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NBA Trade Rumors: Thunder send Jeremy Lamb to Hornets for Luke Ridnour, 2016 draft pick

By Kyle Franzoni

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Draft day if full of trades, as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Charlotte Hornets agree on a deal around Jeremy Lamb and Luke Ridnour.

Luke Ridnour always knew that being an NBA player would be a jet-set life. He just didn’t realize it would all happen in a matter of days.

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The 12-year veteran has been dealt for the second time in just four hours, and third time since Wednesday, as the Charlotte Hornets will flip his rights, along with a second round pick in the 2016 draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Jeremy Lamb. A.J. Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports was the first to break the news via Twitter.

Keeping up with Ridnour’s travels have been exhaustive over the last 24 hours. On Wednesday, Luke Ridnour was traded from the Orlando Magic to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for the rights to Latvian forward Janis Timma. Less than 24 hours later, the Grizzlies sent Ridnour to Charlotte for veteran Matt Barnes, who himself has been on the move this month. That must have seemed like a decade in Memphis for Ridnour, as Charlotte opted to pull in Jeremy Lamb front the Thunder just a few hours later.

That’s a lot of movement for a 34-year-old point guard who hasn’t seen serious minutes since 2012-13. In just over 16.9 minutes per game spread out between Milwaukee, Charlotte, and Orlando, Ridnour has average just 4.6 points and 2.5 assists over the last two seasons. The Thunder will represent Ridnour’s eighth franchise although he is expected to be waived by Oklahoma City.

In exchange the Hornets, who were previously expected to waive Ridnour, will receive third-year shooting guard Jeremy Lamb, the 12th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft out of the University of Connecticut.

Lamb, who was a big part of the trade that sent James Harden to Houston, never became the player the Thunder wanted. In three seasons with the team, he appeared in just 148 games and logged an average of 15.7 minutes per night. After averaging 8.5 points off the bench in 2013-14, Lamb’s production came to a halt this past season, with averages of just 6.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

The trade clears up some salary for Oklahoma City and brings with it a much needed pick in next year’s draft. Meanwhile Lamb gets a new chance with the Hornets.

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