NBA Trade Rumors: OKC Thunder Targeting Taj Gibson
NBA Trade Rumors: While being relatively quiet in the rumor mill, the Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly targeting Taj Gibson
While all the attention in Chicago is squarely on the back on Jimmy Butler, who is reportedly being targeted on NBA Trade Deadline day by the Boston Celtics, there’s one other player that could be moved.
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had previously expressed interest in Wilson Chandler (though the Nuggets seem hesitant to move him now), are reportedly eyeing a trade for Taj Gibson.
It’s not exactly known if the Bulls are pushing to move Gibson, who is in the final year of his contract, but they’re at least open to the potential of moving a variety of their players (Gibson being one of them). Stein notes that Chicago is also weighing the possibility of moving Doug McDermott and have been pushing to move Nikola Mirotic recently.
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"[via ESPN]The Thunder are frequently good for a Deadline Day surprise and league sources say Chicago’s Taj Gibson has emerged as an OKC trade target.Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and especially Nikola Mirotic … Chicago Bulls all in play today on Deadline Day according to league sources."
OKC has reportedly been in the market for wing help – they were reportedly one of the favorites to land Rudy Gay before he was sidelined for the year to injury – so the fact that they’re targeting Gibson, another big, would be at some level surprising.
However, Gibson has been a productive players this year for the Bulls. The veteran big man has averaged nearly 12 points and seven rebounds per contest on 52 percent shooting from the field.
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With the rumors that the Chicago Bulls are one of the favorites to land Jahlil Okafor, from the Philadelphia 76ers, perhaps they want to clear their frontcourt depth. Moving Gibson would go a long way in making room in the rotation for Okafor.