Since this entire year/season has seemingly been about entering into uncharted territory, it’s no real surprise that the Thunder organization and fan base find themselves in yet another new quandary regarding the team and front office that every successful team and franchise experiences without exception.
People want your success—and that often means they want the actual parts of your success that made you, well, successful.
So it really shouldn’t come as any surprise to the Thunder or their fans that other teams and front offices in the NBA have now been rumored or even blatantly inquiring about the availability of key components to the Thunder’s 50 win season, per league sources.
This is what happens when you start winning and especially when you start winning without forcing your owners to spend millions upon absurd millions to achieve that goal. If you can perform efficiently and inexpensively, well, then you’re going to be a hot commodity in the National Basketball Association. Read more…
Per sources in the league, the Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder have all had discussions about moving up, down or out of the draft.
The Pistons, Spurs and Thunder have been the most aggressive about moving up.
The Pistons have been searching for a big and would love to get their hands on either DeMarcus Cousins or Derrick Favors. The Spurs and Thunder are also in the hunt for a big and have targeted a number of teams in the lottery to move up a few spots. The Thunder have multiple picks to offer. The Spurs have Tony Parker or George Hill. While the Spurs aren’t necessarily shopping either player, they’re not untouchable either. If the Spurs can get another big man to help prolong Tim Duncan’s career, they’ll do it.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! published a report yesterday saying Sam Presti is potentially being sought after by Portland. The Blazers have made “fact-finding” calls on Presti, though no official decision has been made on Kevin Pritchard. My question: What high profile GM would want to leave a great situation and a great relationship with his ownership group to go somewhere where the current and very popular GM is being ran out of town? Would you jump at that opportunity?
Presti: “Portland has a general manager, and I have a great job here in Oklahoma City,” Presti said Sunday. “I am excited to be a part of what we are building.” Read more…
There have been other reports of a three-year deal similar to the contract Del Negro worked under and that former Chicago prep star and 76ers All-Star Mo Cheeks and former Bulls assistant Ron Adams, both now on the staff of the Oklahoma City Thunder, could work with Thibodeau.
Obviously this is nothing more than a rumor. It’s possible someone just speculated that Adams and Cheeks might make good fits with Thibodeau and then things start getting tossed out as a “report”. Heck, I’m doing it now. Someone will link this saying, “Cheeks and Adams rumored to be headed to Chicago.” It’s how it works. But the fact is, the Thunder assistants have been brought up and it could happen I suppose.
And color me sad if it does. I think both Adams and Cheeks have been extremely valuable to Scott Brooks’ staff. Adams is a defensive whiz and Cheeks has worked really well with Russell Westbrook. I don’t like reporting wild rumors, but coming from Smith, a well-informed Bulls insider, I felt it was pertinant enough to pass along.
(Morning pals. Thank you for your support of DT. Back in Oklahoma. Feels good.)
First off, there are no words that can accurately sum up the loss of John Wooden. Yeah, he was fine basketball coach. The unquestioned greatest ever. But he wasn’t just the best with a clipboard. He led men. And he was undoubtedly one of the finest human beings this earth has ever seen. I hope he enjoys watching the Finals from above.
But here’s your cartoon. KD is in China promoting the new KDII. Here’s a picture of that shoe. (Notice the 30.1 on the back – neat.) Here’s a video from Reuters that even has a player dunking nearby KD in a pickup game. No, the tape was not confiscated. But Durant is really embracing the China tour and it looks like he’s pretty popular there. Also, this picture is awesome.
These are the types of things that become very important posts during the offseason. This is of course Kevin Durant, with reality TV personality Kamille Leai. But the shirt. Oh, the shirt. I’m not sure that’s NBA licensed material. Obviously, besides the fairly hilarious shirt, one has to also notice the James Harden Urkel glasses. Those things are everywhere now.
By the sounds of it, Kevin Ollie is retiring. And is inquiring about potentially coaching: ““I am sending my resume in, but I also have an opportunity to coach in the NBA, so I’m just still exploring my options … and I still may have an opportunity to play. That’s a longer shot than the other two because I have to wait until July 1 and knowing me, probably Aug. 1, once the big guys sign. That’s my third option right now … Oklahoma City is definitely a viable option because of how that organization is run from top to bottom. The great friends that I made and the relationships I had over the last year were absolutely wonderful. So I have to keep that under consideration. At the NBA level, it’s just pure basketball. You don’t have to deal with recruiting and the academics.”
Elie Seckbach does some of my favorite interviews. He did a couple with Kevin Durant last year and now he has one with Russell Westbrook. Russ talks mostly about the team and how they’re working to improve, but also mentions Oklahoma City fans as providing some of the best crowds he’s ever been a part of. Good stuff for a slow Thursday. (Oh, and how about a hand for Mrs. DT today? Also, Washington DC is pretty neat. Too bad I’m “working”.)
Royce is “working” in Washington D. C. this morning so I was given the task of giving you all your daily dose of bolts. If I missed something, spelled something wrong or got something completely wrong I am ever so sorry. And sorry they are so late!
More on how Kobe defended Westbrook: “In my opinion the reason Kobe was put on Westbrook defensively was because he was knocking down his jump shot. Once an athletic guy like Westbrook is making his jump shot he is almost impossible to stop. You play off of him and he will make the shot. You close out and he will drive right by you.” Read more…
The Thunder were a unique team this year. Four players started all 88 games the team played in. The fifth guy only missed six games. For a full season, Oklahoma City had the most consistent, constant lineup of anyone in basketball.
And the big question going into the offseason is how it can get changed up. Kind of odd, isn’t it?
The thing is, one should expect it to change. James Harden wasn’t drafted to come off the bench for his career, though that might be a worthy role. Serge Ibaka made a push for more minutes and maybe a starting spot. Jeff Green’s place has been a topic of often discussion. But the rub is, do you mess with what worked? Do you tinker with a starting five that was so consistent, and oh yeah, surprised everyone by winning 50 games and pushing the defending champs and potentially eventual champs to six grueling games?
Darnell Mayberry asked the question earlier this week: Should Ibaka start next year? The obvious assumption is that Ibaka would replace Nenad Krstic in the five first, meaning Ibaka would play center. I think everyone would agree – Ibaka needs more minutes. If he showed anything this past season and especially in the postseason, it’s that he’s ready to affect games in a positive way for the Thunder. Read more…
Blah blah blah Phil Jackson mind games: “In another era, Phil Jackson could have been Eddie Haskell, giving the business to the Beav and buttering up Mrs. Cleaver. Prior to playing Phoenix, the Lakers coach talked about referees letting Steve Nash carry the ball on his dribble. That followed his discourse on Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant getting away with traveling. Now he’s after Boston’s Kevin Garnett and his physical ways.” Jackson actually complain, if you recall, about KD getting star treatment with fouls. The playoffs are that long that writers get their stories mixed up.
ESPN hits another homerun with an NBA gimic machine. First it was the trade machine. Then the lottery generator. Now the free agent slot machine. There goes my afternoon. In my first three spins, David Lee wound up in OKC every time. That’s like a sign or something. Read more…
Don’t believe a single word of whatever you hear from now until June 24th.
Now I realize that I just told you to pretty much not believe anything while I’m trying to get you to believe something but that is precisely my point: everything is a smoke screen behind the curtain of an enigma wrapped inside a question that’s tucked away in a riddle of fog–or is it smoke again?
This is the Thunder’s second trip through the perilous puzzle that is the world of NBA Draft rumors and if we’ve learned anything from last year’s maiden voyage it’s that we really don’t learn anything in the weeks leading up to the big shindig in Madison Square Garden because Presti and the Thunder organization employ Jedi mind tricks to try and keep the front office locked up tighter than Fort Knox regarding their plans and who they may or may not draft (or if they will or will not move up/down/all around).
But there are three very distinct things that you must not, at all costs, put stock in over the next three weeks (ish) regarding what you hear about the Thunder’s “plans” because, I can assure you, no one in the media or the NBA has any better clue than you do about what Sam Presti, Scott Brooks, and the rest of the Thunder’s secret keepers will do on the night of the draft because everyone admits to having no clue as to what the Thunder will do. Read more…
Berry Tramel on the Thunder’s plan compared to Boston or LA: “That’s why I think Sam Presti is standing on solid rock with his master plan, which is hard for some to stomach but will be the best thing for Oklahoma City. The Thunder general manager is not trying to build an NBA champion. He’s trying to build a perennial winner. There’s a difference. A big difference.”
Marc Stein on the possibility of OKC trading for Leandro Barbosa: “Sensible as all this sounds for Phoenix, someone out there has to be willing to take on the final two years of Barbosa’s contract ($7.1 million next season and $7.6 million in 2011-12) without sending any salary back to the Suns. Our initial research into teams with cap room that could accommodate the Suns — such as Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Minnesota and Washington — didn’t turn up any volunteers.” Read more…
Since this entire year/season has seemingly been about entering into uncharted territory, it’s no real surprise that the Thunder organization and fan base find themselves in yet another new quandary regarding the team and front office that every successful team and franchise experiences without exception.
