YES! Qualls signs with OKC

[Hawg Red]

Alex Kennedy ‏@AlexKennedyNBA 2 minutes ago Queens, NY

Correction: Mike Qualls is joining OKC on a free agent deal. He'll rehab with them, but won't be ready for summer league or camp due to ACL.

[chiefhawg]

Thanks!!

[HF#1]

Good for him.  Hope he can get better quick and mix it up in the League.

[mhuff]

You get a big +1 for that. Best news today...... Plus my oldest son's favorite team. GO FOR IT QUALLS.   :razorback: :razorback: :razorback:

[Hawg Red]

FWIW, OKC is in a serious roster crunch. They're trying to shed players like Steve Novak and Perry Jones so that they can re-sign Kyle Singler and Enes Kanter. But they're obviously got something up their sleeves. My guess is they signed Qualls so that they could have his D-League rights when he's finally ready to play. He'll likely be waived, but will make some money out of this most likely and have his rights held by a good organization.

[Karma]

Does this mean that OKC will pay for his medicals? Given that he left the UA program, but wasn't on a team, how does it work as far as paying what no doubt will be very expensive medical bills for surgery and rehab?

[TheRazorbackGuy]

FWIW, OKC is in a serious roster crunch. They're trying to shed players like Steve Novak and Perry Jones so that they can re-sign Kyle Singler and Enes Kanter. But they're obviously got something up their sleeves. My guess is they signed Qualls so that they could have his D-League rights when he's finally ready to play. He'll likely be waived, but will make some money out of this most likely and have his rights held by a good organization.

HawgRed, will they loan him off to a euro team next year and keep his rights?

[revolution]

Thanks to OKC and good luck to Michael Qualls in rehab and recovery!

[Hogwop]

So glad to hear this, we know with Qualls work ethic he'll do everything in his power to make the most of this situation
Good luck Michael!

[Hogz87]

Yeah, I can't see him making OKC's roster.  They're one of the 2-3 deepest teams in the league.  But maybe, hopefully, they'll allow him to rehab and pay for his medicals and give him some time in their D-League system to showcase his ability.

[-Blu]

That's awesome news!   :razorback: :razorback: :razorback:

[onebadrubi]

Yeah, I can't see him making OKC's roster.  They're one of the 2-3 deepest teams in the league.  But maybe, hopefully, they'll allow him to rehab and pay for his medicals and give him some time in their D-League system to showcase his ability.

They have traded some of their depth away this offseason

[intelligence]

That's whats up. I'm happy for him and his family. Now he can relax and focus on the recovery process without having to stress about money as much.

[poloprince]

Music to my ears  :razorback:

[cosmodrum]

Outstanding!

[HawgWild]

Good for him!!!!!

[gmarv]

that's great news, so glad for him.

[TRUHOG718]

great news..   :razorback: :razorback:

[TomBigBeeHog]

Great news! I was hoping for some kinda break for this guy.

[Danny J]

I am sure Donovan had a hand in this......

[OKC]

OKC needs a SG who is decent at both ends of the court. They want someone who is at least a better than average defender, who is also a scoring threat. They don't need 20 per night, just someone the defense has got to respect. Andre Roberson is not much of a scoring threat and while he is a good defender, he has not excelled at that position like they'd hope. Anthony Morrow is a great outside threat, but not so good on the defensive end. Roberson is entering his 3rd season I believe, so the jury is still out. Qualls is crazy athletic and they wouldn't have signed him if there wasn't some hope that he will make an NBA player. GM Presti has had some success at spotting talent.

[sowmonella]

Way to go Michael. :razorback:

[Hawg Red]

To illustrate my earlier point about their roster situation, OKC's roster is essentially full right now. That will change, but I'm not sure it'll allow for Qualls to hang on into the regular season. They're trying to move Perry Jones III and Steve Novak. I'd imagine they'll sign Johnson, and they're going to wait a 3rd PG. Also, they could be bringing over Josh Huestis, their 1st rounder from last year that agreed to sign a D-League contract this past season before starting his rookie scale deal. But, as I mentioned, they're more than likely looking to get Qualls' D-League rights here, so they can have him playing for their D-League team in 2016-2017.

PG: Westbrook/Payne
SG: Morrow/Waiters/Roberson
SF: Durant/Singler/Novak
PF: Ibaka/Collison/Jones
C: Adams/Kanter/McGary

Plus their 2nd rounder, Dakari Johnson.

[Hogz87]

They have traded some of their depth away this offseason

All that they've traded away is Jeremy Lamb who never got PT anyway.  They've still got their top 13 players if they resign Kanter and Singler (which by the sound of it, they're going to do):

Westbrook
Roberson
Durant
Ibaka
Adams
Augustin
Waiters
Morrow
Collison
Kanter
McGary
Singler
Jones

Throw in Cameron Payne and Steve Novak, and that's all 15 roster spots accounted for.

[elvis26]

  so happy for him!!!!!!!!!!!

[Boarcephus]

Good article on him this morning.  7-3 wingspan and a 4% body fat.  That's pretty lean

[The Big O Oliver Squeeler]

Sure hope h e can overcome his injury and do well



quote author=Hawg Red link=topic=594730.msg9763026#msg9763026 date=1435684766]

[/quote]

[Dugann]

great news

[Foshodo]

All that they've traded away is Jeremy Lamb who never got PT anyway.  They've still got their top 13 players if they resign Kanter and Singler (which by the sound of it, they're going to do):

Westbrook
Roberson
Durant
Ibaka
Adams
Augustin
Waiters
Morrow
Collison
Kanter
McGary
Singler
Jones

Throw in Cameron Payne and Steve Novak, and that's all 15 roster spots accounted for.

read somewhere amongst all the FA clatter the last week that they are trying to deal or bounce Novak

[Pig in the Pokey]

All that they've traded away is Jeremy Lamb who never got PT anyway.  They've still got their top 13 players if they resign Kanter and Singler (which by the sound of it, they're going to do):

Westbrook
Roberson
Durant
Ibaka
Adams
Augustin
Waiters
Morrow
Collison
Kanter
McGary
Singler
Jones

Throw in Cameron Payne and Steve Novak, and that's all 15 roster spots accounted for.

new sheriff in town though. Also, most of that depth SUCKS.

[ErieHog]

new sheriff in town though. Also, most of that depth SUCKS.

That depth is actually pretty decent.   Its much better than recent iterations of the Thunder bench have been.

[Hogz87]

That depth is actually pretty decent.   Its much better than recent iterations of the Thunder bench have been.

This.  And I'd go a step further and say that step is actually pretty dang good. That is pretty comfortably OKC's deepest team in terms of quality in the Durant and Westbrook era and, in my opinion, only the Warriors, Cavs, and Spurs can match their depth.

Which is why Qualls is most likely a low-risk, high reward signing for the Thunder.  It's mostly likely them giving him a shot and if he works out they might have found a rotational wing player; and at the very least it still gives Qualls a shot to showcase his ability in the D-League so other teams can see what he's got. 

[Hogz87]

new sheriff in town though. Also, most of that depth SUCKS.

That depth is actually really solid.  If they re-sign Kanter and he starts, Steven Adams is a very promising young center and already starting center quality in just his 3rd season.  Augustin is a top-notch backup PG and Morrow is one of the best knockdown/spot-up 3P shooters in the NBA.  Collison is a prototypical "impact goes beyond box score stats" backup big, McGary is a very promising young backup big, and Waiters, while inefficient and wildly frustrating at times, is still a somewhat promising young player who can create his own shot (a very valuable skill to possess in the NBA) and score 20-25 on any given night. 

OKC, when healthy, will be one of the deepest teams in the NBA.

[Hawg Red]

OKC has one of the better benches in the NBA. They're just going to have to get rid of some of that dead weight (Jones, Novak) at the very end of the bench to get some roster flexibility.