Daily Thunder.com

Fanhouse looks at 10 NBA players under 30 fighting for their NBA lives: “Robert Swift (Oklahoma City) — The former lottery pick has never been able to stay healthy and has never developed into a dependable NBA center. He is a legit 7-footer and does have a decent touch around the basket, but his knees have failed him and he doesn’t have much of a resume. Swift has played 97 games in five years and has had two major knee surgeries. The market for him will be thin.”

One man dares to doubt the genius of Sam Presti: “Which leads me to ask, is Sam Presti really the genius he is portrayed as?  From a transaction standpoint, I can’t argue with the results.  He turned a going nowhere roster into a team with a lot of potential, but I still think he has botched the last two drafts.  Considering his laurels rest in how great he is at talent evaluation, that scares me. Perhaps he’ll make some trades or make a shocking free agent acquisition in the next couple of weeks that will change my mind, but right now, I think there is more myth to Presti’s mystique than a lot of fans want to admit.”

Reminiscing about the Thunder’s move: “It took 61 truckloads to carry the 786,000 pounds of freight the franchise moved halfway across the country – piling up 110,000 miles. The franchise also paid to relocate the employees who wanted to stay with the team, which wouldn’t reveal the total cost of the move. The early days of the Oklahoma City NBA franchise – then without a new name or colors – were centered in a plain, second-floor conference room at the Skirvin Hilton downtown. What would become the Thunder’s office at the Leadership Square building was still unfinished, with wires hanging from the ceiling.” Read more…

Bolts

UPDATE: It’s official, Marc Stein reports. Gortat to Dallas. Sigh…

Restricted free-agent center Marcin Gortat was scheduled to fly to Dallas on Thursday after giving the Mavericks a verbal commitment to sign an offer sheet with them next week, according to NBA front-office sources. Sources told ESPN.com that the Mavericks are bringing Gortat to town to tour the area and the team’s facilities after extending him an offer believed to be worth Dallas’ full mid-level exception — which could translate to a five-year deal starting at roughly $5.6 million — in hopes of dissuading the Orlando Magic from matching the offer.

Read more…

News Gortat, Rubio

Right now, Oklahoma City has expressed high interest in two guys – Marcin Gortat and Paul Millsap. Sam Presti phoned both of them within an hour of the free agency period starting with Millsap and then Gortat minutes later. Both are restricted free agents but both look like they’ll be cut loose by their current teams. They play different positions and do different things yet OKC will probably have to pick one or the other to direct its focus on – there’s no way the Thunder splurges and signs both. In some ways, I actually wonder if the Thunder signs either.

But right now, if you had to choose, which one do you go after? The seven-foot center Gortat or the brawny power forward Millsap? You can look at lots of things – need, fit, upside, price, nicknames. (Gortat has maybe the best in the league with The Polish Hammer and I don’t even know what Millsap’s is. I started calling him “The Milkman” last year, but I’m sure that’s not official. You’ve got to weigh those sort of things.) I see it this way: Which would you rather have, designer clothes that look really awesome or clothes that actually fit? What you buy needs to fit your wardrobe and shouldn’t make you start throwing away all the clothes you’ve already got. It should just be something that you can add right in and doesn’t cause a total rearranging of your closet. Read more…

Commentary Marcin Gortat, Paul Millsap

One year ago today, a professional team started to make its way to Oklahoma City. It wasn’t pretty and we didn’t make any friends, but through a lot of hard work and tremendous dedication, Clay Bennett and his group gave us what we’re sitting here talking about today. And I just want to say thanks to all those involved. Without this team, I can safely say my life would be quite a bit different. Happy anniversary Oklahoma City.

Berry Tramel on the anniversary: “Bennett spent Father’s Day 2008 in a Seattle high-rise, prepping for the federal trial in which the city had sued the Sonics, trying to force the franchise to play out its lease at KeyArena. He was Public Enemy No. 1 in a major U.S. market, and just because he wasn’t the first sports owner to feel such wrath – Art Modell, Walter O’Malley, Bob Irsay – didn’t make the notoriety any easier. Bennett traveled to Seattle that weekend with full-time, armed security. He stayed in a secret location, a condo outside the city, with guards in the hallway and guards in the lobby. The rest of the Sonics party from OKC stayed at a hotel under aliases.”

ESPN’s Ultimate Standings are out and the Thunder ranked 57th, one spot in front of the Red Sox: “Looks like the move from the Emerald City was a fan-friendly one. Clay Bennett may have been the worst owner in last year’s Standings, but Oklahoma City fans have given their new franchise a 59-spot overall bump and an increase in nearly every category. The fans are excited by a future that includes young talent (Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook) and community initiatives such as the Rolling Thunder Book Bus and fitness clinics run by the players themselves. And with tickets, soda, beer and parking going for less than the league average (though the price of a hat is tied for most expensive, at $22), fans are more than okay with OKC, declaring the Thunder the eighth-most affordable franchise in sports and the cheapest of any NBA team. The only negative is their home, the Ford Center, which lacks luxury amenities, well-lit concourses and leg room. But even that negative has a positive upside: The Thunder will sink $100 million into the facility over the next two years, adding restaurants, bars, premium seating and a new scoreboard. As Oklahoma City proves, there really is no place like (a new) home.” (Click here to see the scoring system) Read more…

Bolts

The Thunder has announced its rosters for both summer leagues. Oklahoma City is competing in two summer leagues, one in Orlando and one in Las Vegas. Nine Thunder players will play in the leagues, with a handful of non-roster players filling in as well.

From OKC:
Russell Westbrook (Orlando only)
Shaun Livingston
D.J. White
Kyle Weaver
Serge Ibaka
James Harden
DeVon Hardin
Robert Vaden
B.J. Mullens

Some familiar faces will fill out the rosters including former Sooner DeAngelo Alexander and former Cowboy Marcus Dove.

Non-roster invites:
DeAngelo Alexander, G, 6-4, 215, Charlotte (Orlando only)
Keith McLeod, G, 6-2, Bowling Green State (Vegas only)
Moses Ehambe, F, 6-6, 200, Oral Roberts
Doug Thomas, F, 6-8, 245, Iowa (Vegas only)
Marcus Dove, F, 6-9, 212, Oklahoma State (Vegas only)
Richard Roby, G, 6-6, 205, Colorado (Vegas only)
Kyle Hines, F, 6-6, 230, UNC Greensboro (Orlando only)

The Orlando Pro Summer League starts July 6th and runs through the 10th.The Vegas league starts the 10th and runs through the 19th.

News Summer League

Darnell Mayberry reports the Thunder are talking with Paul Millsap:

The Thunder has reached out to representatives for Paul Millsap, the Utah Jazz restricted free agent forward, according to a source with knowledge of negotiations. Oklahoma City entered into preliminary talks with Millsap’s camp about 30 minutes into the start of free agency late Tuesday night. Teams were permitted to begin negotiating with free agents at 11 p.m. Central Time.Early discussions between the Thunder and Millsap’s representatives have been described as positive, but there is nothing concrete between the two sides. A follow-up conversation could take place later Wednesday …

… The Thunder is one of over a half dozen teams that have shown interest in Millsap in the opening hours of free agency, including a handful of teams that weren’t expected to make a run at him because of a lack of salary cap space.

Yes, I guess that’s somewhat interesting news, but it’s nothing shocking. So Oklahoma City called to talk to Paul Millsap, one of the top free agents on the market. No offer sheet has been signed, no offer has been made, just the two parties are talking about possibly taking the next step. But you’ve got to start somewhere. It looks less and less likely tha Utah will attempt to match an offer on Millsap though with today’s signing of Eric Maynor to a $3.1 million contract. Add that to Kyle Korver and Carlos Boozer exercising their options and the Jazz don’t have a lot of coin to spare.

(One thing to point out about Millsap: He was taken with the 47th pick in the 2006 Draft and obviously was a steal. But it’s not like he’s some sure-thing, high-profile power forward. Sure he played well in Carlos Boozer’s steed last year (13.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg), but how can we be sure that D.J. White isn’t the next Paul Millsap? White had just seven games last year and I thought he looked pretty good. So before we go bananas and sign a guy that had a solid half season to a multi-year, mega-buck deal, I think we need to evaluate what we’ve already got. Of course, I’m sure Sam Presti has already done this, so the point is, I don’t see Millsap in Thunder blue unless the price is VERY right for Oklahoma City.)

UPDATE: Per Darnell again:

Add the Thunder to the list of teams interested in Gortat. I’m told OKC officials made contact with Gortat’s camp shortly after midnight.

Also, Robert Swift will finally play for Boston. Well, at least for the summer:

The Celtics also added free agent center Robert Swift to the roster. The former Oklahoma City/Seattle seven-footer, who joined the league straight out of high school, has always intrigued Ainge.

News Paul Millsap, Robert Swift

Chris Sheridan looks at cap killers: “Nick Collison ($6.25 million against Oklahoma City’s cap) Collison also is on the books for $6.75 million in 2010-11, meaning he’ll earn nearly as much money in the next two seasons as Kevin Durant will have earned over the first three seasons of the rookie contract he currently is playing under. The good news for the Thunder: Earl Watson’s $6.6 million salary comes off the books next summer, and Collision will come off the cap a year later when Clay Bennett and his partners have to start digging deep to pay veteran money to Durant, Jeff Green and then Russell Westbrook and James Harden. (Another positive note for OKC fans: The Thunder own Phoenix’s unprotected 2010 draft pick, which means they could have two lottery picks next June.)”

Darnell Mayberry watched some tape on James Harden and wrote down some notes: “He has a maturity to his game that’s rarely seen in 19-year-old ballplayers. His court vision is excellent, his decision-making is terrific and his all-around impact is invaluable. It could be that I caught Harden on a great night, a 74-67 home win over the Bruins in which he nearly recorded a triple-double with a team-high 15 points and a career-high 11 assists to go with seven rebounds. But considering the point total was five below Harden’s Pac-10-leading scoring average and he finished with eight turnovers, I’d say his performance was closer to average than great.”

Tim Kawakami ranks the Western Conference: “The Thunder, with smart GM Sam Presti, has about $17M in available cap space, if they want to go chasing one or two free agents, which they probably will. Potential problems: Defense is not their speciality, and may not be for a while, given their roster. But give Presti (a Spur product) a little time.” Read more…

Bolts