This stupid thing called “the playoffs” is kind of going on now, so everybody is distracted and not writing 
as much “Watch out for the Thunder next year!” articles. I mean, come on! Sixers vs. Magic or Kevin Durant’s offseason workout regimen? Give the people what they want!
BallerBlogger’s final grades: “Thunder: C-After firing the dunce P.J. Carlesimo, and hiring Scott Brooks, the Thunder actually started to resemble a basketball team. Kevin Durant’s shooting stroke is golden, and Jeff Green is a lengthy, athletic sidekick. If Russell Westbrook ever develops, the Thunder will have quite an impressive threesome. Finding a defensive-minded shooting guard is a necessity, as is losing the notion that Robert Swift is a reliable NBA center. There’s certainly more growing pains to go through, but give the Thunder a couple more seasons and they’ll begin taking the West by storm.”
Again, Paul Woolpert out as 66ers head coach: “Woolpert arrived in Tulsa after winning three CBA championships with the Yakima Sun Kings of the CBA, where he finished as the fifth winningest coach in CBA history. The 66ers are owned by the Oklahoma City Thunder, and as such, I’d assume Woolpert wasn’t in charge of many basketball decisions other than coaching. If that is indeed the case, this would seemingly be a personality conflict, as Woolpert’s known to be a bit of a hot head – ejection from his first D-League game included.”
The Painted Area’s awards: “Russell Westbrook would have been on this list for much of the season, but from March 22 on, he averaged a putrid 12.4 ppg on .346 FG% shooting, as OKC stumbled home to a 4-9 record after showing some promise midseason.”
HoopsWorld award ballots: “Durant’s numbers were up in virtually every meaningful statistical category. Perhaps most important, Durant’s efficiency was much improved. He shot nearly five percent higher from the field and 14 percent higher from three-point land. – Travis Heath Crazy increases across the stat board, including finishing 6th in scoring up from 27th last year… all while dealing with a city change, coaching change and a revolving door of teammates. – Susan Bible
The Thunder checks out – lots of offseason info: “Everybody who asks me back home, ‘How’s Oklahoma City?’ I tell them it’s a great place to live. This is where I want to be. I love that it’s small and it’s quiet. Of course, the fans were great. My neighbors are like family to me. I’m laid back and quiet. This kind of fi ts my personality … It was tough waking up not knowing how it would be like outside. One day it might be 80, the next day it might snow.”
Mr. P from WTLC has some postseason evaluations: “On the flip side, [Westbrook's] defense is a big reason why he was drafted as high as he was. During his rookie season he’s shown flashes of brilliance, but also signs that he is, indeed, still a rookie. His defense was definitely better than opening day starter Earl Watson, but I think everyone can agree, that’s not saying much. Truth be told, I didn’t think he had as good a season defensively as I thought he’d have based on his defensive hype level going into the season. At the same time, you have to consider that playing defense against a point guard is quite a bit different than playing defense against a shooting guard, and he is still learning the position of point guard both offensively and defensively. By no means did he have a bad year defensively, but definitely has some room to progress along with the rest of his game.”
Not Thunder related nor even basketball related, but ESPN’s Mock Draft for the Ages is pretty darn cool: “What if we could hop in a time machine and bring back all the best prospects in history for this year’s draft? Of course, professional accomplishments don’t count. This exercise is based strictly on the scouting reports at the conclusion of college careers. Our big board is an amalgam of only the most ballyhooed prospects. With a few exceptions, these are players who were drafted in the top five overall. Players such as Joe Montana and Tom Brady, who were seen as too physically limited by many evaluators, need not apply.”
Charlie V - another character - I don't think so . . .
Who knows whats goin to happen but i wouldnt be suprised if presti finds another gem from europe either. I definatly dont think we will go after chandler again. I think charlie v would be a nice fit if we didnt land griffin.
another reason why Presti wouldn't sign Gordon . . .
$$$ think about the almighty dollar when trying to peg what free agent Presti may/may not go after... Presti will not overspend.
@Bernard
Bogut was very productive when healthy, and changed the entire look of their team. They'll let Charlie V go before they trade Bogut.
The Nets are trying to build a team that can lure a Lebron, Wade, or Amare in 2010. They only players worth picking up from them are players they can't afford to let go.
There is a shortage of good bigs these days. Teams are unlikely to give them up easily. The worst part is that the major competition financially is Detroit, who is also starving for big men. We're either grabbing Griffin are using a 3+ pick to outbid Detroit for the likes of Bosh, Amare, Chandler, Biedrins, or Kaman. There are big questions on all those guys, but it may very well be worth the risk.
Nets has a bunch of PFs though...
and they dont have anything we want.
hey what about Bogut?
they need cap space to resign Session and Charlie V right?
we have all the capspace they need
You know, the Nets want a big that does all of the dirty work and gets rebounds. Sounds a lot like Collison. Let's send him to Jersey.
dude, i love the website.
@Keith
Honestly I was worried about him during the offseason move last year...When all the stuff started going down he made negative comments about moving to OKC in general. I understand anyone is going to do that when they have to move and don't want to, but at the same time I was afraid it would affect other player's opinions...Luckily it did not.
Ironically you'd think he would like being closer to Kansas...
@Keith
Absolutely. I love Nick's hustle and grit, but there's a lot of guys out there that can put up 8 and 7. Again, not everyone plays with Nick's effort, but if the right deal was there, I'd drop him too.
I like what Collison does, but does anyone else not really care about how much he likes OKC? If I could trade him for a starting center or sharpshooting wing defender, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I really liked that the core enjoy the city, but outside of that, everyone else is expendable at best or waiting to be replaced at worst.
Weaver stated that he'll be back and forth between OKC and his hometown this summer, so maybe he won't miss out on the tornado fun. He can step out outside and admire the swiftly moving, low hanging, dirty black clouds scraping by. All the neat little swirly formations and strange colorations. "Dang that cloud is kinda green. And over there, I see some pinkish ice-cream dollop stuff swirling around some silver puffy smoke-like clouds. Neato."
@J.G.
Absolutely. The only player who seems to be down on OKC as far as "stuff to do" goes is Collison, but he lived in Seattle long enough to get established and make lasting connections. I don't really blame him for feeling that way, but hey--worst case scenario, you can live in Seattle in the offseason with your millions.
That was one of my biggest concerns with the move to OKC, but every time I hear KD talk about how "this is the place for him," and "this is where I want to be," it's music to my ears.
If you look at all of the young player's answers, you can really get a feel that Presti truly might be a genius in terms of selecting players that would thrive and not itch to leave a smaller market team.
From Durant, to Green, to Weaver, to White, all of them felt at home here in Oklahoma City because of their hometowns and/or personalities. Even Westbrook, who's from L.A., seemed to appreciate the benefits of the smaller market fanbase and pace of living.
These revelations should give an abundance of hope that all of these players can be re-signed to long term deals, especially since the Thunder can offer them the most money.
I know... that was funny that they all either answered "wind" or "weather" for that question. I suppose the name "Thunder" makes more and more sense by the day.
@Royce -- what? You missed the biggest citzen journalist sports coup of the year?
www.okcthunderfans.com/vforum/showthread.php?t=1968
;)
Oh, and this is fun:
newsok.com/the-thunder-checks-out/article/3362976?custom_click=lead_story_title
Looks like the OK weather messes with a lot of people's heads, heh. I can understand that since being a native Okie, the weather messes with my head too -- but I'm used to it. If I lived somewhere where the weather was more "normal", I'd probably consider it very boring.
Too bad most of the players will be out of Oklahoma at the end of April and most of May when the tornado season kicks in. They're going to miss out on all the fun with blaring sirens and Mike/Rick/Gary on the tube with their tornado warnings, doppler radar, helicopter shots, and multiple storm chasers sending in choppy streaming video. Oh well... their loss!
@daniel
Oh man, how did I miss that?!?
Perhaps the most promising thing about next season is that if all of our young players spend the summer getting better in problem areas, there should be noticeable improvement even without adding a quality free agent or top draft pick. Can't wait 'til next year.
yeah Royce, I know what ya mean...
To me, the playoffs are just a bunch of non-Thunder teams playing. Yawn.
But when I read a post on okcthunderfans.com about someone running into D.J. White at a Cubs game - with a pic included - now that's exciting!!!
I guess I'm just one dimensional :(
Go Thunder (next year)
:)