Wednesday Bolts – 5.12.10
KD did a little Twitter Q&A last night and he posted probably my favorite one ever: “Q: You ever have to poop really bad during a game? A: Yea but once I started playing it went away lol.” That’s gold Jerry. Gold.
Landry Fields, senior draft prospect from Stanford, said this in his Draft Express blog entry: “Next weekend I have my first NBA work out with the Oklahoma City Thunder. So naturally, my next blog will be insight into an NBA workout and what all the draft eligible players have to go through when they start flying from city to city. Should be fun! Catch y’all next week!”
Jon L of Ridiculous Upside looks at the Northwest Division’s needs: “The Thunder’s building project seems to have gone quicker than expected, thanks to the general brilliance of Kevin Durant. Honestly, looking at this list I don’t see a whole lot of holes; while a backup for Durant would be good, that seems like an area where the team might go after a veteran. One area that could stand to improve is three-point shooting; the Thunder made just 34 percent of their threes last season, sixth-worst in the league. Again, though, they could always go after some experienced help in that area. Much as GM Sam Presti seems to like stockpiling picks, don’t be surprised if at least one of these gets traded away either in a package for a veteran or for future picks.”
Reader Jay sent in this interesting tidbit on the Jeff Green situation: “Let’s throw out some contracts and see where you think Green should get paid: Rajon Rondo got a $55 million extension for 5 years…does anyone in the league think Jeff Green is the player Rondo is? David West signed for $45 million for 5 years…Gerald Wallace signed for $57 million over 6 years…Anderson Varejao signed for $50 million for 6 years (and even that is misleading…the last year is a team option and is the biggest year in the deal at $9.8 million, plus $7.5 million of the contract is incentive-based…so its really a deal for 5 years worth between $33 and $40 million)…Shawn Marion signed for $39 million for 5 years…Charlie Villanueva signed for $35 million for 5 years…Trevor Ariza signed for $34 million for 5 years…Shane Battier signed for $37 million for 6 years…Lamar Odom signed for $32 million for 4 years…Ron Artest signed for $32 million for 5 years…Devin Harris signed for $42 million for 5 years…Paul Millsap signed for $32 million for 4 years… OK, so thats a list of guys who are arguably as good or better than Jeff Green and you see the basic range of contracts. I think the average yearly salary in those contracts is $7.5 to $8 million (other than Rondos, which I only listed to point out how crazy it is to suggest that Green would sign for $55 million). So with all that being said, even if Presti really, really, REALLY wants to re-sign Green, I can’t see him going over $8 million per year.”
Adrian Wojnarowski brings the heat on LeBron: “Most of all, James is forever selling something of himself – an ideal, an image, a possibility. Something nebulous, something promised. He’s chasing a global platform, the bright, blinking billion-dollar fortune, and he’s largely gotten the natural order of things backward. Stop strutting, stop preening, stop stomping away as an ungracious winner, a sore loser, and win something, LeBron. Win something now.”
The NBA released the early withdrawls list.
On Kyle Korver’s unrestricted free agency: “The unrestricted free agent then plans to return to Salt Lake for the U2 concert June 3 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. After that, however, the Utah Jazz swingman has “no idea” what he’ll do this summer. Free agency will do that to a guy. “This is the first time I have any say where I get to play,” said Korver, who plans to see what’s out there and explore his best opportunity as a player.”
