I’m not sure it’s possible to actually impress people at summer league, when you really think about it. But if you had to thumb one Thunder player for standing out, I guess it would’ve been Byron Mullens.
James Harden looked OK, but went 1-17 from 3 and didn’t really look “improved”. He just looked more comfortable and aggressive, which are definitely good things. Eric Maynor was great, but we already know that he can be a steady point guard. No flash, just a quality line. D.J. White was himself, Cole Aldrich didn’t play and Serge Ibaka only played a game.
So almost by the process of elimination, Mullens was a guy that caught some attention, if not just because he just looked better.
Last season, people wrote him off as a bust while Roddy Beaubois blew people away in Dallas. Sam Presti had to take a little guff because most thought he blew it. But as is the case so often in the NBA, no one was willing to be patient. Mullens was and still is young (just 21) and was always considered nothing more than a project. Heck, he still is.
Nick Collison makes a good point about the Warriors record sale: “Warriors sold 4record 450 million after being bought for119.if nba is “broken” why are teams always sold 4profit … My point is these very smart businessmen would not continue to invest is a failing system paying record numbers team after team.”
Some thoughts from Oregon on Rich Cho: “Everyone knew this would happen, and I don’t mean to bash Cho, who I’ve heard good things about. But when the top GMs in the league saw what Allen and the Vulcans did to Pritchard, they all thought the same thing: why would I want to go work for that crew? So now we’re either going to get a retread, or an up-and-comer who will stay for a couple years, build his resume, and leave.” Read more…
I feel like being lazy today and just posting a mid-afternoon video to tide things over. You cool with that? You’re not? WELL CHILL OUT THEN.
KD’s official site put out a tidy little video recapping his kid’s camp and it was enjoyable. You get a good shot of KD sinking an over-the-shoulder half-court shot, then making another half-courter and then some kid beating him in a contest. That’s all I’ve got right now. It’s not much, but it helped you waste five minutes of your day. I’m a man of the people, what can I say.
Fox Sports with some early power rankings and OKC is five: “Too high? Maybe so, but re-signing Durant to a long-term deal keeps the good vibes going for the West’s team of the future. Cole Aldrich may (or may not) give them the inside presence they need. But if Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden (all 21 or younger) keep making progress, OKC may be the biggest threat to the Lakers in the conference.”
One writer thinks the Kings could be this year’s Thunder: “After spending several days at the Vegas Summer League last summer, it was something special when a genuine star stepped into the arena. Chris Paul made an appearance to watch a few games and several other NBA veterans stopped by as fans as well. But only one player really stood out as someone who was there to really get to know his teammates integrate himself into the Summer League process. That guy was Kevin Durant, who jumped into the upper echelon of NBA players last season and led his young team to a improbable playoff berth. This summer, Rookie of the Year and Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans is trying to follow that blueprint by being a presence at Summer League 2010.” Read more…
The day after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is undoubtedly the worst sports day of the year. It’s the only day on the calendar that no major American sport is in regulation play. No football, no basketball (save the Thunder-less Las Vegas summer league), no baseball, no nothing.
What the hell are we supposed to do with ourselves?
Perhaps the best answer is to capitalize on the lack of live, televised sporting events by enjoying all the things you say you wish you’d do more of. Or at least figure out another way of wasting time.
So allow me to propose a humble list of things to do on the worst sports day of the year. In no particular order:
Go to Red Box.
Seriously, have you tried Red Box? You can rent movies for a dollar! It’s definitely a way to kill time during an evening after work.
You see, one of two things will happen if you go to a Red Box. Sometimes you’ll rent a movie, watch it and maybe even enjoy it. But more likely, you’ll take the movie home and discover someone scratched the heck out of the DVD. Let their dog play with it or dragged it behind their car on the way to return it even. Definitely not in tip top shape, that’s for sure. Read more…
The Washington Post writing on leadership mentions KD: “At 21, Kevin Durant is the youngest player in league history with a scoring title. Going largely unnoticed in the free-agent signing frenzy, Durant re-signed with the small-market Oklahoma City Thunder. His announcement was sent via twitter, a grammatically incorrect short burst of thanks for the opportunity to keep growing with his team. Where the Miami Heat are looking to buy a title with players in their prime, the Oklahoma City Thunder are a study in contrast, as they are going through the long process of building a championship caliber team through developing young players like Durant. While neither method is necessarily better, it will be interesting to see which approach is more effective.”
Darnell Mayberry on where Mo Pete and Daequan Cook fit: “The answer, for now at least and barring significant injuries, seems to be as specialists. With the Thunder committed to developing its young talent, Peterson and Cook appear to be long shots to remain on the roster past 2010-11. The Thunder, though, could use both in certain game situations, most notably the end of games, the point in the game that OKC struggled so much last season. “I’m one of the premier shooters in this league now,” Cook said. “I can help a lot.” Read more…
No, I’m not talking about the three Thunder players some already identify with that. I’m talking about Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Kevin Durant. Whoa, what?
But as long as we’re using our wildest imaginations, can we design a more potent three-headed monster than James-Wade-Bosh? Actually, we can.
Employing the star-studded template of a point guard, wing scorer and big man, imagine this triumvirate: Paul, Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard in Oklahoma City. Collectively, again using Paul’s 2008-09 injury-free season, this group would edge the Miami trio with a total of 78.7 wins.
The scary thing? Depending on how the new collective bargaining agreement shakes out, it could be a viable scenario down the road. Howard and Paul each control their destiny in the summer of 2012, as they have player options for the 2012-13 season. Should the two opt out of their respective contracts with Orlando and New Orleans, the potential is there for a more powerful union than the one we just witnessed.
To be sure, there’s a difference between a plausible scenario and a realistic one. It’s hard to imagine Paul and Howard leaving money on the table to make the trio happen; the owners will try to bargain for a harder, lower salary cap in the imminent meetings with the Player’s Association. A slice in spending power would all but prohibit Paul and Howard joining Durant in Oklahoma City.
Still, we can dream right? Especially when one just became a reality.
Sports Grid on why people shouldn’t compare KD to LeBron: “It was inevitable after LeBron’s nightmarish one-hour “Decision” special and Kevin Durant’s…tweet. Two young superstars, two very different ways of announcing their future intentions – of course people would compare the two, and of course Durant would come out looking much better. But after looking into this some more, I’m convinced the comparison just isn’t fair. Why? Because no comparison where Durant’s humility is involved can be fair. He is too good to be true in this respect (and pretty much is in a basketball respect, too). Everything Durant has ever done indicates his humble persona is not an act in the least, and it is completely unrealistic to expect anyone with his combination of youth, talent, and wealth to act that way. But he does.”
So the dust is finally starting to settle on the free agency bonanza of 2010 and while many, many faces stayed put because of some absolutely absurd max contract offers (Joe Johnson/Rudy Gay), others went to greener pa$ture$ so we need to reassess the current makeup of the league.
But don’t worry, there’s a really easy way to get a good feel for the common thread of what has taken place since July 1st (yes, it really was only 11 days ago) and that overarching theme is this…
“Bye, bye Western Conference. Hello East!”
You know the old adage that it’s better to be lucky than good? Well it’s really nice if you can be both and, luckily for the Thunder, last year’s almost miraculous run to 50 wins and the playoffs certainly doesn’t seem like it was a once in a lifetime achievement. Realistically, the Thunder should do even better next season.
In fact, you could argue that an 8th place finish would have been a disappointment next year even before every major free agent and top draft pick wound up in the Eastern Conference.
But enough with the summary, let’s look at the cold hard facts of where the Thunder should reasonably be in the Western Conference’s pecking order come tip-off for the 2010-11 season… Read more…
Have you seen the official Thunder team site’s summer vacation-themed, submit-a-photo-win-a-trip thing? It’s pretty cool and you should enter: You submit photos of yourself wearing official Thunder gear on summer vacation, and they select a random winner for a free trip to see USA Basketball (featuring Kevin Durant) in Las Vegas. It seems likely there will be a neat photo gallery of people in Thunderwear to follow.
Well, DT of course has cool shirts. And I see them being worn around town, so I know they’ve probably been stuffed in suitcases (or trash bags and Walmart sacks, for you college students out there) and thrown in a trunk or overhead bin for summer getaways as well. Actually, we know they have been because we’ve already had a couple vacation pictures sent in on Facebook and e-mail. As you can see with the photo accompanying this post, Air Congo apparently makes stops in China. (That is China right, not Idabel? Easy to get the Great Walls of China and McCurtain County confused.) Read more…
The Thunder has a new sideline reporter: “Growing up in basketball-crazy Indiana, KOCO-5 sports reporter Kelly Crull played and followed the sport as a youngster. Now she will get to cover it on its highest level, the NBA, after being hired as the Oklahoma City Thunder’s sideline reporter. The team will announce her hiring Monday.”
RJ Young of HoopsAddict evaluates the Thunder’s summer league: “James Harden made the biggest leap in his individual game of any Thunder player on the roster. He played both guard positions and made himself into a facilitator as well as a scorer. When the team needed a bucket, he darted to the basket, drew contact and got to the line.” Read more…
This is something a lot of people are talking about lately, myself included. Not just didn’t Kevin Durant handle his business entirely different from LeBron, but the Thunder in general are handling things entirely different from the new team of destiny, the Heat. I’d write 1,000 words on it, but Shoals sums it all up pretty darn nicely.
What I’m thinking now is what this means for the rest of the league. Yes, we know, this team will be the prohibitive favorite to win rings for years to come, especially with role players lining up to play for sheckles. It might well destroy the competitive balance of the league. But to get more specific, this changes everything for Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Let’s start with the Thunder, if only because enough digital ink was spilled yesterday in praise of Kevin Durant’s modesty-in-extension. As one friend pointed out, while Durant may be totally genuine, we’re not that far away from him being held up, sickeningly so, as a counter-Bron, a model for all that our kids should aspire to even as James tries to bankroll their futures.
But this idea isn’t new. If James has been known to disappear and lacks a murder-setting — one popular criticism — the smaller, less physically-gifted KD lives and dies by the game’s outcome. Read more…
One thing we know for sure: Kevin Durant will never do to Oklahoma City what LeBron James did to Cleveland on Thursday night.
But I’m not talking about leaving for another team, just the despicable, awkward one-hour television special that ripped the heart out of Ohio sports fans. Leaving for another team could happen. The situations in Cleveland over the past decade and in Oklahoma City over the coming one have as many obvious similarities as obvious differences.
Oklahoma City’s main advantage? The team and its direction will be a more powerful force to help keep Durant than it was for Cleveland in keeping (or losing, as it turned out) James. It’s apparent now that James was always going to leave. The Cavaliers gave LeBron just about every conceivable perk and built an annual title contender, and it still wasn’t enough. The Thunder doesn’t have to do that to keep Durant happy. Sam Presti and Co. just have to give him a chance to compete for championships, and the Thunder appears poised to do just that. If Durant can play winning basketball in Oklahoma City all the way through his prime, he won’t leave, but that’s a bigger if than you may think.
There’s no fear mongering going on here. Durant has never even hinted that he would leave Oklahoma City under any circumstances in his control. (The only evidence I can find that he’d even consider it, other than the mandatory “you never know” thrown in upon occasion, were comments about the Miami Thrice saga said to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman, seen near the bottom here.) But Durant wants to win. Read more…
Something I tweeted that I felt was worthy of re-mentioning: I guess we can pretty much lock up KD winning the next 10 consecutive scoring titles or so, right? With Wade and LeBron now sharing points, I guess his only real competition is ‘Melo.
Bill Simmons in his column yesterday on LeBron: “When Kevin Durant announced his own five-year, $86 million extension with an endearingly simple tweet yesterday, we all had the same thought: “Now that’s how it’s done.” Pretty sad that an NBA star stood out for being humble and only caring about basketball.” Read more…
