When the Oklahoma City Thunder’s plan for 2019-20 was to add players who accented Paul George and Russell Westbrook, Alec Burks was one of the free agents they reached an agreement with. Once news broke that George was heading to Los Angeles to play alongside Kawhi Leonard for the Clippers, and Westbrook’s future with the Thunder came into question, so did Burks — along with Mike Muscala, who decided to sign with the Thunder.
Burks, on the other hand, elected to sign with the Golden State Warriors, who were his other option, as he told reporters on Friday. In the course of explaining his unique free agency situation, Burks expressed gratitude toward the Thunder for allowing him to do what was best for him.
I learned of it, I wanna say one of my friends told me. I saw it on TV. But yeah, they didn’t know what direction they was going in after that. And kudos to the Thunder, man. They was very honest with me about their decisions and where they’re going in the future, and they let me re-evaluate my situation and here we are today.
Burks also added the primary reasons he initially chose Oklahoma City over Golden State were the opportunity to play with George and Westbrook, and the fact he’s from Kansas City, which is a five-hour drive from Oklahoma City.
