Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 1:48pm

OKC ADDS FOYE, FILLING NEED AT SHOOTING GUARD

The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired combo guard Randy Foye and a trade exception from the Denver Nuggets for point guard D.J. Augustin, forward Steve Novak, and two future 2nd-round draft picks.

What does it give the Oklahoma City Thunder
The shooting guard spot has been a revolving door for the Thunder since trading James Harden a few years back, and Foye can give OKC a quality veteran starter there. He's also a quality veteran leader who can play both guard spots capably, so this is a very nice pickup for a team with title aspirations. Added bonus: Foye's very affordable contract expires after this season, so if he doesn't pan out ideally the team can move on fairly painlessly. The trade exception allows the Thunder to add a player over the next calendar year without sending back equal assets in return (as is usually the case with NBA deals).

What does it give the Denver Nuggets
Augustin and Novak both have expiring contracts like Foye, so the motivation here for Denver is the two future second-round picks. While it's not a great haul, it's never a bad idea for a young squad to add more draft assets. The move also opens up a little more playing time for some of the Nuggets' younger players down the stretch, letting management see what it has one the bench.

Fantasy impact
Foye looks to have a strong chance to start at shooting guard for the Thunder, especially since usual starter Andre Roberson (knee) is out indefinitely and fill-in Dion Waiters is very streaky. Whether he starts or not for OKC, Foye gets a solid (if small) increase in fantasy value here (while Waiters obviously sees an equal drop). Not much changes at all on Denver's roster, since Augustin will likely back up young starter Emmanuel Mudiay at the point (possibly taking most of the minutes left by Foye) and Novak might not play much at all.