BREAKING: Thunder Trade Luke Ridnour to Toronto

As per Twitter in the knows:

The Thunder has traded the contract of Luke Ridnour to Toronto along with cash to create a $2.85 million trade exception.

— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) June 30, 2015

The @Raptors have acquired Luke Ridnour and cash considerations from the Oklahoma City #Thunder for the draft rights to Tomislav Zubcic.

— Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) June 30, 2015

Here’s what’s happening with Ridnour:

1. The Memphis Grizzlies acquired Ridnour from the Orlando Magic on Wednesday in exchange for Janis Timma, a second-round pick in the 2013 NBA draft.
2. The Grizzlies then acquired Matt Barnes from the Charlotte Hornets for Luke Ridnour, who was then later sent to Oklahoma City.
3. Oklahoma City then traded him to Toronto, who take Ridnour into cap space, and the Thunder get a $2.85M trade exception out of it.

You could view this as the PG position for next season being sorted out, with Ridnour and Wright battling for the backup guard duties, or you could see it as a move to create some cash in exchange for helping out OKC get a traded player exception. He has a non-guaranteed deal of $2.75 M for next season, which becomes guaranteed on July 11, so he’s basically a trade chip for anyone willing to free up some space. Basically, if the Raptors were to acquire salary in a trade (or sign-and-trade, ahem, Aldridge), a guy like Ridnour could be part of a deal as Portland would release him and create immediate cap space.

Tomislav Zubcic was drafted #56 in the 2012 NBA Draft, and was a three-point shooting big man who was considered a good pickup at that stage in the draft. However, he hasn’t developed enough for the club to pry him away from his Croatian side, Cedevita Zagreb, who he’s been with for 9 years.

Again, this is a win-win situation, as the Raptors have a few options here:

1. Keep him till training camp or beyond as competition for Wright
2. Use him (or specifically, his $2.75 M non-guaranteed contract) as a trade chip as part of a package
3. Just waive him and pocket the change you got from OKC

Ridnour is an NBA journey man who has played for seven teams, with the Raptors potentially being the 8th: