Friday Bolts – Mother’s Day Weekend Edition
Since it’s unlikely I will be posting anything on Sunday because it will be entirely spent showering my wonderful mother 
with love, I’d like wish my mom and also my very awesome (yes, she is actually awesome) mother-in-law a happy Mother’s Day. You’re welcome for having me.
The Thunder will hold a pre-draft workout today at their practice facility: “Oklahoma State’s Terrell Harris, Texas’ A.J. Abrams, Marquette’s Jerel McNeal and USC’s Daniel Hackett headline this first group, which is filled with guards and has only one player listed taller than 6-foot-6. Other players include: Jack McClinton (Miami), Paul Delaney (UAB), Jermaine Taylor (UCF), Garrett Temple (LSU), Courtney Fells (N.C. State), Josh Carter (Texas A&M), Joe Ingles (Melbourne Dragons) and Aaron Jackson (Duquesne).” OSU’s Terrll Harris? Was that a courtesy invite? But out of that group I do like Jack McClinton and Jerel McNeal. Especially McClinton. That dude can shoooot.
Sam Amico has a mock draft up: And finally, someone with a brain. It looks like he assessed the needs of the team and has OKC taking James Harden and passing on Jordan Hill. Unlike Draft Express and NBADraft.net.
Ridiculous Upside on the 66ers hiring: “There’s not much that I don’t like about Nate. He helped coach the Timberwolves Summer League team the past two seasons as well. I assumed he might get on with the Wolves this season as an assistant, but head coach of the 66ers is a pretty good gig. He can coach, he has a good attitude, he’s personable. Definitely the top young coach in the D-League.”
Seattle’s legislature will not call a special session so Clay Bennett’s money is safe, no doubt: “Gov. Chris Gregoire will not call a special legislative session for lawmakers to finish their last few bits of work on the state budget, officials said Thursday. The decision comes after House and Senate leaders failed to agree on a limited agenda for a possible special session, which the governor wanted to last just one day.”
PBN says the Kings should go after Pitino: “I’m no Rick Pitino fan, but the Sacramento Kings should fly Pitino into town, offer him way too much money, and beg him to be their next head coach. The good news for Sacramento is Pitino supposedly reached out to the Kings to show interest, according to the story first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Pitino is no Larry Brown or Phil Jackson, but he would make a splash and the Kings could definitely use one. I’m not sure why he would want the Kings job, especially since he seems to have a good thing going at the collegiate level at Louisville. (As one media member half-jokingly suggested, maybe he’s afraid of new Kentucky coach John Calipari.) But if I’m the Kings, I don’t ask Pitino why — I just ask how much. As in, how much money will it take for you to be our next coach?”
Jason Fleming of HoopsWorld in a chat yesterday: “Is there any way Oklahoma City would consider trading Jeff Green? Maybe for a Blake Griffin or something, they already have a small forward and I think that’s just going to hold Jeff Green back in the league. Joel Brigham: You know, Jeff Green has done pretty well at the four in that small OKC lineup. If they get the number one pick and somehow land Griffin, maybe then you explore it, but otherwise I think you keep Green where he’s at because he just works well there. And Westbrook and Durant–the future stars of that team–absolutely love him. As for trading for Griffin, sure they’d love to do that, but whoever ends up with that top pick ain’t trading it. The Thunder are going to be fine I think, they just need a couple of seasons to marinate.”
I think we all need to re-read Fleming’s answer: “If they get the number one pick and somehow land Griffin, maybe then you explore it, but otherwise I think you keep Green where he’s at because he just works well there. And Westbrook and Durant–the future stars of that team–absolutely love him. As for trading for Griffin, sure they’d love to do that, but whoever ends up with that top pick ain’t trading it. The Thunder are going to be fine I think, they just need a couple of seasons to marinate.” I don’t trade Green if I get the top pick, I just shuffle things around. But that last sentence – deep breath, it’ll be alright without Blake.
A Q&A with Scott Brooks: “Are you taking mental notes during the playoffs? ”I take notes. Like if I see a good play, a last-second play, a side out-of-bounds play, or just a pick-and-roll. Just if I see something. And the great thing about TV now is you can TiVo it or DVR it, so you can tape it and rewind it, pause it or go slow motion as the game is going on live. It’s so much nicer watching a game now because you can catch the game 40 minutes late and still watch it from the beginning.”
i agree with you royce mcneal and mcclinton are definatly the best of that bunch. the only chance harris has is the d-league. i think that might even be a stretch.
@Blake
I agree. Just to clarify, it’s not a shot at OSU, but more at Terrell Harris. I watched him play a lot this year and I definitely didn’t see him good enough to get an NBA workout. It was just surprising to me, that’s all.
@Royce
Amico is the only one with a brain who’s done a mock draft involving a Thunder pick? Ouch.
You cut me deep, Royce. Cut me deep.
@J.G.
Oh yeah.
Ahem… “And also JG had OKC taking Harden over Thabeet AND Hill.”
Better?
i didnt take it as a shot at osu. he is way too streaky and i dont think has the head to be in the league.
That Brooks interview is great…
I’m just starting to wonder if everyone’s responses are authentic…We always get the ‘the fans are great’ or the typical ‘the weather always changes’ or ‘down to earth people.’
I’ve actually only seen the NBA in OKC so I’m not really sure what it’s like in other places…but our fans can’t really be THAT great…or phenomenally better than half the other fans in the league…
It’s just all the right things to say to me…
@Nix
I think that’s most sports. I’m sure the players and coaches appreciate the fans, but they would appreciate any fan base that indirectly pays their salaries. Everyone knows not to bite the hand that feeds you (great, NIN will be in my head all day now) and I’m sure the PR department has drilled them more than once on all the acceptable vanilla answers to give. It’s just the trouble free and easy way out. Plus, when you give 4 million interviews a year, I’m sure you appreciate having the memorized response to say. Imagine having to come up with a unique or thoughtful answer each time you’re asked the same question.
To clarify though, that is a great Q&A with Brooks. It does stem outside the obligatory sideline interview blah.
Why do we only trade Green if we land the top pick? Isn’t Blake a down-low scorer with center strength who rebounds like crazy? Isn’t that exactly the kind of player you need in the middle if Green is to stay at the 4? Also, isn’t a guy like Green (17 and 7 with good percentages and only 23) a rather valuable commodity in this league? If we trade Green, it’s not because we just happened to land someone better at the 4, it’s because we were made an offer we couldn’t refuse.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Understandable…
and yes…great interview…
Why would trade a known commodity (Green.) for an unknown commodity (Griffin.) who may end up being a bust? You would be trading a major component for a guy who plays the same position as said major component. You would be fixing a problem that you don’t have! Draft Harden, stick with Krstic for the time being, maybe draft a project big man with the Nuggets pick, bring over DeVon Hardin, and go from there.
Okay…I’m just saying this extremely in advance…but
If Durant resigns with us…I would not be surprised if Beasley tested free agency and came to the Thunder the following year…just sayin…
I know that’s..what…five years down the line…but still likely and possible…
if we got griffin there is no way beasley comes to o-town.
No kidding, Terrel wasn’t even the best wing on the team (Anderson)so it must be a let’s take another look at him to see how his shooting is compared with those other shooters. It just might be a dog and pony show for the oklahoma fans, but i’m not knocking OSU.
@Blake
unless Griffin worked out at the 5…which is possible…
Al Jefferson is 6’10…he’s doing just fine…(as well as many other 6’10 5s we’ve mentioned in the past)
@Nix
Unless he really cleans up his act, I wouldn’t want Beasley on the Thunder. He and Chalmers have been fined for various things numerous over the course of the season. I like having just character guys on the team I pull for.
@Vega
While you’re right that Griffin is an unknown, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll be a bust. Just for arguments sake, let’s look at the #1 picks over the past 25 years, and count how many busts there have been.
2008 – Derrick Rose
2007 – Greg Oden
2006 – Andrea Bargnani
2005 – Andrew Bogut
2004 – Dwight Howard
2003 – LeBron James
2002 – Yao Ming
2001 – Kwame Brown
2000 – Kenyon Martin
1999 – Elton Brand
1998 – Michael Olowokandi
1997 – Tim Duncan
1996 – Allen Iverson
1995 – Joe Smith
1994 – Glenn Robinson
1993 – Chris Webber
1992 – Shaquille O’Neal
1991 – Larry Johnson
1990 – Derrick Coleman
1989 – Pervis Ellison
1988 – Danny Manning
1987 – David Robinson
1986 – Brad Daugherty
1985 – Patrick Ewing
1984 – Hakeem Olajuwon
1983 – Ralph Sampson
While you have Kwame Brown on the list who is a complete bust, the list is at least half filled with solid players (Martin, Bargnani, Brand – when healthy) and half filled with hall of fame players.
I would rather see us keep Green somehow, but if some team out there is silly enough to trade Griffin to us for Green and a pick or a contract, we do it. Only a GM on the scale of Isaiah Thomas would be bad enough at their jobs to turn down that deal.
Actually Blake can play center in the NBA if a guy like Ben Wallace dominated the position for a few years being way undersized at the prototypical 5 spot.
If we can get Blake then the question is if you want him at power forward then you must put Uncle Jeff on the bench and have a go to 6th man when the second unit is in the game.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/the_draft/FullMockDraft.asp
checkout this new mock draft from hoopsworld if this is how we’re drafting then we must have fired Presti.
@G.A.P
Whoa. Maybe they got Holliday confused with Russell Westbrook. I don’t think we’ll be reaching for another Bruin guard with the fourth pick this year. Unless Presti has signed some sort of weird deal with Ben Howland.
Blake is a big guy who plays even bigger. I obviously don’t know his real measurements, but I also think he can play the 5 in the NBA. I won’t get into bust potential much, because everyone has it, but we have to agree that seeing a guy dominate college for 2 years (as opposed to a high school student or injury risk – where most of those busts came from) should significantly diminish his likelihood of being a bust.
And while I appreciate what Green brings to the table, his current skill set and level makes him very similar to Thabo. He’s solid, he brings a high level in very specific areas, but he is not very competitive at his position right now. Thabo would be a fantastic stopper, but he can’t shoot. Green CAN shoot, but he can’t defend or rebound around the basket. Trading Green to get Griffin is not really trading proven for unproven. Green is unproven as a quality PF, as he lacks the exact thing that Griffin is set to bring.
@Keith
I totally agree with you on that.
i actually think if griffin ends up with us that he will be a 5 for a few yrs. until we get a legit center. but even if that was the case i dont think they will look at beasley for numerous reasons. character issues and the money he will demand when he becomes a free agent are 2 reasons i dont think he will be a good fit. but who knows like you said that is a long time down the road.
Jermaine Taylor is a big time scorer from that workout list.
I have pretty high hopes for our big man rotation with the D.J. White showing late in the season. I think that rather than trade Green, maybe something can be worked out with Collison or Watson or something to get a second tier big man to go alongside Green and D.J…
Like some deal with the Clippers for Kaveman Kaman, or Marcus Camby. Both of these guys protect the rim, but Kaman has been hurt a lot. Watson and Collison’s combined salary is about the same as Kamans, Kamans goes for three years and he’s 26. Watson is entering his last year, and Collison has this one and next one, so it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch financially. Kamans contract would expire right before Durant and Green’s new deals will fire up once signed. Then you have a nice frontline of Kaman, Krstic, Green, D.J. and Serge Ibaka.
I like the D.J and Serge Ibaka part, but like you just posted Kaman has been hurt a lot so it’s not a real low risk high reward in my opinion. Everything else was spot on but let’s take Kaman out and replace him with Birdman.
I don’t know, Kaman’s got a bunch of rest lately. He could be all set to be healthy for a few more years.
@Chas
once hurt – always hurt (talking about Kaman) . . .
PASS , , ,
You feel the same way about Oden?
yep – the evidence speaks for itself . . .
a #1 pick comes off the bench . . . funny stuff . . .
At least you’re consistent. 2 injured seasons… the jury’s not out but probably not worth his salary (Kaman). Does Nene fit your bill?
what are you going to do, just go down the line and list every big man in the NBA? Nene has one up on the other two – he actually put together a good and injury free NBA season – he was has been very effective this year . . .
I won’t list them all, I just don’t think you can speak with absolutes regarding injuries. It all depends on the attitude of the athlete IMO rather than whether or not he’s been injured a couple of times.
No kidding why would the Thunder want to work out a local player who is averaged 14 ppg, is long, athletic, a good defender and shooter? Stupid, stupid Presti.
No one is claiming that Harris is going to be a first round pick. However he could be a late 2nd round guy or a potenital D-leaguer. Compare his stats to a guy like Josh Carter.
@Air_Thurman
Well maybe so, but OKC doesn’t have a second round pick. Maybe the 66ers will sign him and let him try there. But even if you’re the most die-hard of OSU fans, nobody looked at Terrell Harris and said, “Yeah, he’s got NBA talent.” Maybe he’ll prove people wrong and make something of himself. Who knows.
With the way the Presti deals it would be not unheard of for the Thunder to acquire a 2nd round pick between now and draft night. Talent is not Harris’ problem. I actually do think Harris has NBA talent, his problem has been constancy. I’m not saying Harris will be in the NBA next season, I just think this was more than a “pitty” invite.
MR.Harris is a real good defender he also can shoot long range i think he has made a big step from being a lil boy to a grown man. he have such a great attiude. if you look at it he really doesn’t miss to many from the foul line i think every team should give him a try at there camps and see what they can use from him. just think about it Harris can be like MR.chauncey billups start of bad and be one of the best.
MR.Harris is a real good defender he also can shoot long range i think he has made a big step from being a lil boy to a grown man. he have such a great attitude. if you look at it he really doesn’t miss to many from the foul line i think every team should give him a try at there camps and see what they can use from him. just think about it Harris can be like MR.chauncey billups start of bad and be one of the best.
terrel didn’t have to be the best wing but he put up points to help OSU be successful. think about it if or when A.J abrams get drafted he never did do very good against terrel so if MR.Harris isn’t good enough what make you think A.J is.@G.A.P
terrell can do just about everythink his head is always on the wright track so you tell me y he cant get seen and the nba or the d league @Blake
Harris is not and NBA prospect? Anyone who thinks that does not know anything about NBA basketball. The league is made up of guys like Harris. Guys that come in play hard and can defends. Guys that can knock down threes, and can make free throws. I watched Harris consistently asked to defend the best backcourt scorers that the big 12 had to offer. Harris did a very good job in that role. That alone gets you looks from NBA scouts. Harris is athletic, long and is a fearless competitor. James Anderson is a very good player. I enjoy watching him play. Anderson is likely a first round pick. However, Anderson was never asked to do what Harris was asked to do. Which was, stop the other teams best backcourt scorer and also score us a bunch of points on the other end. Maybe Anderson will be given that role next season. Even a great defender like Marcus Dove was never asked to be a scorer. That’s a tough job weather your in the NCAA or the NBA. Harris seems to be a guy that only wants to get better and that fits what we have right now. I would take Harris on my team any day of the week. I think he would be a great fit with the young Thunder team we have in place!