West Notes: Spurs, Cedi Osman, Clippers, Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

That said, Osman would have to reach a buyout agreement before March 1 to be eligible for the playoffs. There’s not a strong sense that will happen, sources told Hoops Wire.

“There’s been no official indication the San Antonio Spurs will buy out Cedi Osman before the March 1 deadline, and there’s a strong possibility they prefer to keep him for the summer, where they can use his Bird rights to either re-sign him or sign-and-trade him instead,” Borguet wrote. “But if something changes in the next two weeks and he does hit the buyout market, he’d be a great fit in Phoenix to lend extra wing depth.”

• In case you missed it, coach Gregg Popovich is preaching patience about rookie center Victor Wembanyama. “The talent is there, but the experience, the habits, the consistency, that takes time for every young player,” Popovich said, via Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “He just turned 20 a couple of weeks ago. We’re in no rush. We don’t want to skip any steps with him. And he’s a willing learner, which is good.”
• Meanwhile, Wembanyama said he’s happy in San Antonio despite the losses. “This is really the best place for me,” he told reporters. “I said that over and over. I couldn’t dream of being in a better place.”

Clippers

Coach Tyronn Lue indicated the addition of guard James Harden has gone a long way in helping star forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George stay on the court.

“(Having Harden) makes it a lot easier on Kawhi and PG not to have to handle and make every play for themselves and for our team,” Lue told reporters. “So, James has been great, just keeps everybody happy … takes a lot of grind off of PG and Kawhi.”

• The Clippers are expected to “go all out” to keep Harden and George during the offseason, as we relayed here.
• Along with that, the Clippers may be among those interested in Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson in the event he enters free agency. Our Ashish Mathur has the full story here.

Thunder

Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been able to stay poised and in the moment even with the Thunder’s recent run of success, per Nick Crain of SI.com.

“For me, it’s not any more difficult,” Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters. “I think I’ve learned through experience — and obviously as a young kid it’s easy to get caught up in it, just going back to high school and rankings and things like that. I’ve just found so much success from, not blocking it out, but not letting it faze me or control me. I think I’ve just learned through that experience and figure out what works for me and then try to run with it. To this point, it’s not any harder, because I’ve grown through it being hard, I think, in the past.”

Oklahoma City (37-17) sits in second place in the Western Conference, just 1.5 games back of the Timberwolves.

“I honestly try to stay very present, try to stay in the moment, not look too far ahead, not look back and kind of just take advantage of every moment, whether it’s me working or it’s me just being grateful for where I am today. I try to just stay in the moment, and it’s worked out pretty good thus far. So I try to continue to do so,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.