Thunder Acquire Taj Gibson And Doug McDermott For Cameron Payne

The Oklahoma City Thunder have acquired Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott from the Chicago Bulls, in exchange for Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne, and a second round pick, reports Brian Windhorst.

The big get for the Thunder is Taj Gibson. They’ve been starting rookie Domantas Sabonis next to Steven Adams at power forward all season, and while he has shown promise, he also hasn’t been very good. Gibson should slide into that role, forming one of the most hard-nosed front courts in the league, and allowing Sabonis to buoy the bench, which is without Enes Kanter for a little while. McDermott is a fine back-up wing who can shoot the three.

Payne is a young, backup point guard who lots of people think has high potential, while somehow shooting even worse than Rajon Rondo and Michael Carter-Williams ... who are coincidentally the two point guards he’s joining in Chicago! Joffrey Lauvergne is an NBA player, seriously. I don’t have any idea what the Bulls are doing either.