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The Thunder signed guard Robert Vaden from their D-League affiliate Tulsa 66ers today. Conversely, Vaden has immediately been assigned to the 66ers.
No terms have been released as of yet. The Thunder had one open roster slot remaining and it’s now been filled by Vaden.
Vaden was acquired from Charlotte by the Thunder in the second round of the 2009 draft and has played this entire season with the 66ers. Vaden averaged 10.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 45 regular season games with Tulsa. This past season he shot 39.2 percent (74/189) from 3. He averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in the 66ers two game sweep of the Texas Legends in the first round of the D-League playoffs.
Before joining the 66ers this season, he spent all 0f 2009-10 in Italy’s second division.
“We are happy to add Robert to our team.” Sam Presti said in a press release. “Robert has been a dedicated and consistent worker for our program and has excelled in our system in Tulsa under the direction of Head Coach Nate Tibbetts and Assistant Coach Dale Osbourne. We value the role of the 66ers in the overall development of the Thunder organization and this opportunity for Robert comes as a result of that synergy.”
Vaden is a shooter by trade and at 6-5, has pretty good size on the perimeter. He was a really good scorer in college at UAB averaged more than 17 points per game his senior season. What his role will be with the organization is to be determined, but it’s obvious that Presti and the Thunder appreciate hard work and that’s why Vaden was rewarded with this deal.
Crow :
Vaden has a powerful agent (Andy Miller) the same as Ibaka, Mullens and Maynor. It is worth doing small favors for important agents.
Ding, Ding, Ding!
We have a winner! and it ain't because of Mullens, and less so because of Maynor.
DJ White motoring along at 8.4 pts, 4.6 rebs and over 50% shooting. Appears to defending the PFs well. Overmatched at Center but Charlotte hasn't been shy about experimenting with it.
But congrats to Vaden and maybe we'll see something, sometime. Presti is right more often than not. Cook worked out and I was skeptical of that.
I now see Latavious put up 22pts, 17 rebs on April 1. He has a fine FG% and 13 pts per game is respectable for a d-league big or big wing.
Game 3 10 pts and more fine shooting.
Owens first 2 games with Washington- 22 minutes per game, 5.5 pts , 4 rebs, 55% FG%, 50% from 3 point land (but only 2 attempts), 1.5 A/TO, 1 steal, 0.5 blocks.
@Joe
Yeah Williams fits the physical description.
Probably considered too early for him but he probably has a good shot at an audition for a spot at some point.
Preferably you'd want at least decent on defense with more than a put back game on offense and maybe more of a SF than PF, whereas Williams is probably more PF? Don't know how far he has come on offense. Owens seemed like a decent mix of skills.
Crow :@justin
It shouldn’t be the end of it all in the playoffs for a very good team to lose a star for a game or two or effectiveness for a half or a game or two. A good number of playoff teams face that and make it thru.
A 6-7 to 6-9 combo forward who has at least decent on defense would have been a safer / better choice for a 15th man to me. Like Larry Owens or a vet who fits that looking for work.
You mean like Latavious Williams?
Lawson is 10-11 from 3.
Vaden has a powerful agent (Andy Miller) the same as Ibaka, Mullens and Maynor. It is worth doing small favors for important agents.
It is "probably" a very minor thing but it "could" be bigger and more difficult.
I just felt like covering the angles with it since it wasn't a totally self-explanatory choice.
Wilkins in 2005 playoffs had 500+ minutes experience with the team at better than PER 13 and more length and versatility.
@Thomas
I didn't read the article, but as said before, you've gotta stop looking at T-Mac now and remember just how good the guy was. For his time when he was "up" he was arguably the best player in the league, and that was with Kobe in his prime. I don't think Durant will fall off because of the work ethic reasons stated before. It not only shows on the court, but it shows in athletes' health as well. An athlete who busts his but in rehab and is compliant with his rehab guidelines, even if he does get injured (God forbid), is going to have less of a chance of re-injury and/ or coming back having lost a step (or steps) than a guy who doesn't work hard in rehab, and doesn't do as he's told outside of rehab (which is a very likely scenario for T-Mac). But from a talent standpoint, I'll take the Durant now vs T-Mac in his prime conversation any day.
I am watching Nike Hoop Summit,Maybe Bismack Biyombo can be another Ibaka
And, hey, how much experience did Damien Wilkins have in 2005? :)
@Crow
I think you're looking too far into it. They did the same thing last year with Mustafa Shakur, didn't they? Just a reward for a player who did well, IMO. If the Thunder suffer enough injuries to the point where the 15th man needs minutes, they're probably not going to win much.
@Thomas
That makes a lot of sense actually
If they are saying they are more concerned with scoring, especially long-range shooting, from a 15th man than defense or rebounding I can say 'maybe so', but Vaden is completely untested in the NBA, much less the playoffs. If they are concerned about scoring / long-range shooting from a 15h man, it may say that they don't have enough of that in the top 9 or 12.
thunderstruck4life :
Man I don’t know why I let myself read some of the espn forums… Did anybody read that one about the writer comparing durant to Tracy mcgrady’s short lived glory… Saying how scary identical they were… How mcrgrady was bad in the play offs and so is Durant… Of course he has only been in the play offs once and one round….??? Haha so annoying… The guy thinks he will fade really soon
If you're a writer and you're trying to make a name for yourself, you attract attention by saying something interesting or insightful. Some people, wrongly I think, understand this to mean something that contradicts mainstream opinion. I think this is a clear case of that when damn near everyone else who follows the league says the guy has the potential to be an all-time sort of player.
Correction: I guess they'd have to go Perkins 32, Collison 30, Mohammed 24 / 10 from somebody.
If Ibaka got hurt they'd either have to go something like Perkins 32, Collison 30, Mohammed 24 or play Aldrich in the playoffs or move Durant up there for more time. Another combo forward would at least give more options and reduce the minute pressure. But hopefully no injuries, especially to where it would strain them the most.
If Durant went out they'd have to go something like Thabo 36 minutes per game, Harden 36, Cook/Ivey/Vaden 24 or use Westbrook some at SG to fill the wing time.
How good is Thabo on starting SFs over 6-7? I'd have to think about and review that. I guess Sam and Scott are ok with that.
@justin
It shouldn't be the end of it all in the playoffs for a very good team to lose a star for a game or two or effectiveness for a half or a game or two. A good number of playoff teams face that and make it thru.
A 6-7 to 6-9 combo forward who has at least decent on defense would have been a safer / better choice for a 15th man to me. Like Larry Owens or a vet who fits that looking for work.
In Cook's only NBA playoffs (2008-9) he shot terribly but hopefully his stroke and confidence will stay high.
Crow :
Is he the very best choice for a 15th man for this playoffs? I don’t think so but it was their choice. Durant can not get injured at all.
Are we really worried about who is going to replace Durant in the playoffs if he is injured? That'd just be the end of the playoffs.
Is he the very best choice for a 15th man for this playoffs? I don't think so but it was their choice. Durant can not get injured at all.
It could be a sign of concern about recent team 3 point shooting. Cook and Maynor have shot for the best 3 pt FG%s over the last 10 games. Thabo and Harden have been off from there recently. Several somebodies better be on from 3 point land in the playoffs.
If you are going to portray your D-league team as a serious development / pay pipeline you have to reward enough guys to keep the hard-work going and to reduce guys wanting to skate out to Europe. They have rewarded a few but not all. The Wizards took Larry Owens last week.
By signing Vaden they reward a guy with at least a 10 day contract or a pro-rated share of it (so they kick him 10-25,000). The D-league generally pays about 30k I think, there might be a few making near 50k, I am not sure.
He is a practice player, insurance, maybe a last resort in the playoffs.
In the off-season he is leverage with Cook. If his deal was for the pro-rated minimum for this season with at least a team option for next season they can control whether they keep him (preempt him from going to Europe if they want him) or let him go and his rights go entirely. I guess they are comfortable with it being either / or.
This deal may be a parting gift or the dream realized for Vaden.
It also might increase the competitive fire of Cook going into the playoffs. Maybe not a bad thing to try to do, if he takes it right.
@thunderstruck4life
There isn't really anything similar about Tracy McGrady and Kevin Durant from all that we know. McGrady was far more gifted as a player but didn't work hard. From all accounts, Durant is a hard worker and a good teammate.
Also, McGrady wasn't that bad in the playoffs, his teams just sucked. In Orlando his best teammate was who? Darrell Armstrong? It's amazing that those teams even made the playoffs. In his first Houston year they ran into a buzz saw Dallas team that was something like 16-2 going into the playoffs after Avery Johnson took over. Then he wasn't really the same after that for the most part.
@thunderstruck4life
I didn't read the comment / article, but McGrady was a fantastic player before the injuries. I think KD could be better, but comparing KD to TMac is a compliment at this point. You can't get in a tiff over one KD playoff series where he was guarded by Artest. A lot of starts struggle in their first playoff series.
BD is getting hard to listen to at all...If I hear him tell us how effective our zone is one more time, I'm muting the TV for all games...
Man I don't know why I let myself read some of the espn forums... Did anybody read that one about the writer comparing durant to Tracy mcgrady's short lived glory... Saying how scary identical they were... How mcrgrady was bad in the play offs and so is Durant... Of course he has only been in the play offs once and one round....??? Haha so annoying... The guy thinks he will fade really soon
Vaden's a lot slower than Cook IMO. He'd be a defensive liability in the mold of a Jason Kapono in the NBA.
In the D-League, a much lower percentage of his shots have been 3pt attempts than in college, which indicates to me that he's having trouble getting open consistently against the higher competition.
I love that picture. It almost looks like someone cut Vaden out of a magazine, put him in the backdrop of a court, and added a basketball. You can almost remove the basketball, and add anything you want in that empty space....an orange, the Denver Nuggets beating heart, one of the Bomb-ombs from Mario Bros. It would be awesome.
Just because I am bored I looked at the college stats of Bob Vaden and Daequan Cook.
ue
Surprisingly, Robert Vaden Shot a absolute butt load of threes more than Daequan in college. I also thought they were similar (and in reality they are). Daequan wasn't really a main cog of the Ohio state team with Mike Conley and Greg Oden. But Robert Vaden was the man for UAB.
Vaden attempted over 300 threes his junior and senior seasons; Daequan in his only season at Ohio state only attempted 130. They both shot good percentages.
I remember Robert Vaden in Summer league on two or three games and he couldn't make a shot.
Next Aaron Brooks...please?
@Nullum
I can really only see two reasons for this. 1) Resting players 2) Showing loyalty. Honestly, Vaden is never going to play a meaningful minute for this team. He's a shooter that's not elite at shooting and doesn't really add any other NBA-caliber skill. You don't sign a guy like that just to match an overseas contract. If anything, you're happy because he gets to develop on someone else's time and money. Signing him now is a definite sign of something more significant than "we just can't let this guy get away."
Showing loyalty isn't a bad move either. Sometimes it seems headscratching (buying out Watson for full amount without negotiation), but we are a small market team, and loyalty is part of our calling card. We want players who view us to feel good about management and the organization as much about the team. It hasn't come up much yet, but it will when that relatively low salary shooter is looking for a new address or when we start extending our sub-max players.
@TheBeard
I guess you don't miss Nenad Kerstic.
I know this is off topic but I am really not looking forward to hearing Brian Davis and Grant Long refer to Nene as "Nay Nay" for an entire series.
Will somebody please get these guys a copy of the Denver Game Notes?
@osano-whoa
I don't think it means anything other than the 66ers wanted guys for the playoffs.
Is this an indication that we don't plan to resign Cook perhaps?
@Nullum
I doubt he ever plays for the Thunder...
there are some terrible games tonight...NBA TV has Spurs Jazz...ugggghhhh. Can not wait for OKC LA tomorrow. I have a GREAT feeling about that game. I think we take the Lakers tomorrow...
My guess - They did it to match a contract he was offered to play overseas.
I am not sure how d-league salaries work, if I did, it would probably help understanding the logic.
Resting players, as Keith said, is also a likely reason.
He is similar to Daequan Cook
The only way I can understand this is if Presti expects to rest guys in the final week. Dallas really shouldn't lose again, and no one behind the Thunder can catch them. Further, as it has been discussed, it's probably better to face a banged up Spurs than playoff-mode Lakers if we get to the second round. We really have almost nothing to gain by trotting KD and Russ out there anymore.
Vaden being signed makes it easy to call him up if we also sit Harden or limit his/Thabo's minutes.
Maynor - Ivey
Harden - Robinson
Thabo - Vaden
Collison - Mullens
Nazr - Aldrich
Wouldn't be SO terrible.