The Oklahoma City Thunder have a big summer coming up in 2016 as their superstar player Kevin Durant will become an unrestricted free agent. In an effort to make the roster as appealing as possible to the impending free agent Oklahoma City has been trying to lock down some of their young players long-term. The Thunder were able to sign both Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler to four year extensions and now they are reportedly working to get a deal done with Dion Waiters too, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Waiters was acquired by the Thunder in the middle of last season via a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers and he did a decent job in his 47 games there as he averaged 12.7 points and shot a career high 32 percent from three but he only shot 39 percent in his time with Oklahoma City which was the lowest he's ever shot. Waiters is a guy that can score a lot but he isn't the most efficient scorer and his shot selection is questionable at best. Waiters is also a bit of a liability on defense but the Thunder see the potential in the 23 year old and they want to lock him down.
Waiters has made it clear that he is very interested in signing an extension with the Thunder because they have a winning environment and he thinks the Thunder coaches have helped him develop. It wasn't clear all along if the Thunder were willing to extend the shooting guard but now it seems they are seriously considering it as the report says that are "actively exploring a contract extension."
Waiters is scheduled to make more than $5 million this season in the final year of his rookie deal and the Thunder have until November 2nd to agree with Waiters on an extension. Thunder general manager Sam Presti and Waiters' agent have reportedly been talking about the possibility of an extension for weeks and it seems likely that it will get done. Kanter signed a four year $70 million deal while Singler got a four year $25 million deal so Waiters' deal will likely be somewhere in between those two.
The fourth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Syracuse started 20 of his 47 games with the Thunder last season but he is expected to come off the bench this season. New head coach Billy Donovan has said he would prefer to have defense in his starting lineup which likely means Andre Roberson, but either way Waiters will have a big role as a sixth man.
