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Draft night, 2009. I wrote this after the Mavericks selected Byron Mullens with the 24th overall pick:
“And there goes B.J. Mullens. That’s twice tonight a team has probably done the Thunder a huge favor of taking a big man bust, preventing OKC from even having to think about him. So now we’re back on the clock. I’ll put my vote in for DeJuan Blair, Sam. I know you’re following along. And I know you care what I think.”
And then the Thunder picked Rodrigue Beaubois, only to trade him to Dallas for Mullens about 10 seconds later. A reader emailed me right after it with the joke, “Hi Mullens, I’m the Gatorade jug — enjoying the game?” Nailed it, pretty much.
Mullens spent two seasons with the Thunder. Or actually, spent about half a season with the Thunder and the rest of it in Tulsa or on I-44 driving back and forth. He only played a total of 26 games for Oklahoma City tallying just 39 total points. NBA 2K12 even has him rated as the worst player in this year’s game. It’s hard to say a player picked 25th overall is a bust, but Mullens was certainly appearing to be a wasted pick.
Especially when Sam Presti finally decided to give up on his seven foot project and get a second round pick (and a free roster spot) in return for him. The Thunder had dumped Mullens for nothing after seeing him do a whole lot of nothing for two years.
Then a funny thing started happening. Mullens is getting actual real minutes for the Bobcats. And he’s playing pretty good. He had 17 points and 10 rebounds last Friday and then 15 and 10 last night in 23 minutes. He’s close to cracking Charlotte’s starting lineup and is finally showcasing a little of that ability everyone knew he had.
(You think it’s a coincidence he was dealt to Charlotte where Rich Cho is the GM? Cho probably was a big fan of Mullens’ and a big reason OKC took him and still saw the potential in him and was willing to bring him on.)
So guess what happens now? Now I’m getting emails and tweets of people saying that Presti whiffed big time in dealing Mullens for nothing. The life of a GM — you screwed up for taking the guy, you screwed up for keeping him and then you screwed up trading him. Can’t win for losing, or something like that.
So why did the Thunder trade him then? It’s more of a favor to Mullens. I can guarantee you Presti would’ve preferred to keep Mullens at the end of the bench as a security blanket big man. Having extra talent on the roster is always a good thing. It’s good for practice, it’s good for depth and it’s good for trade bait. But that’s all Mullens was going to do on this team. He wasn’t going to play in front of Perk, Ibaka, Mohammed or Collison. And the organization obviously prefers the potential of Cole Aldrich to Mullens. He was never going to play no matter how much improved he was. Which had to be a frustrating thing for Mullens. He wanted to play.
You could hear in the way Mullens talked at media day. He spent the entire time saying how he expected to play, how he put in a ton of hard work over the summer and how if he didn’t crack the rotation he’d be deeply disappointed. That was never happening and that’s not a slight to Lord Byron. It just wasn’t happening because of the logjam in front of him.
Keep in mind, Mullens was taken at the tail end of the first round too. That’s not a place where you pick stars or guaranteed rotation players. That’s where you take projects, diamonds in the rough, or shots in the dark. That’s where you take a guy like Mullens and see if he can progress enough to beat someone out.
I defended Mullens quite a bit, especially after the Thunder picked his option last summer. People couldn’t fathom why the Thunder would cut ties with that waste of space, but it was always obvious to me that Mullens had talent and ability. He just needed to figure out how to apply that an actual game. I watched a Thunder practice during training camp and nobody on the team could stop Mullens in a two-dribble one-on-one drill. I’m serious. The drill was you stayed on the floor if you scored and there wasn’t a player that got more reps than Mullens. Not KD, not Ibaka, not Westbrook — Mullens was dominant.
Now he’s getting a chance to do just that and he’s making the most of it. It’s a shame it couldn’t have happened in Oklahoma City but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. Sometimes it’s just not the right situation for either. Mullens wanted playing time and the Thunder had no where to play him. It’s probably a good thing when you put together a team where a guy that couldn’t even make the active is starting somewhere else.
Let's think about this from Presti's point of view. He wanted to free up a roster spot. He looked at his bench and saw BJ Mullens sitting there and doing nothing. So he started making some calls to GMs around the league. Keep in mind, to free up a roster spot, he needed a draft pick back, not a player.
Step 1: Were there are any teams willing to give up a 1st round pick for BJ? Of course not.
Step 2: Which teams are bad enough so that a 2nd round pick might actually turn out to be like a late 1st rounder? Hmm... Charlotte is horrific and could be for awhile. Who's the GM of Charlotte? Oh yeah, my old pal Rich Cho.
Step 3: "Hey Rich, I know you love BJ (that's what she said). He's doing nothing for us here. How bout you pony up a 2nd round pick in a future draft and you can have him?" "Hey Sam! Deal."
And there you have it. A 2nd round pick from a bad team was probably the best we were going to get for him.
@Daniel Hawaii Dead on analysis.
@Daniel Hawaii I think it's a phenomenal return for Presti. . These type of guys usually don't even get their options taken up.
Good for him, but theThunder had no need for a 7' jump shooter. Period. End of story.
When does the Thunder play the Bobcats?
I want to see a significant amount of Cole vs Byron match-up. Could make that game a little more interesting.
I read an interview with BJ recently and he said the main reason he is playing well is because Charlotte let him play where he is comfortable; on the perimeter taking jumpers. He said in OKC they wanted him to have/build a post game. Even though he tried Sam must of felt it wasn't what they wanted and decided to give him a fresh start with a team that could better use his offense.
He is still pretty awful on defense. I'm not sure how people are missing that...
But best of luck to both him and DJ on the Bobcats, its made watching them bearable. And I don't mind DJ Augustin or Henderson. But Diaw is just fat these days... Even if he kills the Knicks.
It might not be sustainable. He might be a bum in the long run. Who cares? He's a good kid who's getting his chance and making something of it. I like where the Thunder is, and I might actually flip on a Charlotte game now and then just to check on the Thunder alum.
I mean, c'mon. This was fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPgnq9Sg074
@RyanCostello I like this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gveAw5vU9lw
I think we all agree that Westbrook played a lot better with Kristic on the floor than with Perk. Kristic would stand around the perimeter and take the 15-18 foot jumpshot and thus, would free up the paint for Russ to drive in and either score by laying it in or dunking, OR he would draw the foul. Not to mention if the D closed in, he could dish it out to the open man. Now with the Perk clogging the paint, we take a dive offensively though we're better defensively. Anyway, if Mullens could have done these things in OKC and possibly be in the rotation, it would have helped Russell immensely. Now he has to find other ways to dictate the offense which requires him to be a pass first, intelligent PG and he's just not that, hence his game is suffering.
@C-Wil Really? So why can't Westbrook drive, draw the D, then dish to Perk for the slam? I maintain it's because he doesn't think drive and dish, he thinks drive and score.
@C-Wil Interesting reasoning, but Mullens hasn't even cracked the starting rotation in Charlotte so it's a bit of a stretch to assume he would ever come close to starting for our team and thus playing most of his minutes without Westbrook. In any case, Ibaka is steadily improving on his 18 footer and I rather trust 23 year old Westbrook with adapting his game than taking a flyer on BJ.
actually we did lose out big cause we actually need a scoring big on our roster.
@Lost Ones Which would have worked out great if Mullens could score from the post, rather than from 15ft out. And that still doesn't address his defense.
I don't find this especially surprising--Mullens always showed flashes of athleticism & skill, and he was a young'n so he had time to improve.
But the team did not need a jumpshooting center. I'm glad he's getting his opportunity.
Still: does anybody follow Mullens on twitter? It's almost nausiating already. The guy is enjoying this a lot.
@D@nny the dude gets paid 1 million+ for playing a game. I'd be enjoying it too!
I've got a question, if Ibaka keeps giving guys their season highs as he did with Scola and Aldridge recently and he was abused in the last 2 rounds of the playoffs last year too. These are some really good players that are abusing him, but his positional defense should be much better by now. His blocked shots are great and he is decent with his mid range jumper but are those 2 things worth bad defense in general? Would there every come a point where we would see how Cole could perform with some meaningful minutes at the 4? I love Ibaka and I'm not saying I think Cole should play ahead of Serge, just asking a question for discussion purposes. Cole has looked better this year to me and he's a little bigger body with obviously not as much athleticism. Cole may foul out in 6 trips against Randolph and Aldridge. Who knows.
@okcjim Do you know who else tended to give opposing PFs their best numbers? Jeff Green (RIP).
At any rate, Ibaka is still a kid learning the game. The more responsibility he's given, the more its apparent that he's just not quite there. But that's okay, he has time and he has a lot of wonderful people teaching him (who else would you want him to share a front court with than NC4 & Perk?). Hopefully this just means he'll be cheaper when we need to resign him. I'm still really encouraged by his obvious dedication to jump-shooting and creating his own shots in the post. The guy is trying really hard.
I'm appreciative of Brooks's tendency to stay with Collison down the stretch. Our crunch time team should ALWAYS be Russ, Harden, KD, Collison, and Perk (or Cook in stead of Perk if we can go small like we did last night).
On that note: does it seem like Collison is getting better as the team gets better? I mean, I am sure he has always been there. But with the floor more spread & people making better cuts: his offensive abilities are really beginning to show through. In my power rankings, he's the 4th best Thunderer right now.
@okcjim You won't see Cole playing the 4. But you're right, Ibaka is struggling. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll figure it out.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct@okcjim Ibaka's problem defensively is he relies solely on his athleticism, and he lacks the fundamentals and the presence of mind to utilize proper footwork and positioning. That might change over time if he gets the right coaching, some of it may never change. Right now, he's an excellent help defender blocking shots, and a terrible on-ball defender.
@okcjim I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on Cole's general ability to play the 4. I can see certain matchups where Cole at the 4 could be done, but only when we're playing teams who have 5s masquerading as 4s. I just have my doubts that you could see a guy like Cole on the perimeter chasing stretch 4s off the 3 point line. And I definitely don't see Cole with any offensive game outside the post.
@okcjim@Jax
Keep in mind one thing in the debate about Serge - especially when you mention those guys. Those guys (Aldridge, Zbo, Gasol, Bosh, Boozer, Dirk) are prominent scoring factors for their teams so to say ibaka gets torched by these guys is a strong judgement because even this group gets torched by each other. But you don't hear of guys like Amare, Humpries, Frye etc torching Serge. Serge, at present, is a middle of the pack 4, He is not needed to score and he is not expected to be a lock down defender on the leagues dominant 4's either. He is expected to play tough, play smart, be active and make the shots he is given and most importantly continue to develop. If I had to rate those things, i would give him an 8/10 (excluding the first 2 or 3 games where he was repeatedly lost).
@Jax Raging Bile Duct@okcjim Nick Collison is a gift from heaven.
@okcjim Serge has struggled and needs to pick it up consistently. He had one great game against Dallas, and did really well at home against Houston and San Antonio. It makes me glad we have Nick Collison around to solidify that position consistently.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
I agree with most of that post. I just don't think Serge does very well on any of the 4's. How many times have we gotten beaten from opposing 4's abusing us from outside though (except for the obvious Dirk abuse we take every time we play them). Most of the high scoring 4's are inside guys (Aldridge, Randolph, Gasol, Bosh, Boozer etc...). Like I said, I'm not saying I'm all for it, just a thought since Serge has struggled so much in his low post d.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
The 4 and 5 with us are essentially interchangeable. They swing the ball, rebound, set picks and play post defense.
@f5alcon if Gasol can guard 4's (and play the 4) Aldrich can. Aldrich moves better than Gasol.
@f5alcon I don't know. I know Perk guarded Dirk down the stretch pretty well and I know Ibaka can't move his feet well enough to stay in front of many of the 4's in the league right now.
@SammyThunderer Cole moves his feet as well (if not better than) serge on defense. Cole is not a lumbering center and neither is Perk anymore. Perk has had several guards eyes light up this year when he was out on them only to stay in front of them when they tried to dance around him and they have been putting Perk on the better scorers lately late in games. He stole the ball from Dirk and guarded Randolph and Aldridge at key times as well.
@okcjim not on defense, could aldrich or perk guard jeff green at the 4? probably not.
@okcjim This... just isn't true. Some 4's can play the 5 when in small lineups; some 5's, like Al Horford, are probably natural 4s. But guys like Perk, Bynum, and Dalembert are 5's through and through. They don't have the mobility on d, nor the shot and handle to play out of the high post. Cole falls into this latter category.
+1 here on the "fit" argument. But one thing we haven't mentioned yet is that we will eventually get a player in return, which will mitigate some of this apparent trade imbalance to date (outside of defensive off-court stats that Keith mentioned).
"Mullens in a two-dribble one-on-one drill. I’m serious. The drill was you stayed on the floor if you scored and there wasn’t a player that got more reps than Mullens. Not KD, not Ibaka, not Westbrook — Mullens was dominant."
That is great but that is not what we needed BM to do... we needed and inside presence and he can't do that. He is not built for that kind of a player. We have enough scoring, we don't need another one-on-one player.
9 and 2 baby. That is all.
There is a huge difference between putting up numbers on a terrible team, and doing the same on a good or even great team. Not only was there not a place for Mullens in OKC, but there likely will never be a place for him on a contending team anywhere. Ditto for Nate Robinson, albeit for entirely different reasons. Neither is sustainable.
Okay...so trading DJ, Mullins, and Nate have been good things for all of them and helped them move to teams where they could play. So what's the deal with Royal? Do we just hate him or what? lol
@TaoMaas Ivey is there because although he can play at the NBA level, he's no less of a quality teammate and organization guy when he doesn't get to play. He's high-character all the way, and that is invaluable in the day-to-day machinations of a team.
@TaoMaas I know. I thought the same thing when they put in Reggie over Royal. I really like Royal, and think he's a solid backup player.
I sincerely wish BJ well at this point, but as you say- he was never going to crack the rotation. If I am experiencing "trade remorse", it is over dealing DJ White for Nazer. DJ is playing great, and while he similarly wasn't going to get minutes ahead of Serge and Nick, I miss having him as insurance. If/when it is determined that we can't retain everybody and Ibaka becomes the odd man out- I wonder if Cho might give us DJ back, along with a first round pick for Ibaka?
@Steve H It would be humorous to have Biyombo and Ibaka on the same team. I don't see Presti taking that route though. He does not want to lose Ibaka and DJ's ceiling is much lower than Ibaka's.
@Brob785 The only thing I hate more than the thought of losing Ibaka is the thought of losing Harden. If we have to choose one or the other because we can't pay both, I would rather lose Serge- and I can't think of a better AFFORDABLE replacement than DJ.
I'm happy for BJ (and DJ White) for finding a team in Charlotte with Cho in their front office. I always wanted them to get a shot because of their work effort and OKC just has too much talent to give them a shot. Best of luck to both of them in a solid career.
Question for you guys: knowing what we know about Mullens now, would you rather have him or Aldrich? I'd still stick with Cole myself.
@TempBoy Brandon stickin with slaw
@TempBoy Brandon
Mullens just oozes lazy... that is just what you think when you see him. Cole is active and is trying to be involved in every play. You watch BM with Charlotte and he just stands around. The reason is so good with them is that everyone around him is either equal to him or worse. The reason he was bad with us is that everyone around him is better than him.
@Darin@TempBoy Brandon
Yeah, the Bobcats are a lesser team than us, but damn you make it sound like they have no talent on their team at all...
@TempBoy Brandon Aldrich by far... Especially with what he is doing this year. I am excited when I see him get minutes now, because he is hungry. He is hustling, and you can tell the improvements he's made this off-season working with Collision.
I don't think it was presti who messed up, but brooks. He tried to make mullens a post player when he wants to just shoot from the outside. Same thing with trying to make jeff green a PF.
@f5alcon Brooks didn't mess up by trying to make Green a PF...Green was already a PF when Brooks took over the team. Presti drafted Green to pair him with Durant, and wisely traded him when it became clear Green couldn't play PF and would never get minutes behind Durant at SF.
@courtsense@f5alcon
Not really, Durant was at SG and JG was at SF when Brooks took over. One of the first things he did was change that around. I also blame world hunger on Brooks.
Brooks didn't mess up. Why would the Thunder need a seven foot center who wants to jack up three pointers when the team's strength is already surrounding the perimeter? The team needed big guys that were content to fight for the rebounds when those perimeter players missed, not big guys floating around outside just observing. Mullens obviously had no interest in changing his game to fit the needs of the team, and therefore he didn't play...Brooks only messed up if Mullens could have become a better perimeter player than Durant/Westbrook/Harden.
@Clark Matthews Krstic was a pick and pop center. IMO, that is what Presti saw in Mullens also.
@f5alcon I'm not sure Brooks really messed up either. I mean, Mullens doesn't really make sense with a second unit that already has plenty of spot-up shooting. Nazr may not be the most effective post-scorer, but he's decent enough at it to give us an option inside which helps out the bench.