Derek Fisher is in advanced negotiations with the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign with the Western Conference leaders after clearing waivers, according to sources close to the situation.

Fisher is scheduled to clear waivers at 6 p.m. ET Wednesday. One source with knowledge of the talks told ESPN.com that Fisher is "very close" to committing to sign with the Thunder once he becomes a free agent.

ESPN.com reported Monday the Thunder and the Miami Heat had emerged as the two frontrunners to sign Fisher, who was officially released Monday night by the Houston Rockets after securing a buyout from Houston in the wake of last week's trade that brought an end to Fisher's second stint with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Sources told ESPN.com the Heat have made a strong recruitment effort to sign Fisher, but the Thunder have more financial flexibility to sign him and more of a role to offer after the loss of backup point guard Eric Maynor in early January to a season-ending knee injury. There also is a feeling among some rival teams that Fisher prefers to stay in the West, where he has played his entire career.

Another advantage for the Thunder, sources said, is Fisher's agent, Rob Pelinka, just signed Thunder star Kevin Durant. Pelinka also represents Thunder swingman James Harden.

If the deal goes through, as expected, Fisher potentially will face the Lakers twice during the regular season at Staples Center (March 29 and April 22) before the playoffs.

At the morning shootaround before Tuesday night's game against the Utah Jazz, Durant strongly endorsed the prospect of signing Fisher to The Oklahoman, telling the newspaper: "Derek is a consummate professional ... an unbelievable leader. And he played with arguably one of the greatest players to ever play in Kobe (Bryant), and Kobe really respected him as a player and wanted him on his team, so that speaks volumes."

"We have a great corps of point guards leading off with Russ (Russell Westbrook) and then Reggie (Jackson) and Royal (Ivey)," Durant continued. "But adding another guy that can come in and give us some good minutes here and there and bring his leadership and winning plays here would be cool. But it's one of those things that you really don't know too much about. We got to just see what happens. (Fisher) is a Thunder guy as far as character and off the court is concerned. But we'll see what happens."

With the Chicago Bulls needing another big man more than another guard and the San Antonio Spurs still hopeful they can complete the signing of a guard by week's end, Oklahoma City and Miami emerged Monday as the two most likely landing spots for the 16-year veteran.

The Heat explored the possibility of signing Fisher when he was a free agent in the summer of 2010 and have strong interest now, sources say, even if they are successful in signing veteran forward Ronny Turiaf this week. Miami has only one open roster spot at present, but rookie shooting guard Terrel Harris hasn't played in six weeks and thus looms as a potential candidate to make way if the Heat need to make room for two signings.

Sources say the thought of signing with the Bulls is something that strongly interested Fisher, but Chicago is well stocked at point guard and appears to be focused on trying to land a forward such as Turiaf. The Los Angeles Clippers, sources say, have likewise shown little interest in pursuing Fisher, even though the Clippers -- like Miami and Oklahoma City -- have a need for a playoff-tested guard after Chauncey Billups' season-ending Achilles tear and with star guard Chris Paul carrying an increasingly heavy load.