Monday Bolts – 1.11.10
David Kahn insists Al Jefferson is not for sale: “Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahn insists that Al Jefferson has not been made available — to anyone — in advance of the Feb. 18 trading deadline. “As I’ve said publicly,” Kahn told ESPN.com, “I have no intention of trading any of our core players this season.”
Darnell Mayberry writes a big trade is unlikely: “But Thunder heads shouldn’t expect their team to make a blockbuster deal with an eye on punching its playoff ticket. Sorry to spoil the fun folks, but there are many more reasons to believe the Thunder will stand pat than make a splash. From the start, the front office has been fixated on finding long-term playoff success, not fiddling with moves that bring five more wins. Add to that, the Thunder’s meticulous management still hasn’t deciphered what pieces it does and does not have. Making a move now could add an unnecessary piece, or worse, destroy the puzzle before the picture becomes clear.”
Sandy Dover of SLAM has come around on OKC’s uniforms: “I think what really hit me was the multitude of colors. While my fellow member of the SLAMonline brethren poo-poo’d the Thunder’s duds prodigiously, something clicked for me. The rainbow-like color scheme with navy blue, deep sky blue, black, yellow-gold, orange and white are all very becoming for creativity. The ability to get just about any shoes to match the uniforms in a lot of different ways (Google “Nike KD2 Creamsicle”) is another huge plus. I disdain the logo, which is horribly cheap, off-centered and just a disgrace for a major professional team of any league, I can’t hate on the plethora of options for footwear based on the hues alone.”
Tulsa’s WNBA franchise hires a president.
The ever-looming potential of a lockout is nearing: “What Hunter is preaching, 18 months before the fact, is that the players need to remain unified in case the owners impose a lockout for the start of the 2011-12 season. The underlying message, of course, is that if Hunter is rallying his players 18 months ahead of time, he fully expects some sort of labor dispute once that season arrives.”
Kevin Durant on making the playoffs: “It’s going to be tough,” Thunder forward Kevin Durant told Sporting News. “All you have to do in the East is be .500. It’s not going to be that easy in the West.”
Fran Blinebury gives it up to four former interim coaches: “Nobody ever gets these jobs when things are going right, but there were few situations more wrong than when Brooks replaced P.J. Carlesimo on Nov. 22. The Thunder had a miserable 1-12 record to start the season and had lost back-to-back home games by to the L.A.Clippers and New Orleans by 20 and 25 points, respectively. “Yeah,” Brooks said chuckling, “a lot of us don’t get to pick our spots. When I first came into the job, I just wanted to try to keep things simple, not try to do too much or be thinking about too much. The idea in that situation is to just try to do the basic parts of the game very well and try to build on that.”
Scott Brooks gets interviewed by The Beat on NBATV:
