The Oklahoma City Thunder have waived guard Earl Watson. Watson, an eight-year NBA veteran, appeared in 68 games and started in 18 with Oklahoma City this past season and averaged 6.6 points, 5.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per contest. Watson, a 6-1 guard out of UCLA, holds career averages of 7.3 points, 4.6 assists, 2.2 rebounds in 597 career games with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Denver Nuggets, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Seattle Supersonics. Watson's waiver was announced Friday by Sam Presti, the Thunder's executive vice president and general manager. http://www.nba.com/2009/news/07/17/thunder.watson.ap/index.html
Trade update: Memphis gets ZBo and Clippers get Quentin Richardson. See Yahoo NBA or ESPN for the news
wth? you've said this twice in 2 threads that have nothing to do with the thread title and old news from last month..... http://bbs.clutchfans.net/search.php?searchid=135018
pretty unexpected buyout there. I LOVE THE OKC THUNDER THOUGH. I thought they needed the veteran presence in the lockerroom and Earl Watson can actually play a bit...he's top 10 in assists for the last few years in a row if I can remember correctly. Guess he wanted to go to a championship contender like to backup Rondo in Boston...but going to the Pacers??? He might as well stayed in OKC. Guess he's there to get more playtime than compete with Shaun Livingston for backup PG playtime in OKC now that Jarrett Jack is gone from the Pacers. Pretty strange how little Earl Watson is known in NBA circles...he seems to be the only player no one ever talks about...the media probably hasn't mentioned his name in years. Good move by Sam Presti. Now they've just got to sign a veteran presence like Jacques Vaughn to nurture the young PGs and get them to play smart.
probably for the same reason no one mentions Stephen Hunter, Speedy Claxton or Calvin Booth. they all suck
ok I have to say Earl Watson is not starter quality...and he probably sucks now anyways...but he's not as bad as speedy claxton etc etc etc...esp not calvin booth suckage..
He was trash last year. Think Mike James level of trashiness. Just like with Mike James, I have no idea why he suddenly became a noob, it was almost overnight. If a rebuilding team like the Thunder waives you, that probably means you're not fit to be an NBA player anymore.
Wow, I'm actually pretty surprised by this move. Watson was not a trash player. He was actually fairly decent. He was also the team's highest paid player. I'm sort of surprised that Presti didn't wait until after the February trade deadline before buying him out. Watson's expiring contract may have had some value; but given that the Thunder are so far under the salary cap, maybe no one would have taken it anyway (opting just to dump salary on them using their cap room). Good (presumably cheap) pick-up by the Pacers. If we didn't already have Lowry, I would be all over signing Watson as a backup PG.
This may have been a move to be nice to Watson or the Thunder just don't want him around anymore. He doesn't figure into their plans this season because James Harden looks like the real deal. I also used to think Watson had an attitude problem.
Good player coming off a horrible season. I thought he'd be a good fit on the Lakers, guess the Pacers were just quick.
Word in OKC is that he didnt get along with Brooks. Also, as a side-note, Nick Collison now becomes their highest paid player. Crazy.
He was a $6.6 million expiring contract. Why didn't they keep him around as a trade asset? Is this what expiring contracts are worth these days?
They don't really need an expiring contract as they have ALOT of capspace and can take on any player giving the other team a trade-exception. I think they want to hold onto their cap.
