Daily Thunder.com

From NBA.com:

Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls and O.J. Mayo of the Memphis Grizzlies were unanimous selections to the 2008-09 T-Mobile NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today. Rounding out the T-Mobile NBA All-Rookie First Team are Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook (53 points), New Jersey’s Brook Lopez (49 points) and Miami’s Michael Beasley (44 points).

… Westbrook, a two-time T-Mobile Western Conference Rookie of the Month selection (December, February) was fourth among first-year players in scoring (15.3 ppg) and second in assists (5.3 apg). Westbrook was the only rookie to record a triple-double this season, posting 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 96-87 win over Dallas on March 2.

Great news for Russ. Amazing to think back last June when the pick was made it was seen to have been a reach and something that maybe could develop into a solid choice. But in one season, Westbrook has already validated his high selection. Just another feather in the cap of Sam Presti.

News All-Rookie, Russell Westbrook

I’m not much for trade rumors and trade mongering. You could sit around all day and say, “OK, how about 2012′s unprotected first rounder, the rights to DeVon Hardin and Chucky Atkins’ expiring contract for Chris Paul. Come on, the Hornets would have to do this.” It kind of gets old. It’s just hypothesizing about trades that will almost never, ever, ever happen. But sometimes it’s fun. And sometimes, it makes complete sense.

So with the word on the street being that the Pistons want to break up their trio of Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace, I think you’ve got to look at options. I mentioned back in - heck, I don’t know when I mentioned it – but I mentioned sometime how much I like Hamilton’s game for this team (I also said I sort of liked Grant Hill, but to a lesser degree). Quality defender, smart offensive player, great veteran leader that still has some gas in the tank and most importantly, fills the dead body slot at two-guard.

The Pistons just recently signed Hamilton to a five-year, $55 million contract. I don’t really like how big that number is and I definitely don’t like the length of the contract considering Rip is 31 with nine years and 742 games on his odometer. I think at some point within the next five years, Hamilton will have one, maybe two seasons of where he misses 20-30 games with some nagging injuries. The most he’s missed during his career was 15 this year. But the fact is, RIGHT NOW, Hamilton is still an excellent shooting guard. He’s 6-7 and has averaged at least 17 points a game since his second season. And while I wrote about Ben Gordon’s gunner mentality and how that doesn’t work because he’s a 16 shot a game guy and at least 1,000 shots a season, Hamilton does almost the exact same thing averaging 15.6 shots a game and took 1,043 this season.

So what makes him work? Read more…

Commentary Richard Hamilton, trades

Marc Stein writes about what’s next for the Hornets and of course, there’s this part: “The obstacle there, though, is that concerns about Chandler’s long-term health are no longer exclusive to the Thunder. I’ve heard the suggestion more than once in recent days that the Hornets — if they can find a team interested in stealing the 26-year-old from a team desperate to shed long-term salary obligations — might not be able to do better than Denver did last summer when it dumped Marcus Camby’s contract to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Nuggets, remember, gave Camby away for the mere option of trading second-round picks in 2010, agreeing to such a marginal return because the Clips had the cap space and willingness to absorb Camby’s contract.” Well, well, well. (h/t to JG for the heads up) 

SI on Rubio-Griffin: “Oklahoma power forward Blake Griffin is still clearly the projected No. 1 pick and everyone else is in the chase car, as has been the case all season, and Rubio’s recent decision to enter the June 25 draft a couple of months after a lot of teams thought he would stay in Spain doesn’t move the needle much. It’s a boost for the depth of the draft, not the intrigue, according to an early read from NBA executives. “He is that far ahead of the pack,” one personnel boss said of Griffin versus the field … The Thunder, with the fourth-best chance, have the only no-brainer among the teams with the best chance to pick first. They play in Oklahoma City. Griffin is from an OKC suburb. Russell Westbrook is set as the point guard. Done deal.” 

3 Shades of Blue has a mock draft up and I kind of like it. Actually, I really like it: “Oklahoma City Thunder – Blake Griffin – After LeBron to Cleveland and Derrick Rose to Chicago, this will result in conspiracy theorist going nuts. This should also establish the Thunder as the best young core in the NBA, including Portland. They have almost every base covered and have $15 million in capspace to fill in the empty spaces. Be afraid if this happens … No. 25 Thunder: Patrick Mills – Presti gets a spark plug at backup point as it seems that former Grizz, Earl Watson, does not want that assignment again.” For the record, I LOVE Patty Mills. Read more…

Other

As I wrote in the “We don’t want you, Ben Gordon!” column, OKC was one of two teams (New York being the other) that had three players attempt at least 1,000 shots on the season. Kevin Durant took 1,390, Russell Westbrook 1,095 and Jeff Green 1,068. That got me to thinking – was OKC’s “Big Three” the most relied upon trio in the league?

Let’s look! (An absurd amount of stats coming – but there’s also colorful pie charts! Mmm… pie.)

The three averaged 57.1 points per game together and the entire team averaged 97.0 ppg. So of the team’s total points per game, Durant, Green and Westbrook averaged 58.8 percent of the total scoring. Three teams had three players contribute more to the overall scoring than OKC. Dallas was first with Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard scoring 62.4 percent of the team’s points per game. Chris Paul, David West and Peja Stojakovic combined for 59.6 percent of the Hornets total output. And LeBron James, Mo Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 58.9 percent of the Cavs total points per game (with LeBron having a huge chunk of everything).

But scoring is not the only thing Durant, Green and Westbrook did. They took 52.9 percent of the teams total shots (3,553 of 6,716) and per game, 45.9 of 81.9 shots (56 percent). And they made 52.4 percent of the team’s total baskets. They took 606 of the OKC’s 949 three pointers (63.8 percent) and made 69.5 percent of the Thunder’s total threes. They attempted 60.8 percent of the OKC’s free throws and made 64.1 percent of team’s total freebies. They grabbed 40 percent of the team’s rebounds, had 47.8 percent of the team’s total assists, had 50.5 percent of the team’s turnovers and averaged 36.1 minutes a game between them.

In other words, they kind of did it all. The 54.4 average of those 12 categories is the highest combined percentage of total production/usage in the league. The thing is, a lot of teams had three guys that scored a lot together. Or maybe dished out a bunch of assists together. But really nobody combined the amount of three pointers taken with rebounds and assists. I even left out steals and blocks, but OKC’s three combined for 47 percent of the team’s steals and 27 percent of the blocks. They really did do it all. Read more…

Commentary Jeff Green, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook

George Gervin sees Kevin Durant as the most comparable player to him: “Wesley (Gainseville): Which current NBA player do you think is most comparable to yourself? George Gervin: I guess I would say Kevin Durant because he is long, he can put the ball on the floor, and he can shoot from anywhere.”

KD’s brother signed yesterday to play college ball with Western Kentucky: ”Cliff Dixon, the half-brother of NBA star Kevin Durant, has signed with WKU. Dixon, a 6-foot-10, 215-pound forward, averaged 15.3 points and eight rebounds at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College last season. He chose the Hilltoppers over Seton Hall and Missouri and will have two years of eligibility remaining. “We’ve been on him a couple of years,” McDonald said. “(Dixon) is very versatile. He can play all over the floor. He’s long. He’s a good athlete. He’s skilled. He’s got to continue to get better, but he’s a tough mismatch at a lot of different positions. He has a really high skill level and talent level.”

Robert Sarver (Phoenix’s owner) talked about the Suns’ offseason decisions. You know, kind of important considering OKC has their unprotected first round pick next year. But it doesn’t sound like Sarver is that thrilled about rebuilding: “I didn’t get into this business to make money or sit and watch my team lose,” Sarver said. “I’m not prepared to do a three- or four-year rebuilding period and win 25 or 30 games a year. I feel I’d be letting the community down. Plus, I like to win. Losing would be too difficult for me.” Blow-it-up! Blow-it-up! Blow-it-up! Read more…

Bolts

Final blogger Rookie of the Year voting: I promise I wasn’t the one that voted for Kyle Weaver or gave Russell a first place vote. My ballot looked like this: 1. Derrick Rose 2. Russell Westbrook 3. Brook Lopez 4. Kevin Love 5. O.J. Mayo.

I wish people would quit fantasizing about this, but yet another “the Blazers screwed up, what if they had Kevin Durant?” story. But the reality is, the more Greg Oden picks up five fouls in seven minutes and the more 30-point games KD puts up, it won’t go away: “Now, there is plenty of time for Greg Oden to become a star. He might become just what Portland needs – a defensive anchor, a dominant big man. But he looks more like a guy who is going to average 13 points and 11 rebounds, block a few shots, and struggle to stay healthy. Meanwhile, Durant turned 20 this season, and here are his relevant stats for Oklahoma City this season: 25.3 points on .476 shooting, .422 from three-point range, and .863 from the line; 6.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.7 blocks. He is a genuine superstar, right now … With Durant and Roy, Portland would have been a legitimate threat to topple the Lakers this year, and in many years to come. With Oden, the Blazers are a nice team that might one day get serious. This point has been made before, but it’s being driven home right now. This is the first playoff run for Portland’s collection of young talent, and the first chance to see just what — besides experience — it is missing. And it is missing a third scorer, and another star. Right now, this is Darko Milicic over Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.”

Draft Express statisical analysis on shooting guard (pay attention): “Harden’s biggest shortcoming ended up being in the perimeter shooting department. He was terrific on the very few catch and shoot opportunities he received with his feet set (2.4 Pos/G), but really struggled when being contested (.85 PPP) or shooting off the dribble (.73 PPP). In fact, the 27% he shot from the field off the dribble is the lowest of any of the nineteen players in our sample. Fortunately for Harden, this is clearly a part of his game he can work on, but he’ll have to put in the appropriate time in the gym. In terms of things a team can count on him to do well in the short-run, his ability to score with space deserves consideration at the top of that list.” Read more…

Bolts

Oklahoma City was one of the worst teams in the league – let me check that – the worst team in the league statistically at the shooting guard position this year. Starting Damien Wilkins there 14 times can do that to you. It’s a position Sam Presti is definitely looking to improve this offseason whether it be through the draft or the free agent market. And it seems like a lot of people are on the Ben Gordon bandwagon. For instance, Bill Simmons said in a recent column that the Thunder could “desperately use someone like him.”

Ben Gordon is a dynamic player. Heck, he’s probably bumped that offseason contract up a couple bills based on his outstanding play in the playoffs. He has been fantastic against the Celtics. A true offensive joy to watch. At 6-3, nobody that size gets a shot off in traffic like he does. He’s got a lightning quick release and seemingly can pull up from anywhere. He knocks down threes, has a terrific mid-range game, can get to the rim and gets to the line. He’s the total offensive package.

But he doesn’t fit the Thunder.

The reason? It’s simple: Gordon is a scorer. That’s what he does, that’s what he’s always going to do. Simmons put it extremely well:

He finished [Game 2] with the ultimate Ben Gordon box score: 41 points, one rebound, no assists. This is why nobody touched him last summer. He does one thing and that’s it. He is always happiest when he’s the one scoring. When the ship is sinking, he’s like Billy Zane in “Titanic” — one of the first guys to jump off. This is what scares GMs, and this is why a team that could desperately use someone like him (say, [Oklahoma City]) might be afraid to spend for him. Especially in this economy.

But I don’t think Oklahoma City could use someone like him. He works with a team like Chicago where the scoring is distributed among a couple of players without one star scorer (unless you consider him to be the star scorer).

Don’t get me wrong, he’s a fantastic player. But the Thunder’s already got their stat stuffer scorer – to the tune of 25.3 ppg and rising. And around that, you need complementary scorers. Not guys that are going to be looking for their shot first and taking possessions away from your top gun. Kobe Bryant doesn’t have a guy he’s competing to get shots with. LeBron doesn’t. Dwyane Wade doesn’t. And Kevin Durant shouldn’t. They have guys like Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Mo Williams, Delonte West, Michael Beasley and Jermaine O’Neal to balance the scoring. Jeff Green is a perfect complementary player. Russell Westbrook can score, but he (supposedly) is a pass first guy. Thabo Sefolosha obviously isn’t a scoring-minded guard. Nenad Krstic just takes shots when he’s open or set up. This team is Durant’s and it should stay that way.  Read more…

Commentary Ben Gordon, shooting guard

HoopsWorld talked with the Commissioner: “I love talking about the greatness of our youngsters. The continued greatness of the Shaqs, the Kobes, the Nashes, Duncans, Garnetts, combined with the fusion of these youngsters like Derrick Rose-who’s receiving his much-deserved Rookie of the Year award-Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, it’s just an incredible group. And they’re incredible on and off the court… I’m happy with the way it’s all come together, and I’m very proud of our players.”

The On Deck Circle’s top six guys to build a franchise around: “No. 6, Kevin Durant: watch out for this guy. If he puts on a little bit more muscle he will be one of the most serious threats in the NBA and his supporting cast in Oklahoma is getting better.”

Scott Howard-Cooper of SI on the MIP debate: “Most Improved Player is a great debate. Kevin Durant ordinarily shouldn’t be in contention — his strides came from the first season to second, when players should make their big move with the rookie learning curve complete. But Durant, who was drafted No. 2 overall in 2007 and projected for stardom, has exceeded the normal trajectory. It wasn’t hard to find a coach or executive who would knock him last season as a gunner more than a scorer without a clue about defense. This season, with much more discipline in his offense, Durant went from shooting 43 percent to 47.6, and from 20.3 points a game to 25.3, despite just 24 more attempts.” Read more…

Bolts

How about some moving pictures to get you going this Saturday morning? Sure it’s no Animaniacs or The Tick, but it’s video with sound and it’s interesting. At least I think so. Plus cartoons stink these days. What’s even on? Yugio or some crap? Do they still even exist? Anyway…

Back at the beginning of April, Brian Davis had a nice 7-minute interview with KD. It’s really a great interview that touches on a lot including the team’s improvement, how he’s learning to be a leader and how he used to be shy but has learned to get angry on the court. Plus, there’s one kind of awkward question about Durant’s lip curling or something. Anyway, it’s really incredible to me how team-oriented and humble KD is. I love that dude.

Video Brian Davis, Interview, Kevin Durant

I got an email from Crow (former frequent poster here)which among other things pointed out the really impressive rookie numbers for our “other” rookie D.J. White.  I realize that the sample size is ridiculously small being only 7 games and 130 minutes, but I like crunching numbers and I enjoy writing and talking about basketball so bear with me. It’s a weak time of the year for Thunder news.

There are a ton of “one number” NBA metrics out there that essentially add up all of the players positive statistical contributions on the court and subtract the negative ones to come up with a number that tells us “how good” one player is, and then allow us to make comparisons with other players. What usually differentiates one metric from another is the weighting  or value that is given to each stat. Is a rebound worth as much as a steal? Is a blocked shot more valuable than an assist. That’s the rub.

What I’m leading up to is that all of these metrics have some value, but you’ll never get consensus over which is best.  Read more…

Other

The Ford Center’s renovations are underway: “We are officially shut down at the Ford Center,” said Gary Desjardins, general manager of the Ford Center. “We’ll open back up in October.”Desjardins provided an update on the facility to members of the Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau on Thursday. He oversees the arena and exhibit halls at the Cox Business Services Convention Center. By the time the Thunder hits the court next season, there will be several changes made to the Ford Center. The publicly funded Ford Center was completed in 2002 at a cost of $89 million. In anticipation of luring an NBA team, Oklahoma City voters approved $120 million in improvements to the center in 2008. Some of that work has been completed, but a major project will include renovation of several areas of the center by October. Desjardins said when the center reopens there will be changes, some not noticeable at first glance. Other areas will not really be touched during renovations. “When you walk through the doors in the entry level, you won’t see a whole lot,” he said. “That’s probably the only level that’s not getting a huge makeover.”

Great piece in Sporting News Today about Jeremy Tyler’s decision to turn pro in Europe: “The calculated risk here is not just about him making the NBA. I would think he could sit around and eat doughnuts for a year and have better than 50 percent chance to make the NBA,” Fraschilla. “There’s more of a chance to make a mistake – putting yourself in the wrong situation – in Europe because of the unknown.”

The Thunder donated some items to the Oklahoma History Museum: “Thunder Chairman, Clay Bennett, announced the donation of the first season items to the Oklahoma History Center to commemorate the Thunder’s historic inaugural NBA season. Among the items donated– the official game ball from the final home game.  They also donated shoes from Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook as well as the Thunder bench seat from the Ford Center. Bennett was officially honored for being named Oklahoman of the Year for 2008.” Read more…

Bolts

It came out this week that Russell Westbrook finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, which was a little low considering he floated around the top spot for much of the last three months. Probably the most likely reason for that is his subpar field goal percentage, a not so awesome 39.8. I wrote a month ago about Westbrook and how we should be patient in his development as a point guard and highlighted some stats from Deron Williams, Dwayne Wade, Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker’s rookie seasons. But I got to looking at their hotspots recently and that really helps hammer home the point. Now hotspots only go back to 2004 so Parker’s rookie season is missing, but I used seasons that might be comparable anyway to Westbrook. (Also, just so it’s known, I’m considering a jumpshot anything outside the four closest areas).

First Russell’s 2008-09 hotspot chart:

Westbrook took 68.7 percent of his shots from about 12 feet and in and shot 42.4 percent in those areas. He only took 31.3 percent true jump shots out of his 1095 field goal attempts on the season. He shot 27.1 percent from three on 129 attempts. Not good shooting numbers anywhere, but if he hits two more shots at each of the third level spots, he hits about 42 percent in all those areas and shoots 41 percent for the year. And that’s just 10 extra makes. Or if he finishes 10 more layups at the rim that barely rolled out (how many of those did he have – 50?) and he hits 46 percent in that area and 41 percent for the year. Read more…

Commentary Hotspots, Russell Westbrook

An awesome video recapping the season made by Air Thunder. Its got everything from Opening Night to halftime shows (it appears they conveniently left one halftime performance out) to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook watching a basketball game together to highlights to community service footage. It’s about 51 minutes in all and worth watching.

Kevin Durant had this great quote during it:

We were playing the Toronto Raptors – I think we were tied up – and I hit a shot and the fans were so loud I couldn’t nothing my coaches were saying, nothing my teammates were saying and I couldn’t hear myself talk. That’s when I knew we were very blessed to be playing in the Ford Center.

Also, the official site got a makeover. It actually looks like most every other team’s site now. Much more accessible and much easier to navigate.

Video 2009-2010 season in review

Russell Westbrook finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting: He got two first place votes and finished with 73 points, right behind Brook Lopez. Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Lopez and Westbrook were the only four players to received first place voted. Eric Gordon finished fifth.

Darnell Mayberry on Westbrook’s finish: “While the final order for the award certainly can be debated, it’s Westbrook’s distant finish that comes as a bit of a shock considering his production rivaled or bested his competition over the second half of the season. Since February, Westbrook averaged 16.3 points, 5.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds. Over that same span, Rose averaged 16.9 points, 6.3 assists and 4.4 rebounds, while Mayo averaged 17.7 points, 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds. Lopez averaged 14.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.7 blocked shots.”

Kevin Love evidently not happy with the way the rookies finished: “Love said he had no quarrel with the selection of Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who won in a landslide with 574 points and 111 of the 120 first-place votes. He just didn’t feel there were five first-year players who played better than him during a season in which Love led all rookies in rebounding (9.1 per game) and double-doubles (29). “Pardon my French, but it’s the second time I’ve gotten screwed,” he said from Los Angeles. “I definitely thought I would finish higher, but after the rookie-sophomore snub, I guess anything can happen.” Love admittedly got off to a slow start this season, but he got better as it went on, averaging 15.8 points and 9.6 rebounds in March, when he was named NBA rookie of the month. That strong finish earned him just two second-place votes and 10 thirds in media balloting for a total of 16 points. “I guess I just needed to play a little better,” Love said. “Maybe a 30th double-double would have made a difference.” Read more…

Bolts

As we all know so well, right now OKC sits with an 11.9 percent chance of picking first in the 2009 draft and has about a 25 percent chance of picking either first or second. And with this appearing to be a no-doubt two man draft, that could be a little scary if you don’t land in one of the top spots. Past No. 1 and 2, it looks like you’ll be taking a bit of chance on someone. Hasheem Thabeet? James Harden? Brandon Jennings? The reality is that there’s going to be good players in this supposed “weak draft.” Maybe they’re taken at No. 25 or maybe in the top five. The key is properly scouting your needs and taking the player that fits. Just because you don’t land No. 1 or 2 doesn’t mean it’s over. There’s always good players to be taken. So what does history tell us? Let’s look back at the last 10 drafts:

1998
1. Michael Olowokandi
2. Mike Bibby
3. Raef LaFrentz
4. Antwan Jamison
5. Vince Carter

A perfect example of what can be found further down the line. Not only were the two best players in the top five taken at No. 4 and 5, but maybe the two best players were taken at No. 9 and 10 – Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce. And Rashard Lewis was taken at No. 32. Anybody see think “Hasheem Thabeet” when they see Michael Olowokandi?

1999
1. Elton Brand
2. Steve Francis
3. Baron Davis
4. Lamar Odom
5. Jonathan Bender

Amazing how upside-down this draft was. While Brand was productive when healthy and Francis had some nice years, really Odom and Davis were the class of the top five, seeing as there hasn’t been a Jonathan Bender sighting in years. But see here: Richard Hamilton was taken at No. 7, Jason Terry at 10, Ron Artest at 16, Andrei Kirilenko at 24 and maybe the best player in the whole thing, Manu Ginobili at 59. Read more…

Other Last 10 Drafts