Royce Young ESPN Staff Writer
The Oklahoma City Thunder have completed a trade sending Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow to the Chicago Bulls for Doug McDermott, Taj Gibson and a 2018 second-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
To make the deal work, the Thunder are using a portion of their trade exception created in a trade earlier this season that sent Ersan Ilyasova to Philadelphia.
McDermott, 25, was drafted 11th overall in 2014 and is averaging 10.2 points in 44 games this season. He’s shooting 37 percent from 3 and will fill a significant area of need for the Thunder as a perimeter shooter and scorer. Gibson, 31, is averaging 11.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per game this season. He’s an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Payne, 22, was selected 14th overall in 2015 by the Thunder and in 77 career games is averaging 5.3 points and 2.0 assists. He underwent surgery on his right foot to repair a Jones fracture and missed 37 games this season. The Thunder believe Payne is set to blossom into an excellent player, but with his playing time limited behind Russell Westbrook, felt his development would be stunted.
Lauvergne, 25, was acquired by the Thunder during the summer from the Nuggets and appeared in 50 games averaging 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds. Morrow, 31, is averaging 5.8 points in 40 games and has spent the past two and a half seasons with the Thunder after signing as a free agent in 2014.
