George Gervin sees Kevin Durant as the most comparable player to him: “Wesley (Gainseville): Which current NBA 
player do you think is most comparable to yourself? George Gervin: I guess I would say Kevin Durant because he is long, he can put the ball on the floor, and he can shoot from anywhere.”
KD’s brother signed yesterday to play college ball with Western Kentucky: ”Cliff Dixon, the half-brother of NBA star Kevin Durant, has signed with WKU. Dixon, a 6-foot-10, 215-pound forward, averaged 15.3 points and eight rebounds at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College last season. He chose the Hilltoppers over Seton Hall and Missouri and will have two years of eligibility remaining. “We’ve been on him a couple of years,” McDonald said. “(Dixon) is very versatile. He can play all over the floor. He’s long. He’s a good athlete. He’s skilled. He’s got to continue to get better, but he’s a tough mismatch at a lot of different positions. He has a really high skill level and talent level.”
Robert Sarver (Phoenix’s owner) talked about the Suns’ offseason decisions. You know, kind of important considering OKC has their unprotected first round pick next year. But it doesn’t sound like Sarver is that thrilled about rebuilding: “I didn’t get into this business to make money or sit and watch my team lose,” Sarver said. “I’m not prepared to do a three- or four-year rebuilding period and win 25 or 30 games a year. I feel I’d be letting the community down. Plus, I like to win. Losing would be too difficult for me.” Blow-it-up! Blow-it-up! Blow-it-up!
Looking like the Jazz will pick Millsap over Boozer: “Boozer angered franchise officials and teammates alike early in the season, when he spoke openly of wanting to test his free agency this summer. It didn’t help that he made the comments while he was nursing a quadriceps injury that cost him more than half the season. After Monday’s season-ending loss, Boozer now says he’d like to return to the Jazz, adding that he feels like “one of those cornerstone people who brought this team back to prominence.” In truth, the decision might not be entirely up to him. Even if Boozer doesn’t opt out of his contract, the Jazz are expected to explore trading him and devote their resources to keeping Paul Millsap. As if the Jazz needed any more evidence of Millsap’s value, he helped lead Monday’s comeback while Boozer watched from the bench.”
Interesting thoughts about 2010′s free agency, the economy and a potential lockout: “What does that mean for the NBA? Is a lockout inevitable? Stern makes it sound very simple, that the owners will sit down with the players and just work something out. Simple as can be. Only it isn’t. Things could get ugly, especially if the economy continues to spiral downward. Don’t be surprised if many of the would-be free agents of 2010 go ahead and commit to long-term contracts with their current teams. The money might not be there if they wait.”
Could David Lee pull a Ben Gordon this summer?: “If David Lee believes he’s a $10M per player, then maybe he will follow the path of Ben Gordon, who twice turned down contract extension offers from the Bulls, did not find a likable offer sheet as a restricted free agent and accepted a one-year $6.4M qualifying offer to buy himself unrestricted free agency this summer.” I’ll tell you, David Lee is no $10M per type of player. You give David Lee five years, $52 million or something and in 2014 we’ll all be sitting here joking about Lee’s expiring contract and how valuable it is. He’s a very nice player, but more like a $7-8M per type of guy.
NBADraft.net had Oklahoma City taking Jordan Hill yesterday. Now, the Thunder takes Demar DeRozen with the fourth overall pick. Meanwhile, Draft Express has DeRozen going eighth. DeRozen is certainly an interesting prospect, a 6-6 shooting guard in the mold of Vince Carter, but boy is he raw. Basically, he’s the anti-Harden. A super-athlete that gets things done with his raw athleticism and not his wit and ability. But then again, you can develop ability. Hard to develop athleticism.
HoopsHype has one of those types of lists I just looked at for 15 minutes straight. It lists every player that’s in this draft and the agents they’ve hired and what their projection is. Blake and Taylor Griffin are sharing Jeff Schwartz with Tyler Hansbrough and it looks like Bill Duffy is a popular dude. Anybody still looking for an agent? I’m a tough negotiator.
I can't remember if it was an article I read or something I heard on ESPN, but it talked about how the league essentially held the hole card when it comes time to negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement. The gist was that the one thing the league - and players association - learned during the 1998 lockout was that NBA players, by and large, don't have significant cash reserves to holdout for very long.
I don't think we have a second round pick this year. We gave up ours in the Petro trade to Denver.
It's possible that Presti goes for a "potential guy" like DeRozan instead of a ready to go guy like Harden; I hope he doesn't, but we shall see. The good thing is that he can always get a shooter with the second first. Wayne Ellington will still be around, Marcus Thornton will likely be around too. You can always get a second rounder on draft day if you don't have one; GM's really trade those things around.
I'd like to see Presti find a way to get a rim protector somehow, like Dalembert, or maybe the Polish hammer in Orlando; or maybe Devon Harden can be that guy, but shooting is high on the list when you are one of the worst at it in the league, yet one of the best rebounding teams.
I think Thabo needs some shooting lessons from Durant b/c it has got to be difficult to be so coordinated with those freaky long arms.
Watch Presit draft a killer international player in the second round...all we need him to do is pull another Parker/Ginobli...that's it...
@G.A.P
I agree with you on DeRozan's upside. He did start out slow but he definitely picked it up in March and I think he has all the tools to be a stud/star. The question is, ofcourse, always the big if of, will he?
That's probably why I lean more towards Harden since he's a little bit less of a question mark and, as Kev said, Harden is more of a shooter's shooting guard and DeRozan's more of a slasher's shooting guard and the Thunder desperately need an outside shooter with range more than another slasher.
But all in all, I think I'd be happy with DeRozan if we end up with the fifth pick and Harden is already off of the board.
Of course I'll be screaming at the television if we end up with the fifth pick since that meant somebody leap-frogged us into the lottery, but you know, after a few days I'm sure I'd calm down. :)
no way can we take Derozan over Harden - we need a shooter . . .
@G.A.P
good points GAP - all the GMs can do is make educated guesses . . . but, anyone can improve - I want Thabo to improve HIS shot over the summer; whether he actually does is up to him . . . teams can only base thier decisions on the facts we have available. FACT - Derozen (sp?) is only a 17% shooter from three - that's HORRIBLE for a projected lottery pick . . .
It wouldn't surprise me to see the Thunder take DeRozen over Harden. Judging by last year's draft, when we took the best two athletes we could find in Russel Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. Raw didn't seem to matter much to Presti then.
Draft Express and so on but they're not always the gospel truth on all prospects once they make it to the NBA. Not to say they're not right, but come on man once a kid comes to the leauge there's no telling what he could do once the college season is over and he's working on his weaknesses getting ready for the draft. A few months of strictly concentrating on his shooting could work wonders for a player that was once said to be the next great one and done college player, so i'll reserve comment on some of these high profile project players until workouts because all this is purely speculation
Draft Express also says that he's a poor shooter . . .
PASS . . .
I saw a few USC games and DeRozen didnt really stand out. Of course, like you said, give him a few years and he may blossom, but you can say that for almost any player . . .
Maybe i'm too optimistic because I believe these gaurds in this draft will shock alot of critics like the class of 2008. I wasn't a fan of DeRozen at all until I saw his ability in the tournament, but I must admit he is a kid who could possibly turn into a great player if he's brought along in the right situation. We won't know until we get the reports on the workouts but I won't be shocked to hear that DeRozen has progressed further and might warrant a very high pick.
Sarver sounds like every owner who should leave the decisions up to someone who understands the game better. I understand that he wants to keep winning, and that the current group will likely win more games than a decimated team filled with young guys and draft picks, but still. The longer he holds on to this core, the less value they have, and the continued lack of development he gets from his own young players. Besides Amare, who came out and played like a star right away, the Suns haven't developed any young talent. And even in Amare's case, he looks more like the same kid they drafted (athletic scorer who doesn't play D) than a smart, skilled veteran.
No one is going to trade for a 38 year old Shaq costing 20 million and who will likely retire next year. Amare is the one team's want, and sadly, Amare is the only player the Suns should afford to keep. I'm not too bothered either way they go. They weren't a playoff team this year, and likely won't be one next year either. Sure, blowing up the team may get us a better pick next year, but we may be trading it for a veteran anyway.