Kevin Durant is the Thunder’s union representative, however he hasn’t been present at any of bargaining sessions. He regrets that, but still said he’s been in the loop through email and teammate Nick Collison, who has filled in for him.
He spoke to reporters today following the wrap of his basketball camp and shortly after the league announced a lockout was coming and said the players weren’t about to back down. Via the AP:
“We’re going to stand up for what we have to do, no matter how long it’s going to take,” Durant told The Associated Press after the conclusion of his two-day youth basketball camp. “No matter how long the lockout’s going to take, we’re going to stand up. We’re not going to give in.”
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Durant acknowledged “it might have to take all the way up until maybe December or January” — meaning the start of the NBA season in October would be jeopardized — but the players are committed to getting a CBA they feel is fair.
“The way the CBA worked before is something we really liked. There’s no need to change it,” Durant told AP. “Things have been going very well for us, as far as the league, revenue and things like that are concerned. We want to stick with that pace, but of course the owners want to go a different way with it.
“We’re going to stick with it until we come out with a good deal.”
The Thunder are opening their brand new practice facility soon, but players won’t get a taste of it. Durant said he toured it last night, but that’ll be the last time he steps inside for a while as the league will physically lock players out starting at 12:01 a.m. Read more…
D-Day for labor negotiations. More than likely, owners will vote to lock players out today in Dallas. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com though has an excellent piece that unfortunately no one will listen to: “A split of revenues that addresses the owners’ losses and gives the players clout to win negotiating victories elsewhere — soft cap, guarantees, and getting a small percentage of profits from franchise sales set aside in a pension fund for retired players — would form the basis for determining the details of a system that would provide far more competitive balance and revenue growth than the league has ever seen. And despite the owners’ grandiose vision, it wouldn’t require pummeling the players with more than $8 billion in concessions in a 10-year deal.”
Nazr Mohammed’s one-year extension is for $3.75 million. A little more than I expected honestly. That’s about the same per year Thabo and Nick Collison make. Seems just a bit off. Read more…
Remember Priscilla? Yeah, well evidently the leader in giant Thunder tattoos decided her massive Thunder logo on her leg wasn’t enough. So she’s back to get a couple more… and recap the playoffs for you.
Now added to the canvas: “Rise Together” and “Thunder Up.” My suggestion for her next one: James Harden’s beard… on her face. Oh that’s just too perfect.
Nazr Mohammed is sticking around for a little while longer. The Thunder announced today that they have agreed to a contract extension with the veteran big man from Kentucky.
I guess when he randomly tweeted “Thunder Up!!!!” and “Today is a good day!!!! #Blessed” this morning, we should’ve seen the writing on the wall.
“We are pleased to be able to keep Nazr in the Thunder family,” said Presti. “He is a valuable part of our organization both on and off the floor. His professionalism, experience, and on-court play have had a positive impact on our young and evolving roster.”
Mohammed is entering his 14th NBA season and was a productive piece to the Thunder’s playoff run last season. He was acquired from Charlotte for D.J. White and Morris Peterson and gave Oklahoma City a solid big man to play behind Kendrick Perkins. The Thunder lacked size inside and Mohammed not only was a good physical defender, but added a little timely offense at times too. Read more…
There was an odd piece on Grantland yesterday talking about stats. Tom Scocca of Deadspin wrote about it: “Yes, if you want to get technical about it, J.J. Barea did have a teammate who is seven feet tall and has won a league MVP and who somehow beat out J.J. Barea for the Finals MVP award. But: grit and hustle! The Mavs were “outmanned” by every statistic by most of their playoff foes. Except their regular-season scoring margin, which was better than half their opponents’. And their 57 wins. Only one of their four playoff opponents had more. If you care about numbers.”
Hardwood Hype has 20 questions for the league: “Given the scrutiny and day-to-day reexamination of his value that he’s subjected to, should Russell Westbrook take a page from Ron Artest’s book and henceforth be known as “Blogosphere?” Read more…
Big, super big news here people: The Thunder exercised options on James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Eric Maynor, Cole Aldrich and Byron Mullens.
The options for Harden, Ibaka, Maynor and Mullens are the final fourth-year options for the players and Aldrich’s was a third-year, meaning he’ll have one more (well, assuming the new CBA doesn’t change that.)
I’ve already heard some saying, “What, why Mullens?” It’s true: The Thunder’s 24th pick in 2009 that turned into Mullens hasn’t panned out yet. The seven-foot big man from Ohio State has gone up and down between the Thunder and the D-League, hasn’t ever come close to sniffing the rotation and has largely disappointed. Read more…
Former Thunderer Etan Thomas on the labor stuff: “It is for this reason that the players collectively reject their proposal and are prepared for a lockout for whatever duration it takes in order to reach a deal that is fair. The players can’t take on the burden of saving teams from themselves. If NBA teams have made bad decisions that were detrimental to their overall profit, success and productivity, then those are issues to be taken up with GMs, presidents and the rest of the powers that be. It is up to each NBA CEO to conduct his business in a way that will be advantageous to him and his franchise as a whole.”
Kevin Arnovitz of TrueHoop on who will really be suffering if there’s a lockout: “But for the guys who are in charge of those team websites and NBA.com, the pending deadline is a huge deal. That’s because the moment the clock strikes midnight on the current CBA, all those images and videos of NBA players have to disappear off NBA-owned digital properties. Depending on how you interpret “fair use,” the prohibition could include the mere mention of a player’s name on an NBA-owned site, though different teams have different interpretations of this particular stipulation.” Read more…
The Thunder have extended guard Daequan Cook a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent. Cook’s qualifying offer is for about $3.1 million.
Cook appeared in 43 games in his first season with the Thunder. He averaged 5.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per contest. Cook, who ranked 11th in the NBA in three-point field goal shooting, made 65 of 154 three-point attempts (.422) this season.
In all reality, this likely means Cook will return. It’s a bit hard to see someone offering Cook more than $3.1 million this summer, so I sort of even doubt the Thunder will have to face the decision of matching an offer sheet or not.
The Thunder will play in one of the most-changed divisions in basketball next season (please, God, let there be a next season). If the Thunder’s makeup changes at all before the first game, it will be at the end of the rotation and the end of the bench. The Thunder is betting, probably wisely, that improvement will continue to come annually from its young players.
But the rest of the Northwest Division has been anything but stable this offseason. It was one of the most changed divisions during the season as well, with the Thunder, Nuggets, Jazz and Blazers all making trades that impacted the playoff race (and, in three cases, the future of the franchises). But the pace didn’t really slow during the draft. All of the Thunder’s division rivals added, and in some cases gave away, important pieces.
So how do those changed teams match up specifically with the same old Thunder? (Note: The following lists aren’t meant to be comprehensive. They only mention the most significant changes.) Read more…
Kevin Durant is ESPN.com’s No. 1 fantasy player for 2011-12 but two Thunderers are moving up too: “Every year, we see a few players make great strides in the playoffs and ride that confidence into a breakout in the following season. This year it was Harden, who posted averages of 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.4 3-pointers in 17 postseason games. More importantly, the Thunder were at their best when Harden was on the court as the third scoring option behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. His playoff numbers were no fluke. In fact, Harden posted 15.8 points with 1.7 3-pointers and 1.2 steals in 28 games after the All-Star break last season. Look for a bump in minutes in 2011-12, and do not be surprised if Harden is one of the season’s biggest breakouts.”
Wesley Morris for Grantland didn’t know he was talking about Serge Ibaka when he called him the best dressed at the draft: “Still, with all due respect to Walker, he came in a somewhat distant second. When Stern announced that the Congolese Bismack Biyombo would be going to Sacramento, a dapper gentleman stood up to hug him. This someone wore a perfectly tailored salmon-colored suit and an open shirt, and, if memory serves, nothing in the jacket pocket. Either way, it was million-dollar perfection. I don’t know who this man is or he even if plays basketball, but if the scouts have any sense they’ll track him down and make him an offer.” Read more…
The Thunder’s newest addition Reggie Jackson, who Oklahoma added with the 24th pick in the draft, will wear No. 15.
Why 15?
“Fifteen fit me, I believe,” Jackson said at an introductory news conference yesterday. “I like the 5, for the five guys on the court at one time; (the number) 1, one team, one beating heart, everybody has one goal and basically that’s the championship, so I like the number.”
Geez, somebody’s trying to make Sam Presti like him.
But that’s a pretty good answer and a pretty good view into Presti’s mindset of taking Jackson. There’s a certain type of mentality a player needs to possess if he’s going to really fit the Thunder structure and it appears Jackson has it.
Jackson wore No. 0 in college at Boston College, but of course, that’s sort of taken.
Also, he knows the value of a bowtie, which is never a bad thing. And he even one-upped James Harden by adding suspenders. Not too bad. The cellphone belt clip though? I don’t know about that.
Morning readers of the Internet. Thank you for your support of DT. Try not to think too much about the impending lockout.
A lot of people, Kevin Durant included, have said that Reggie Jackson is pretty Russell Westbrook-ish. A lengthy, hyper-athletic point guard listed at 6-3 with a ton of speed and the ability to fly over anyone. And after you watch this dunk from Reggie, it’s hard not to think of this dunk from Westbrook. If the Thunder truly found a little Russell, then I’d the 2011 draft was a success.
When the Rockets selected Nikola Mirotic 23rd for the Bulls, I couldn’t believe it. Jordan Hamilton, the player I thought was almost too perfect of a fit for Oklahoma City and a player I thought the Thunder would have to trade up to get, was available.
Waiting for the Thunder was a 6-9 swingman with awesome range, a great touch and the ability to play three positions. OKC was going to have a nice bench scoring threat fall into its lap.
And then David Stern called Reggie Jackson’s name. Read more…
Sam Presti on Eric Maynor: “We anticipate having him with us for a very long time … We love Eric Maynor. He’s a big part of our team. Probably a bigger part of our team than people realize.”
Chad Ford’s thoughts on OKC taking Jackson: “Jackson hasn’t worked out for one team. Didn’t do physicals. No interviews or psych tests. And he still goes No. 24. The Heat are bummed. They shut him down to keep him out of the first round, but it didn’t work. It’s a great pick for the Thunder. He’s long and athletic, and he can shoot the basketball. A very underrated player. Does this mean Eric Maynor is on his way out?” Read more…
