Grantland’s draft preview looked at players, this one on Brandon Knight: “That’s not to say he isn’t a capable athlete (he is), but rather that his wiry frame and game rely on guile. One of Knight’s go-to moves is a quick pull-up jumper taken just inside the arc early in the shot clock (a.k.a. The Russell Westbrook a.k.a. The Scott Brooks Funeral Home a.k.a. Bumpy Knuckles).”
Darnell Mayberry evidently loves Kyle Singler for the Thunder: “But a close examination of Singler reveals a player who has traces of the Thunder’s DNA running through his blood. And when you add up all the pieces, it becomes clear why so many have penciled in Singler to be this year’s selection. Nothing about Singler is sexy. He’s 23. He’s a four-year college player. He’s an average athlete. But the guy knows how to play. And he’s a winner. And he’s a tough-as-nails competitor who will do anything to help his team. That’s the kind of player the Thunder adores. Some view Singler and see limited upside. The Thunder is more likely to see a ready-made rotation player who could carve out a 15-year career.”
A note: The Thunder have only three four-year college players on the roster (Nazr Mohammed, Eric Maynor and Royal Ivey). I am not a fan of drafting Singler. Reason: He strikes me as a player that will be able to get by in the NBA, but I can’t ever see him making a huge impact in OKC’s rotation. Since the Thunder don’t need immediate impact with this pick, why not shoot for the stars?
Gary Parrish mock drafting for CBSSports.com has OKC taking Singler: “Why not get another combo forward to play the role Jeff Green used to play? Singler is skilled, polished, a winner and ready to help in the playoffs next season. At this point for this team, he makes perfect sense.”
Top 10 worst draft outfits. No James Harden if you were wondering and good thing, because his outfit was awesome.
Bill Simmons writing on trades: “Perkins (50 cents) and Robinson (nickel) for Green (quarter), Krstic (nickel), and a future no. 1 from the Clips (quarter). Since Perkins’ post-trade extension flipped him from a 50-cent piece to a quarter, you could argue Boston won the trade … as long as you don’t include the part that it killed their season, ruined their chemistry, and caused them to lose in the second round of the playoffs to the most despised team in 20 years. Hold on, I’m going to kick my dog in the ribs.”
Kurt Helin of PBT on the TMZ thing: “Durant has done nothing but praise Oklahoma City and say how much he loves the city since the franchise moves there, and the residents there are getting pissed over this? Really? That says more about how those Oklahoma City residents feel about their city than it does Durant. As Darnell Mayberry says in the blog post, those people need to get over their inferiority complex. OKC is not Miami or New York when it comes to things to do, especially if you are young and single like Durant. Thing is, Durant is a different kind of guy and he likes it that way. He’s not seeking out the bright lights. Get off his back. This isn’t even a real controversy.”
Sam Amick of SI.com is going with Reggie Jackson to OKC: “No one in the draft has made teams do more detective work than Jackson, who underwent a minor knee procedure on May 17 under a cloud of darkness that sparked his disappearing act. He pulled out of Chicago predraft camp and a group workout immediately after in Minnesota, but was expected to start team workouts midway through this month. That hasn’t happened, and ESPN.com reported that Jackson’s camp won’t share medical records with teams. What’s more, executives have been hearing word that he has a promise somewhere late in the first round or perhaps with Miami at No. 31, but they have struggled to pin down exactly where. The Thunder are one such person’s best guess. All that said, there is some buzz that Duke forward Kyle Singler has a promise somewhere in the late first round and it could very well be coming from Oklahoma City.”
Tom Ziller’s mock has OKC going Serbian: “No, the Thunder can’t pick Mirotic! That will totally make Tibor Pleiss feel unloved! It’s Rubio-Flynn all over again. But more phlegmy.”
How much does being a winner matter? Justin Verrier of ESPN.com looks: “Winning is the ultimate team goal, but draft prospects are rated almost entirely on individual talent. Players such as Enes Kanter and Bismack Biyombo, with barely one or two meaningful games under their belts, can be pegged as lottery picks. And with the No. 1 pick in 2004, the Orlando Magic passed over former UConn star Emeka Okafor, then the NCAA player of the year, also coming off a national title season, for Dwight Howard, a high school player with heaps of upside but nary a college victory. … A move that has worked out OK, to say the least.”
JaJuan Johnson...enough said.
I don't know how many rookie centers I can wait on to "develop."
@Daniel Plainview
Marcus Thornton is an RFA. He can't be traded. At least not until December if that part of the CBA remains the same.
@Greg
I thought Leonard too, which would be niice. The might be high on Valhalla, but what message does that send to our other 5's? Seems liek a disruptive move. I wouldnt ming Kemba if we lost Maynor, but Id Want Thornton/Casspi in that deal somehwere. But if the Kings are so High on Maynor, I say pull teh trigger, aslong as we get Thornton somehow, and trade No & to Knicks for there 17 and Toney Douglass. We cure our gap at back up 2, add thwo three point shooter minimum, and add Jordan Hamilton or Tobias harris at 17. Sweet?
Could it be Leonard we are after? I just don't see the interest in Jonas on this team, we have three high-quality defending big men in Perk/Ibaka/Collison.
Leonard, Jimmer, Burks.. Kemba?
Id almost embrace any scenario not involving Kyle Singler
@ scubed
You and I both want Jimmy.
@ justin
I get the value of the rookie scale and it's strong correlation to average nba career length, but isn't this a better discussion for next year?
Yes, Maynor is among the more replaceable players in our rotation, but he is in our rotation and I don't see what we get out of such a trade being in our rotation, atleast next year. I think we are a win now team.
keep maynor, flip nate or Ivey for a second rounder and take Shelvin Mack/norris cole/charles jenkins who, if we can't keep maynor in the future, fills into that role.
Is it so hard to ask for Jimmy Butler?
I keep wondering if the Thunder are looking at a "draft & trade" deal. Swap Maynor to move up in the draft so that they can take a player who will then be traded to a team who is in re-building mode for one of their vets who can score from the 3-4 position. Eh...who knows? It's Presti. It might be something obvious or it might be one of those, "Whoa...I didn't see that coming!" type of deals. LOL
I also fear Utah getting Enes Kanter at #3 and then nabbing Jimmer at #12. That would be a tremendous draft for our division rival.
@ Daniel Hawaii
They have a decent amount of talent, it's just 1) they are all young and 2) the team was put together horribly. If they can pull off a few trades and balance that roster out, they aren't a horrible team.
its a draft... over half the players in it statistically will never make an impact as much as maynor has.
jimmer is not a terrifc playmaker. all these players are gambles, no sure things in this draft.no durants, not even a greg oden and he was a huge risk. there is a huge chance jimmer will be like adam morrision and not survive. even reddick barley made it in the league.
Daniel Plainview :Haha, is just occured to me that the Timberwolvers are the most absolutely talke about yuck team in the league.
Honestly, is anyone else besides me getting a little scared of all the talent the infamous David Kahn is putting together? I can't believe they won so few games last year.
That team will have some seriously scary talent after this draft is over. Think about the names: Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, Derrick Williams (if they pick him), Wesley Johnson, Anthony Randolph, Ricky Rubio, Darko Milocic (who really isn't that bad), Martell Webster and Jonny Flynn. All of these guys except for Randolph were/are Top 6 picks!
If Rubio pans out and can quarterback that team, they are going to be pretty scary in the not-so-distant future.
Am I crazy to be worried about them?
Also, I'm not suggesting a straight-up Maynor for the No.7 or 9. I'm sure our pick is part of it, if it's anything.
@ justin
The Kings and Bobcats are arguably two teams that wouldn't mind Maynor starting instead of what they got and taking a flier on Kemba or Jimmer.
Will the words "Sam Presti does it again." be uttered by a TV analyst tonight? Who knows?
Presti understands the value of getting contributors on rookie scale. It's a big gamble though trading a rotation player for someone in this draft, but if it works it's like buying two extra cheap years of productivity at possibly a higher level than what we're giving up (Maynor).
justin :
Beardhawk :@ Daniel Hawaii I think a lot of teams would rather have Maynor. He’s a good backup, and he can be a good starter for somebody down the line.
How many teams would Eric Maynor start for right now? Two? He’s a backup through and through…
Yeah, but the Bobcats might be one of those 2 teams that need a PG.
The Lakers are after Iguodala, according to Bucher.
@The Beard Knows
I also think Presti employs the Dwight Schrute method of proclaiming, 'YOU HAVE 5 SECONDS TO ACCEPT THIS DEAL, 5, 4, 3,...'. I'm 99% sure thats how we got Maynor in the 1st place.
If we come out of this draft with a significant scoring upgrade for the bench, I think we can call it a major success. I wouldn't be surprised to see us take beasley off minnesota's hands, and maybe jonny flynn.
I might be orgasmic if we got up to 9 and got Alec Burks. He's got the bench scoring we need to move Harden into the starting lineup and not lose offensive punch.
ANOTHER shoot first player? Other than Durant, who else fits that bill on our team!
Jimmer is a terrific playmaker with excellent court vision. He can do other things well, not just shoot. If you watched his teammates at BYU, there's an easy explanation for why he didn't showcase his ability to "get others involved" much.
Its weird with all these Rumors, theres no talk of Heat or Bulls. They must make changes. I thought the heat should have traded Bosh for a PG and a pf.
Bulls need a SG like no bodys buisness
Haha, is just occured to me that the Timberwolvers are the most absolutely talke about yuck team in the league.
@ The Beard Knows
Haha. Its probably exactly what goes down, hes liek a snake charmer (Im hoping)
@ The Beard Knows
I think he'll do it until it stops working.
And bad example. That's exactly what Kahn would do ;)
@ Beardhawk
Is Presti going to have to throw a bunch of smokescreens for the remainder of his career so other GMs don't feel swindled?
"Hello Kahn, I would be willing to trade Maynor for your pick, but NateRob is simply off the table. He means too much to the fans wherever he goes."
"NOO! I must have NateRob!"
If you managed to trade up to 7 then Fredette would be a perfect fit to solve the shooting issues. There would be plenty of minutes even if he's not a starter. He could play 15 minutes of back-up point guard and 15 minutes of shooting guard per game. Killer.
@ Greg
Jimmer is one of the most suspect players in the draft. Dont need another shoot first player
@ Daniel Plainview
Where Jordan Hamilton would be. This is actually not my favorite scenario, but I would be okay with it.
We're trading up for Jimmer.
Beardhawk :@ Daniel Hawaii I think a lot of teams would rather have Maynor. He’s a good backup, and he can be a good starter for somebody down the line.
How many teams would Eric Maynor start for right now? Two? He's a backup through and through...
Remember last year the Thunder moving up rumors started this way, too, and they ended up getting where they wanted to go without trading Maynor. So we'll see what happens.
@ Daniel Hawaii
I think a lot of teams would rather have Maynor. He's a good backup, and he can be a good starter for somebody down the line.
If we some whow did land the 7th pic, Id trade back out to like teh nicks for Tony Douglas and no 17 (Just an example) Knick wnat to move up and wed get out back up PG who is deadly from three and teh 17 overall
diddoff :
Daniel Plainview :Ok, repost:Maynor Our 24th, (Do we still have the Clips 1st rounder or did we trade that?) Mullens Cook? Thabo? Nate?forKings 7th Thronton Whiteside? Casspi?Walker and Thronton on our second unit??
Would be a too good to be true.
Thornton is a restricted free agent this year. Can't be traded now.
Maynor is the most easily replaced contributor in the rotation, he'll be gone in two years anyway, and probably won't have higher value than he does now due to the perception of Russell Westbrook in the playoffs. This is not a strong draft, but if there is someone in the lotto or that vicinity that Presti likes a lot who cares if we trade Maynor to get him. Backup PG's are found on the scrap heap all the time.
I hope that if we move up its for someone that can play here this year. I would not understand that move at all because it doesn't make us better. I think/ hope Jonas isn't the target. I would be thrilled to get leonard. He could be a sixth man. Or even kemba I would like. No thanks on jonas.
Plus, do we really believe anyone in the Top 12 believes Eric Maynor is worth their pick? I highly doubt it.
Who would you rather have, Jimmer Fridette or Eric Maynor?
I honestly can't see any reason to trade Maynor unless we have a backup PG w/ 3P shooting pedigree lined up to replace him. Maynor is about as good as you can get in a backup PG that doesn't really shoot.
@ Daniel Plainview
Dunno what triggers moderation other than posting several links. It's automated though, you weren't singled out.
It will take more than Maynor to get Valanciunas. We'd probably have to give up #24 too. So we wouldn't have any picks to get a replacement for Maynor. We'd have to sign a free agent or roll with Nate Rob/Royal Ivey.
I think trading Maynor just creates too many problems. And it doesn't guarantee we get Valanciunas.
I guess Maynor getting that sleeve tattoo was a bigger deal than I thought.
Beardhawk :I don’t like the Maynor idea at all. I know we have to trade him sometime because we won’t be able to afford him, but right now? For a lottery pick in this crappy draft?I have to think if there’s any truth to it, it’s Presti pulling a bait and switch with Nate.
I agree w/ Beardhawk.
I love it when people write articles based on other articles. Thanks Kurt Helin!
OKC residents were not "pissed" that Durant said "nothing" about OKC. Most OKC residents don't even know what TMZ is, and a lot of the ones who do probably didn't know KD appeared in a 10 second clip.
This was a twitter blowup and KD reacting to said twitter blow up. It's the INTERNET. Can we at least get some perspective on THAT?
There weren't any riots in the streets or effigies as far as I know.
Daniel Plainview :Ok, repost:Maynor Our 24th, (Do we still have the Clips 1st rounder or did we trade that?) Mullens Cook? Thabo? Nate?forKings 7th Thronton Whiteside? Casspi?Walker and Thronton on our second unit??
Would be a too good to be true.