The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed guard James Harden, center Byron Mullens and forward Serge Ibaka to contracts, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Harden, whom the Thunder selected with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, was named AP First-Team All American and Pac-10 Player of the Year after averaging 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists during his sophomore season at Arizona State. The early-entry candidate led the conference in scoring (20.1 ppg) and steals (1.69 spg) on his way to becoming the third sophomore in league history to earn Pac-10 Player of the Year honors, joining Jason Kidd and Mike Bibby.
Mullens, acquired in a draft night trade, was the 2009 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year. He averaged 8.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in his lone season with the Buckeyes. In 33 contests, Mullens set an Ohio State freshman record in field goal percentage (.638). The Columbus, Ohio native also led the conference in shooting (.703) as he converted 78-of-111 field goal attempts in Big Ten Play.
Ibaka, selected by Oklahoma City in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft (24th overall), spent this past season playing professionally with Ricoh Manresa of the Spanish ACB League. He averaged 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 block in 15.5 minutes per contest.
