The Thunder announced in a press release on Tuesday that Nick Collison has been hired to the team’s front office, having been named a special assistant to general manager Sam Presti. According to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link), Eric Maynor is also moving from the OKC Blue staff to the Thunder as a player development coach, while Anthony Morrow has been hired as a lifestyle services and engagement associate.
The $27.5MM+ trade exception the Thunder created in last fall’s Steven Adams trade has now expired. As Bobby Marks of ESPN (Instagram video) observes, it’s not a big loss for Oklahoma City, since the team can still create up to $32MM in cap room by renouncing the rest of its exceptions if it so chooses.