Oklahoma City Thunder Sign Guard Derek Fisher

He’s baaaaack. After sitting out half the season, veteran guard Derek Fisher has returned to the NBA and returned to his most recent team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Fisher and the Thunder reached a deal late Sunday night and he’s expected to join the team on Monday to sign his contract and will be available to play this week.

This isn’t Fisher’s first stint with the Thunder as he signed with the team at roughly the same time last season and helped them get to an NBA Finals appearance against the Miami Heat.

Fisher’s arrival in Oklahoma City was made possible by a trade the Thunder made at the deadline on Thursday. In that trade, the Thunder shipped point guard Eric Maynor to the Portland Trailblazers and essentially replaced him with shooting guard Ronnie Brewer in a trade with the Knicks.

But in Maynor’s absence, Reggie Jackson has been receiving backup point guard minutes which is something Fisher’s arrival will change.

Fisher didn’t technically sit out the entire season up to this point as he did play nine games for the Dallas Mavericks earlier in the season but was released after he suffered a knee injury that forced him out of the lineup. Fisher’s reason for asking to be released was so that he could spend more time with his family, but he must have gotten tired of that scene as he’s back in the NBA and he happens to have fallen into a much better situation with the Thunder once again.