Former Toronto Raptors forward Patrick Patterson has agreed to a three-year contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder worth $16.4 million, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal includes a player option for the final year.
The 28-year-old Patterson was acquired by the Raptors in 2013-14 in the trade that sent Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings. Over parts of four seasons with the Raptors, the Kentucky product averaged 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on a 37 per cent clip from three-point range.
While Patterson’s stats don’t jump off the page, his average plus-minus of +5.3 ranked him in a tie for 19th in the NBA in 2016-17. He finished ahead of the likes of James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Gordon Hayward in that department. The value he provides to his team goes well beyond just points and rebounds.
Patterson will join a Thunder team that already boasts the reigning MVP in Russell Westbrook and recently traded for superstar Paul George. Oklahoma City finished sixth in the Western Conference this past season and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Houston Rockets.
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