Thursday Bolts – 9.17.09
Serge Ibaka, James Harden, Kyle Weaver and Byron Mullens all took in the UFC Fight Night in Oklahoma City last night. Said Harden: “This UFC fighting is no joke!!!” 
I dislike rumors, especially those written in Croatian, but this website claims that Marcin Gortat told Nenad Krstic at the Euros that he thinks he’ll be traded to Oklahoma City. Crude translation: “From Gortat I heard that the current combination. He asked me that in Oklahoma, because there is a possibility that it could be. In this case, as I said, the two of us to be” combined “positions of four five”, Krstić told Serbian journalists in Poland.
Ball Don’t Lie has the top 10 feel-good moments of the last decade and No. 1 involves a new Thunderer: “Everything about what Cheeks did just defined cool. He had to be 25 feet away from Gilbert as she first started to break up, separated by team employees, camera crews, wires, obstacles, whatever. But he managed to bound over there in seconds. Cheeks has never wanted much to do with the spotlight, from his playing career until now, and yet he didn’t hesitate for a second to make himself part of this story. Because this kid, this scared kid, needed help with her story. For character to be revealed so swiftly, like that, so definitively, it just makes you feel … well, good.”
SLAM’s new dictionary is pretty clever. Sadly, no Thunder definitions. Oh well.
Nick Collison, having problems renting a fridge: “Had to list 5 references to rent refrigerator. @Jackbrownlee please dont tell them about the frozen cat incident.Relax PETA kidding bout cat.”
Serbia advanced to the quarterfinals behind 16 from Krstic.
This website is counting down the top 50 NBA players and evidently they have nicknamed Russell Westbrook “Black Powder”: “Seriously though, it’s a bit of an indulgence being able to think of the two of them through the lens of the other. Durant is impossibly long and hits from so deep you can’t think of killer, cold-blooded nick names quick enough to match him. Westbrook is compact like a firecracker, but not juvenile like one in any way. Whereas Durant still feels like he’s growing into himself, Westbrook feels like Athena springing fully formed into the league. Forget firecrackers, and leave the guns at home, Black Powder is here to stay.”
More on the open tryout being held by the 66ers: ”The 66ers, a minor league professional basketball team, are hosting player tryouts Oct. 10 and 11 at the Tulsa Convention Center, 100 Civic Center. “These tryouts offer a unique opportunity for players to get noticed,” said Nate Tibbetts, the 66ers’ head coach. “Every year we seem to find that diamond in the rough.” The Oklahoma City Thunder owns and operates the Tulsa-based NBA Development League team. This open tryout allows athletes to showcase their talents in front of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the 66ers basketball operational and coaching staff.”
I have to say, even if it is just a rumor, and the translation is pretty terrible, it gets me kind of excited thinking about Gortat and Krstic working together.
@Lefty
Yeah it was pretty rough, but yet since they quoted Krstic, I tend to think there’s some validity to it. Maybe they were just talking about what it would be like to play together. Or maybe it could happen. Who knows.
Hard to tell, yeah. It sounds like there’s at least some validity, but I’m not sure you can ever be positive with something like this… unless we have someone here who can read it?
Adding Gortat is obviously something a lot of us are interested in, if we can still get a good deal for him. And, I happen to be a pretty big fan of Krstic’s game, so it would be really optimal for me (and I’m what matters, right?) if we could have both of them playing in tandem down there. That would be fun.
I saw James and Kyle hanging together in the concourse at the UFC fights last night and asked for and got a picture with them. Both were very nice guys.
@Philip
Ah, awesome! Feel free to share it with the class if you want.
Everyone has to embrace ‘Durantula’ as a nickname.
Gortat has a pretty reasonable contract, too–5 years for $34 million. We definitely have the assets to pull off the trade, too.
Considering he could fill our biggest need (interior depth and toughness), I’m all for it if Presti can pull it off. Who knows, maybe Sam and Otis Smith have been in touch during the whole process.
@KingGondo I think it is extremely likely that they have been in touch. What assets do we have that Orlando would want for Gortat? Maybe Presti came in and offered those just in time for Orlando to resign him?
Also, isn’t it true that they wouldn’t be able to trade him until December or something?
The Krstic/Gortat thing could just be conjecture on their part, since it was rumored that OKC was interested in Gortat when he was testing free agency. I’m sure in Gortat’s mind, that OKC was an option at that time, and he might as well chat up the guy on the team from his neck of world and see what’s up in case they come knocking on his door in the future.
Honestly though, I don’t think teams let players know with any degree of certainty about their future trade plans this far in advance. If it does happen though, I’d be ecstatic about it.
I love UFC. I wanted to go to that fight night, but I had prior obligations. Now I regret not going even more. At least it wasn’t a title fight. Maybe we’ll get one of those someday soon. My bucket list includes seeing Anderson Silva in person. Someday… someday…
I’m not thinking that Black Powder catches on for Russell. Durantula and Kid Delicious are here to stay though for KD. But velvet hoop will probably take over. Just my guess.
Maybe we send them Etan Thomas and one of our draft picks? It would basically be a salary relief move for the Magic, anyway. They’ve got so much money committed to D12, Vince Carter, Rashard, and Jameer that they’ll definitely be looking to shed some salary ASAP.
@KingGondo
That would be a pretty outstanding deal methinks. Unless Presti has big visions for 2010, then I think it’s plausible.
@Royce
If Gortat is a bust, then it’s not THAT big of a bust. $6.5 million/year is a lot, but not in the scheme of NBA big men salaries. And if both Daryl Morey and Sam Presti are convinced Gortat is a quality player, I’m on the bandwagon.
And regarding the summer 2010 bonanza: we know that Presti is not the kind of GM to pull the trigger on a free agent unless we’re getting outstanding value for the signing.
If the rumors are true, we need to add another line to Presti’s “Genius” resume: “Rather than competing in the open market (and assuredly overpaying) for quality young inside presence, convinces rival GM to re-sign player for reasonable salary, engineers favorable trade for said center well in advance.”
@KingGondo
Orlando would probably want something better than Thomas for the PH. I think a more likely scenario would be Collison and a pick for the PH. Collison would be the perfect backup to Dwight, and I don’t think that Orlando would be afraid to take on Collison’s salary.
@Vega
Good point, but I think if Etan is healthy and puts together a decent first half, Orlando might be fine with him especially since he’s expiring. But you’re right, they aren’t going to want a lame duck Etan Thomas if they’re trying to make another postseason run.
@Vittorio
I still prefer Kid Delicious. As far as Westbrook, “Black Powder” isn’t bad, though our politically-correct age has me wondering about racial overtones of him being named that by a middle-aged white guy (if that were the case). And if you’re going for the firecracker reference and don’t care about political correctness, “Black Cat” would seem more appropriate. I still like “Jet Zero.”
Is it one-third or the season midpoint before you can trade a restricted free agent whom you matched? Seems like I remember reading that the Magic couldn’t move Gortat until then, though I don’t know if a player’s consent makes any difference. I’d love to have him, and Orlando looks to be way over the tax.
@Vega
If we managed to get Gortat for Thomas or Collison + our #34 pick, I would be ecstatic. There’s plenty of PF talent in the 2010 draft: if we lost Collison, I think either Cole Aldrich or Craig Brackins would be an excellent young replacement. Or maybe we up the ante with the Phoenix pick and trade for Gortat and JJ Redick?
Can’t wait until December.
weaver could also be part of the trade, we have so many guards he will sit the bench but is a good player
@KingGondo
I’m not sure that JJ Redick is worth our ONLY lottery pick, but I like where your head is at with getting a 3 specialist.
I do think that there is some validity to this as rumor as long as D12 stays healthy up until the deadline. Luckily for us this works out perfectly being in a different conference and our 2nd and last game vs. Orlando comes on 18 November.
I forsee Presti bringing in the Hammah at the deadline and CB in Free Agency to give us a formidable front line with Krstic rotating and Green freelancing from backup 3 and 4 positions. Besides Bosh, the only guy that might make sense is Amare, but he’s WAAAY to injury prone. It’s that reason (injury bug) alone that is why Tyson is playing (or will be) in Charlotte and not in Oklahoma.
From Slam’s Dictionary:
Entysonment—n.: A trade that’s proposed and completed but never consummated.
@Alex
They need to add:
Spanish Law Firm-v.: To feign interest in a highly-touted prospect just before a draft, in order to confuse and flabbergast rivals.
Ex.: “Wow, Sam Presti really ‘Spanish Law Firmed’ David Kahn with Ricky Rubio.”
I bet we trade Weaver or Thabo. It would replace Courtney Lee for them.
And they are both essentially the same player. Obviously Thabo is a lot better, but I bet Presti hopes Weaver will pan out to be just as good. (Jury is out on if that can happen or not)
Nick Collison could be throw in the mix for that as well.
Weaver and Collison for Gortat( & maybe a pick)?
I’d pull that.
@KingGondo
Sooner or later, the entire world will use “Spanish Law Firm.”
I just hope they remember what to put on the “Derivation – Origin” section of the definition.
What kind of numbers has Gortat been putting up in Fiba stuff? (I think it’s Fiba)
@Nix
Here’s a link to the Eurobasket 2009 page, looks like he’s been averaging about 14 and 11. Pretty good.
http://www.eurobasket2009.org/en/cid_toT,ovGDH2EaLKL67XnPo2.teamID_347.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2009.roundID_6328.playerID_44583.html#{7F1AD154-F08F-40AD-A9E3-C440310CDF5A}
Orlando’s not going to have any interest in Collison or Thomas. Everyone says the Magic have to trade Gortat because he puts them so far into the luxury tax. So why would they take on Collison, who has the same size deal for this year and next? Particularly when after Collison’s deal expires is when they would have room for Gortat’s money, with Vince Carter off the books. That makes no sense.
In Thomas’ case, why would you match the Dallas offer then trade for an expiring contract? You might as well just let him go. If you’re talking Weaver and Thomas, then they’re spending $16M (counting the tax) for Weaver’s rights and a season of 1/3 Gortat and 2/3 Thomas (substitute the #34 pick for Weaver and it’s just as asinine). Even David Kahn isn’t that stupid.
That’s the problem with all these ideas of a Gortat trade in December. The only possible way for the Magic to get value for Gortat is with a team under the cap. That is basically us. If we trade, say the #34 pick for Gortat, then the Magic spent $2M+ for 25 games of Gortat and a 2nd-round pick. That doesn’t make much sense, either particularly when you’ve got a short window to win and a new arena and an energized fan base and given that high 2nd round picks are worth probably $1.5M.
The only possible scenario I see with a December/January trade would be the #34 and Weaver (which would be fine with me). But I think these rumors make far less sense from a financial standpoint than they appear to at first glance.
Everyone seems to be underestimating the value of the PH. He’s a starting-caliber center with a very manageable contract. It will require a whole lot more than Weaver and a second-round pick to get him. We would probably have to send them Collison, (Good backup, and they won’t mind his salary.) the Phoenix pick, and possibly Weaver.
@Vega
The issue is not Gortat’s value or his contract. The argument is that there is no way Orlando re-signed him with the intention of keeping him, since they are heavily into the tax already. So the idea that you could get him for, say the #34 and Weaver, is based on the idea that the Magic absolutely, positively, won’t keep him for the full season (during which they would pay $13M for roughly 13 minutes a game) and only matched Dallas’ offer with the intention of getting something — anything — instead of the nothing they would have gotten had they let him go to the Mavericks. If they trade him before season’s end Gortat’s 6.5M does not count toward the luxury tax (I’m pretty sure, I can be corrected on that if I’m wrong).
If they did re-sign Gortat with the intention of keeping him for the next 5 years — which their GM as said — then, yes, your package of Collison/1st/Weaver makes sense, and to be honest, might even be a little bit light, particularly if Phoenix is above .500 come December.
To me, the most logical reasoning for the Magic in re-signing the PH was to keep him for the next two years — which is really their title window — and then, after Carter’s deal is up in 2011, have a trade piece to get some assets to help with the re-building process if VC is done and Lewis (who will be 32, I think) is on his way down.
Last point — if Presti was that interested in Gortat, why no offer sheet? Why would he wait until now — when he has to give up assets — rather than at least make an offer during the summer?
@Vince
Wildly over-paying (after tax penalty) for the guy who plays behind Dwight Howard never made any sense to me- unless they were simply refusing to let him go without getting something back in return. We have 5 picks next year, with little use for any of them. We need a banging young center. They could use a bunch of talented, under-paid rooks to go with their over-priced starting unit. As a restricted free agent, the rest of the league was entitled to bid for him- I don’t think trading him outright WAS an option for the Magic without first matching Dallas’ bid- which in turn put him on their roster until at least December. Unless Presti was willing to bid higher Orlando was willing to match in their desire to get SOMETHING for their popular back-up big, we would be where Dallas is now as the ONLY team in the league that he CAN’T be traded to at mid-season. If Presti wants him- but was more interested in trading future picks than grossly over-bidding to get him, he did this just right. Time will tell, but I think this is how both he- and the Magic- intended this deal to go down all along.
@Steve H
I agree — $13M for a backup center is a ton. Very few NBA teams do that, at least not on purpose. So, no, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility, but the package would have to be, as you say, picks plus likely Weaver (he’s very cheap as well). And the fact that we would be restricted from trading for him is a point I had forgotten about, and that does make a difference.
I’m sure there will be talks about Gortat during the season. And since we’re basically the only team with cap space and the assets they would want, it’s us or nothing until next summer. So we’ll see what happens. But I would be surprised — on both ends, given the positions of both teams — to see a mid-season trade. Both teams are at points where chemistry is pretty key, and mid-season trades often are detrimental to that.
@Vince
I don’t know. Thabo and Kristic were both midseason aquisitions and I thought they added to the team’s chemistry. Granted it won’t always work out, but the Thunder’s culture seems to be strong enough to be able to effectively assimilate new personalities without distrupting chemistry.
Nick Collison can’t ‘buy’ a fridge??