Thunder Fans Would Glady Trade Places With Players

As the clock ticks towards tomorrow's deadline for players to let their teams know if they or homebound or Orlando bound word comes that Nuggets Center Nikola Jokic has tested positive for COVID-19 and his return to the US is delayed. Jokic recently spent time with tennis star Novack Djokovic who has also tested positive for coronavirus.

Jokic will have to test negative twice within 24 hours before he can return to the United States from his home country of Serbia. When Jokic gets back to Denver, he will undergo cardiac tests and will also have to test negative for COVID-19 one more time before he can resume basketball activity.

Cases in Florida are spiking, Davis Bertan, Trevor Ariza (for family reasons) and Avery Bradley won't be going to Disney, and others will follow. Adrain Wojnarowski is reporting that teams are treating tomorrow as a "soft deadline" for players to opt-out of the reboot.

Unless players want to go through the process of being excused/protected in order to keep their salaries. Wojnarowski says that teams are looking at July 1st as the hard deadline for players to opt-out that's when rosters are supposed to be set.

Wednesday is turning out to be a soft target date for players to opt-out of Orlando – unless they want to enter process to be placed on excused/protected list to keep salary. Teams are largely treating July 1 as deadline, which is when rosters of eligible players are due to NBA.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 23, 2020

Teams are expected in Florida the week of July 7th to begin training camp. While the Thunder are quiet about their intentions, I asked fans what they would do if they were in the players' shoes.

Robert says he would not risk going with the season mostly over and not having played in four months; he would opt to stay at home, watch Netflix, and get ready for next year. Greg, on the other hand, says, "I'd play in a heartbeat; it's my job; that's what I'm paid to do."

Whatever goodwill the NBA built by becoming the first major professional sports league in America to suspend play during the pandemic is quickly evaporating, writes @RohanNadkarni https://t.co/4LM1CRV5cr pic.twitter.com/XFHoTIQBKD
— The Crossover (@TheCrossover) June 23, 2020

George believes that if players care about the fans, they will learn how to deal with getting sick as everybody else does. He also feels that if players don't play, they should give up their spots on a permanently to G-Leaguers.

And Tyler is taking a more pragmatic approach saying if his team had a legitimate shot at winning a title, he would go, but if he was, he was on one of the teams who had to fight for a playoff spot he would gladly sit this one out.

No Word on Dort:

Nwaba will earn $900K-plus to finish the season, with team option for 2020-21, sources said. He will remain sidelined during the resumed season due to Achilles rehab. https://t.co/UvlDCZkkwQ
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2020

As of now, Lu Dort has not been signed to a full-time NBA contract. Former Thunder Forward Corey Brewer has signed a deal with the Sacramento Kings, and per Shams Charania, David Nwaba agrees to a two-year contract with the Rockets.

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