury to backup point guard Eric Maynor, while Oklahoma City also have some financial flexibility.
Thunder super star Kevin Durant certainly likes the idea.
"We have a great corps of point guards leading off with Russ (Russell Westbrook) and then Reggie (Jackson) and Royal (Ivey)," Durant continued. "But adding another guy that can come in and give us some good minutes here and there and bring his leadership
and winning plays here would be cool. But it's one of those things that you really don't know too much about."
Durant also stated that the wealth of experience Derek possess is invaluable, and there can be no questions about his quality after playing for years with the legendary Lakers star Kobe Bryant.
"Derek is a consummate professional ... an unbelievable leader. And he played with arguably one of the greatest players to ever play in Kobe (Bryant), and Kobe really respected him as a player and wanted him on his team, so that speaks volumes."
The Thunder are currently leading the Western Conference and are strong contenders for the NBA championship. They have a plethora of hungry, young, talented players who have gelled together into a formidable basketball force.
Adding someone with the nous that Fisher possesses will go a long way in helping them attain the maturity and determination that is often required in critical playoff matchups. Therefore, Fisher seems a perfect fit for them.
If they do sign the veteran, he would come up against former side Lakers at the Staples Center in the regular season and might have to face them again in the playoffs.
Tags: