Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Derek Fisher and the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to terms on a rest-of-the-season contract that will be signed after Fisher clears waivers, according to sources close to the process.
Fisher is scheduled to clear waivers at 6 p.m. ET Wednesday and is already in Oklahoma City in anticipation of joining the Thunder, who beat out the Miami Heatto add Fisher for the playoffs.
ESPN.com reported Tuesday that Fisher and the Thunder were “very close” on a deal despite a strong pitch from the Heat, who could only offer the veteran minimum salary. The Thunder have roughly $3 million left of their mid-level exception and thus possessed the ability to outbid Miami by offering a portion of that amount to sign Fisher to a one-year deal.
Fisher was due to earn $3.4 million next season under the terms of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he surrendered all of next season’s salary after being traded to Houston last week to secure a buyout from the Rockets and the opportunity to pick a contender to join for the stretch run.
At the morning shootaround before Tuesday night’s game against the Utah Jazz, Kevin Durantstrongly endorsed the prospect of signing Fisher to The Oklahoman, telling the newspaper: “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.”
“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. We got to just see what happens. (Fisher) is a Thunder guy as far as character and off the court is concerned. But we’ll see what happens.”
Fisher was officially placed on waivers at 6 p.m. ET Monday, giving teams under the salary cap 48 hours to claim him. He was owed a little less than $1 million for the rest of this season and had a player option worth $3.4 million for next season. But Fisher surrendered his entire 2012-13 salary to secure his buyout from the Rockets.
Fisher’s surrender of next season’s $3.4 million marks the second time in his career that he has left a significant amount of money on the table to facilitate a move he wants. In 2007, Fisher gave up roughly $8 million owed by the Jazz to return to the Lakers — with whom he began his career alongside Bryant in 1996-97 — so Fisher’s family could be closer to the doctors who were treating his daughter for a rare form of eye cancer.
The Rockets gave Fisher’s representatives permission to speak with about a half-dozen teams over the weekend to gauge interest in him during the buyout discussions, sources said.
WRITTEN BY Marc Stein | ESPN.com & FULL STORY HERE
