It was pretty well known that without the lockout being officially over, that when Sam Presti addressed the media Wednesday night, he wasn’t going to be able to say very much.
And when his 10-minute session wrapped up, I thought, “Well, it really wasn’t much different than a non-lockout Presti presser.”
Here it is summarized: “We’re excited about the season … this is a really unique situation … we’re excited about the season … I can’t really answer that … I don’t know … we’re excited about the season.”
Teams have been permitted to reach out to player representatives though and with Russell Westbrook up for an extension, Presti was asked about that.
“In relation to our players we can’t talk directly to any of them and haven’t been able to, but today we were able to reach out to their representatives and did a pretty decent job at that,” Presti said. Read more…
News
Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images
The Thunder are working on a contract buyout of Nate Robinson, according to J. Michael Falgoust of USA Today. The Thunder evidently tried to get a buyout done before the lockout, but weren’t able to. Once Robinson is bought out, he’ll become a free agent.
Robinson is on an expiring contract worth $4.5 million for this season and is seen as a valuable trade asset for the Thunder because he can a) play and b) is $4.5 million coming off the books in 2012.
Some had seen Robinson as a potential amnesty candidate for Oklahoma City, but that never made a whole lot of sense considering his contract isn’t massive and that it was expiring after this season. Once Robinson were bought out, it would free up a roster spot and a little bit more cash to work with in free agency. If Robinson were bought out how it normally works, most of that $4.5 million would count against the cap this year. Read more…
Commentary, News
Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images
When the NBA officially re-opens for business on Dec. 9, the Thunder will have work to do. Russell Westbrook needs and extension, a decision needs to be made on Daequan Cook and the front office can start surveying the free agent crop. So what should, or will, the Thunder do come Dec. 9?
Fact or Fiction: The Thunder should be players in free agency.
Royce Young, Daily Thunder: Fiction. I’m on record as saying that I’m a fan of the idea of going after Shane Battier, but with so much to take care of in the future with Westbrook, Harden and Ibaka (and even Maynor), committing to players that you don’t necessarily need isn’t wise. And we all know that Sam Presti pretty much sticks to what is wise.
Patrick James, Daily Thunder: Fiction. For who? There’s no one out there who makes sense from a basketball and financial standpoint who will be better than the young players Oklahoma City still has to lock up. A veteran offensive presence like Jamal Crawford or defensive guy like Shane Battier would be nice, but those guys will likely command the kind of money, and maybe years, that could hinder re-signing James Harden or Serge Ibaka.
Joe Newell, Daily Thunder: Fiction. The roster is essentially set. There wouldn’t be much benefit from what is available in Free Agency. Granted there are some very nice players available (Nene, Chandler, Afflalo etc.) outside of one or two, most aren’t upgrades for us. Guys like Shane Battier or Mike Dunleavy would have a small role on the team unless there was an injury. So, with a handful of guys ready for extensions within the next year, I say keep your powder dry. Read more…
3-on-3
Tonight, at 7 p.m, with “pre-game coverage” starting at 6:30 p.m. CT, LeBron and KD will be playing flag football and you can watch it here.
The game is in Akron and the rosters haven’t been released. The game will be complete with announcers, three camera, a “jib-cam,” whatever that is, and of course will feature Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
News
Zach Lowe of SI on a 66 game schedule: “The Celtics went 19-31 and were generally very bad. They did not have a roster like the current Thunder, a group that includes two of the league’s top 15 players and a bunch of other young guys hitting their primes. You could not build a schedule that would disadvantage Oklahoma City, save for assigning it 66 road games or forcing it to play only the league’s 10 best teams.”
The NBA will have five Christmas games, not three. Which means there’s a pretty good chance OKC would be one of those. Read more…
Bolts
Do you like random old trade rumors? What if I told you it was pretty funny? OK, here it is, via Chris Broussard of ESPN.com:
After last season’s playoffs, the Celtics offered Rondo and Jeff Green to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins, sources have told Broussard. The Celtics, looking for another scorer who can create his own offense, thought Westbrook might be available after his erractic postseason play. But Oklahoma was not interested in the deal.
Basically, this is Danny Ainge calling Sam Presti and saying, “Hey, I’ve still got the receipt on Jeff Green. Any way I could return him?”
And then Presti probably had a good laugh. And then he hung up.
Other
Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images
Just like that, the lockout is over (pretty much) and free agency and training camps start Dec. 9.
Which means it’s time to get that speculating hat back on and get to talking about basketball again. How so very sweet it is.
When free agency opens, the Thunder will pretty much have two things on their plate:
1) Ink Russell Westbrook to a max extension
2) Decide whether or not to re-sign or match any offer on Daequan Cook
After that, it should be a pretty smooth sailing two-week offseason for Sam Presti. Still, you have to wonder, with a little bit of cap space in their pocket, could Oklahoma City potentially be a free agent player?
No, probably not. The rotation is all but set, the roster is pretty much full, there isn’t a lot of cap space left over, especially with the moves that need to be done (though keep in mind, Westbrook’s extension won’t count until next year) and Presti definitely doesn’t have a history of signing free agents. Especially ones that aren’t just token veterans to fill out a roster. Read more…
Commentary
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on the players’ paycheck situation: “Players will be reporting to work on December 9 instead of October 3. That’s almost ten weeks late. Five paychecks, or so, if you’re paid every two weeks. Out of an eight-month season, that hurts. If you or I missed five straight paychecks, we’d take our paycheck amount, multiply by five, and just deduct that from our annual income. There are so many ways, however, that you and I are not NBA players. Players may have missed roughly a quarter of this season’s paydays, but they won’t lose anything like a quarter of their NBA income. That’s because no matter how many weeks they’re on the job, this season they’ll get their promised 50-percent-or-so of the league’s basketball-related income.”
Chris Mannix of SI: “The Thunder understand that Russell Westbrook is probably a max or close to max contract guy and, I’m told, won’t hesitate to give him one.” Read more…
Bolts
Dilip Vishwanat/NBAE/Getty Images
My “The lockout is over!” moment came when I woke up Saturday morning and saw a Facebook notification on my phone. A wall post from a friend gave me the news.
I feel like a guy whose girlfriend unreasonably started a fight and then went off the grid for a couple of days before coming back and acting like nothing happened. You’re a little mad. You’re not quite sure what happened over those couple days, and you probably don’t really want to know, but at least she came back. You’re willing to overlook a relatively large bump in the road just because you love her, and just dropping it seems pretty reasonable.
And, of course, when it’s “where the magic happens” time again … it’s pretty amazing, and all is definitely forgiven. I can say with certainty that’s exactly how I’ll be feeling on Christmas Day when the NBA finally tips off. Read more…
Commentary
Zach Lowe of SI.com on how the new system affects OKC: “Can this team afford Kevin Durant, James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Russell Westbrook under the new system? Wouldn’t it be appropriate if changes, including a super-harsh luxury tax, designed to limit big-market spending ended up costing the small-market Thunder a piece of their four-man core? The conventional wisdom says Oklahoma City can’t afford to add big-money extensions for Westbrook (a restricted free agent after this season) and the Harden/Ibaka duo (each a year behind Westbrook) because such moves would tie between $50 million and $60 million (as the deals mature) to just four players. Fill out the roster, and you’ll cross the tax line– something a tiny-market team can’t do, the thinking goes. But the tax and cap lines will rise if revenue jumps as the league expects, and if that happens, it’s possible the Thunder could be the San Antonio of the 2010s — only with four highly-paid players, instead of three, flanked by guys on bargain-basement deals. And remember: This question gets at profitability and revenue sharing, from which the Thunder should benefit.”
Michael Wilbon on Christmas kicking off the NBA: “The NBA’s fans don’t even want parity; they want the big stars in the game at that moment (mostly in big markets) dominating the sport. That’s always been what’s worked for the NBA, with an interruption every now and then by Portland (Bill Walton) or Milwaukee (Kareem) or Oklahoma City (Kevin Durant). (Let’s leave San Antonio, with David Robinson and Tim Duncan and all manner of international stars like Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, out of this discussion.)” Read more…
Bolts
Deck the halls with basketballs!
The Face and the Guy are back with Royce from CBS Sports and DailyThunder.com to talk about the aftermath of the lockout and the beginning of the new season. Joy to the world! The NBA is back!! Download, listen and comment.
Talking Points: Offseason highlights, re-signing of Russ, who benefits from a short season, and early expectations for the Thunder.
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Podcast
Whoa boy, here’s another log to throw on the pretend Durant vs. Westbrook fire. Via Tom Ziller of SB Nation:
Under the NBA lockout deal reached Saturday morning, players with six or fewer years of service in the league can sign contracts with a maximum first-year salary equal to 25 percent of the salary cap, or roughly $14.5 million for the 2011-12 season. But if that player has already made the All-Star or All-NBA team, he can sign a deal that pays him 30 percent in the first year of his second contract, which is also the max for players with more than six seasons of service.
This will affect young players signing their second contracts, usually following their third seasons. (This contracts go into effect after the players’ fourth season.) In the immediate, it will come into play for Derrick Rose, Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook, each of whom have finished three seasons and have All-Star appearances on their resumes.
Under the old rules and assuming the salary cap, as reported, remains static at $58 million, those players should be able to sign extensions starting at $17.4 million. By contrast, Kevin Durant last year signed a deal that this year will pay him $14.5 million. Westbrook (a year behind Durant in service) making more than the two-time reigning scoring champ should go over well in Oklahoma City.
Other
Steve Freeman/ NBAE/Getty Images
At CBSSports.com, I attempted to answer most of the questions I’m seeing so far today. The end of the lockout came on quickly and so that means there’s going to be some scrambling. I don’t know if this answers everything people are wondering about, but it’s at least a start.
What does “tentative” mean? Is there actually a chance that this could fall apart?
There’s a chance, yes, but there’s also a chance that your bowl of cereal starts talking to you one morning. Meaning, realistically, t’s not happening. A vote is required from both sides and while there will likely be some resistance from some parties on each side, David Stern would not have agreed to this deal if he knew he didn’t have the vote. And same goes for the players union.
When does the season start?
Christmas Day, according to David Stern. The league will kick off with a triple-header as scheduled, presumably with the games that were already on the slate. Which includes the Heat being in Dallas to watch the Mavericks get their rings. Read more…
Commentary
With the great American tradition of Thanksgiving just a few days behind us, and the excitement of actually having an NBA season to look forward to, I quickly put together a quick list of Thunder related things I am thankful for.
1) Obviously NBA basketball.
2) That Kevin Durant, and to a lesser degree James Harden didn’t get hurt. KD probably played more rec league/charity games this summer and fall than any other NBAer, and Harden was also there a lot too. I know that most other players were in the gym working out and working on their games, but these two Thunderers were constantly in competitive situations all over the country. Heck, I’m glad that no Thunder players got hurt.
3) That Perk is back. He was a three legged horse in the Playoffs last year, but even as it was, our defense improved with Perk and Ibaka in the paint (and Green and Krstic gone). Read more…
Commentary
