As they usually do, the Oklahoma City Thunder had a busy 2023 NBA draft night.
The Thunder moved up from the No. 12 pick to No. 10 in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks. As part of the deal, the Thunder absorbed Davis Bertans’ possibly hefty $33 million contract over the next two seasons. He is due a $17 million salary this season and up to $16 million next season if he plays 75% of regular season games this year.
Buy Thunder TicketsThe Thunder used the No. 10 pick to select Cason Wallace, but in the process, they also acquired a legit bench-scoring piece.
While the trade didn’t become official until days later, the 30-year-old wing found out about it late at night. During media day, Bertans revealed the details of how he discovered the news he was being shipped from Dallas to OKC.
“I was back home, sound asleep. 4 a.m. for me at that point. My wife tapped me on the shoulder at 6 a.m. and told me I was traded. My question was, where? OKC? I was like, well, that’s where we’re moving. Couldn’t really process it at the moment. It took a little while. You know, waking up in the middle of the night knowing you’ve got to pack your stuff and get on the road. Luckily, I was happy it was only a three-hour drive so the move was kind of easy from Dallas.”
Since his arrival, Bertans said the positive reviews he heard around the league about the Thunder have been justified. The veteran mentioned OKC does a fantastic job of re-energizing the eight-year veteran.
“Honestly, I’ve heard only great things about the organization; that it’s one of the top class organizations in the NBA. I’ve been here two weeks, and during the summer they kept proving it right that this is a top-class organization. They tried to install the qualities in players that can make a great team, not just the players, the staff, everybody and these two weeks, I feel energized every time I walk in the building and excited to get to work.”
Even though he had a down season last year, Bertans could serve as a valuable outside shooting weapon for the Thunder. The 3-point shooting wing has been one of the better long-range outside shooters since arriving in the NBA in 2016.
If Bertans can shoot around his career average of 39.8% from 3 on 4.7 attempts, the Thunder will have one of the best 3-point shooting bench options in the entire league.
