Oklahoma City Thunder Andre Roberson's season-ending injury has his team's front office shaking their heads. With Alex Abrines, Raymond Felton, and Terrance Ferguson as the only help their bench can offer, the Thunder are in desperate search of a versatile wing defender that can help ease Roberson's absence. A bunch of names like Tony Allen and Avery Bradley have surfaced in rumors about trade talks between OKC's management and other teams' front offices. Add Orlando Magic guard Jonathon Simmons to the list of candidates the Thunder has as a replacement for Roberson.
According to Chris Manixx from Yahoo! Sports, the Thunder has inquired about Simmons:
“The Thunder — who never had any intention of trading Paul George — have canvassed the league in search of bench help. The need for a wing defender increased in the wake of Andre Roberson’s season-ending knee injury, and OKC has indeed done due diligence on Avery Bradley, Jonathan Simmons and any other wing defender it believes could be on the market. But with limited assets, the Thunder will likely wait and see if the asking price for that type of player comes down closer to the deadline, or wait and try to land someone on what could be a robust buyout market.”
Simmons, an undrafted talent in the 2012 NBA Draft, left the San Antonio Spurs in 2017 to sign an offseason deal with the Magic. The contract is worth three-years and $20 million. Simmons, probably, could have received more money elsewhere, but he decided to sign there. His contract is one of the few strong assets the Magic have to offer in a trade. It will be interesting to see what type of deal can the Thunder put together to get Simmons or any other candidate for that matter.
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