Tom Ziller of SB Nation on the Lakers: “But a team with that profile wouldn’t be anything like an overwhelming title favorite. A team with that profile probably wouldn’t rate higher than the team that smoked them in the playoffs this spring, the Thunder. Or higher than the team that smoked the Thunder, those pesky Miami Heat. Unless something derails those two clubs, you can keep the dynasty talk in your back pocket. The Lakers would be a legit title contender so long as Nash (38 years old) and Kobe (closing in on 34) were highly productive, but they wouldn’t likely be a championship favorite in any season, let alone multiple seasons. Landing Nash and Howard would be great, but wouldn’t renew the Lakers dynasty.”
Hasheem Thabeet on what the Thunder coaching staff has told him: “They just told me that I have to be ready to work. That’s my focus right now, just come in and be able to work each day and get better every day.”
Looking at the NBA market for point guards.
Mel Bracht of NewsOK: “Two exhibition games involving the USA Basketball men’s team, which includes Thunder stars Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, both fared well in the ratings. Monday night’s game against Brazil on ESPN2 earned a 4.9 rating to lead the way.”
NBA players talking about who would be good at other Olympic sports.
Erik Spoelstra talking about a positionless NBA.
Matt Conner of SB Nation: “The Thunder do have a couple of assets to work with, so expect the team to continue to look around for a free agent bargain wanting a ride on a roster filled with elite level talent. The team still has a $3.3 million mid-level exception remaining as well as a bi-annual exception and even a $1.3 million trade exception to offer. That gives general manager Sam Presti at least something to work with. That’s likely all he needs with so many pieces already in place.”
Watch LeBron teach KD his “unstoppable” move.
The Lakers have definitely improved the most this offseason of all Western challengers to OKC. Adding Steve Nash and now Antawn Jamison makes them much tougher than the team the Thunder walked over in the second round last postseason.
Kobe said Team USA’s “citizenship will be revoked” if they don’t bring home gold.
Nick Collison went 17th overall in The Lost Ogle’s Oklahoma celebrity fantasy draft. To which I say, that’s about 16 spots too low. And here’s rounds five and six too.
KD on his potential relationship with Letoya Luckett: “No comment.”
Berry Tramel on how JaVale McGee impacts Ibaka: “So anyway, that at least gives the Thunder some foundation to work with. McGee is a true center, which increases his value. Ibaka is younger, 20 months younger. He turns 23 in September. McGee turned 24 in January. So Ibaka’s upside is bigger. The Thunder offers Ibaka the chance to be part of a special run of championship contention, which the Nuggets can’t match. Add it all up, and you could argue that if McGee is worth $11 million a year, Ibaka is somewhere in the neighborhood. I’ve been telling you that anything over $20 million a year combined for Harden and Ibaka is going to make things tough on OKC, but if they can get Ibaka for $11 million, a bullet might be bitten.”
LOL at that video of NBA players talking about who would be good at other olympic sports.Interviewer: "Synchronized Swimming"Derozan: "Ed Davis"Jefferson: "Y'know all them Duke guys.." -pause-Walton: "Ronny Turiaf and Jordan Farmar"Lawson: "Chris Bosh"Bosh: "Dexter Pittman" LMAO!
Lin is about in the middle of the pack. Sounds about right
F you Dwight Howard
btw whens the team usa game on?
@OBoymuzik Oh, come on! I expected a Huck Foward post! Step up, man!
@ou_sas
Get yourself over to the game thread! You've been summoned.
@ou_sas
Well, most recent thread: 3-on-3.
@ThunderChick2010 Nobody posted a game thread here! I wasn't ready!
@OBoymuzik 1 CST.
@Jooseppi thanks
My big prediction for today: Kobe shoots better than 33 percent. Setting the bar low.
Question: What do you guys think is Hasheem Thabeet's stat's is if he fully realizes his potential?
@thelaughingwiseman He's 25. He will still improve a bit, but he's probably fairly close to his ceiling as far as development goes.
@thelaughingwiseman I'd say about four leg kick three point celebrations a game.
@thelaughingwiseman 18 mpg/8ppg on 58% shooting %/6rpg/1.2 bpg.
And I have a feeling I may be way overshooting on those numbers. But for a big his size, that's not a bad ceiling.
@ou_sas @thelaughingwiseman DraftExpress had Hasheem Thabeet's best case as Samuel Dalembert and worst case as DeSagana Diop. I think that Dallas Mavericks era Diop is now his best case - perhaps with better rebounding and lower TOV%.
Perk was a high draft Perk.
Thabo was a modest reclamation. I guess Maynor too.
@justin_mia Cook was a reclamation of a high high school recruiting ranking
@justin_mia Reclaim Gelabale? Presti- No thanks.
@justin_mia Specifically reclamation projects of high draft picks. Presti loves high draft #s.
@justin_mia Yep, but that was about a physical injury and Shaun adding veteran seasoning on a team that was nowhere near what it is now. Interestingly, the only question Thabeet has is the thing that OKC prides itself on - effort/work. Seems to be a major contradiction
@Treviedo Presti has a soft spot for reclamation projects. Remember Shaun Livingston?
@justin_mia I respect your opinion and definitely understand the they aren't risking much money, but i do not think presti would have wasted his time on this(remember, they are going to put a lot of time and effort from the staff on this guy) if he really didn't think this guy could play. I think it's more than just taking a low-risk flyer. There are a ton of other guys he could do that with. He chose this guy. May also mean Cole is not up to it.
@ou_sas Yeah, that's what I meant, what is his ceiling
@thelaughingwiseman I'm just not sure if he has the ability to have a ceiling that high. His potential may just to be 7'3". That's what I was saying in overshooting.
http://bit.ly/NJs5r7
And Kurt Helin reporting that Eric Gordon is trying to repair those bridges he might have accidently burned in New Orleans.
@ou_sas the hornets wont be as bad this year, I think 9th or 10th in the west
@f5alcon @ou_sas They'll be real bad as long as they keep pretending Austin Rivers can play point guard.
@Crow Agree. One might argue that Boston's Big 3 trade has almost reached a point of "sustainable success" given their deep playoff runs + 1 title since the initial trade.
@ou_sas sustainable success probably needs to be 5+ years to be special
@ou_sas Vasquez might be worth a look if he becomes available. had a good playoffs.
@DSYIII @ou_sas @f5alcon I think that's a bit flawed. As much as the annoying "OKC model" is talked about, there's not a lot success coming to teams that spend a lot of time in the lottery.
Portland would have been good if not for injuries (a big "if" given the number and severity). Minny might be if they can get everybody on the court, but they've also blown a ton of picks and have been in the lottery for much longer. Mixed bag otherwise.
Can always trade Gordon anyway. Will have plenty of suitors.
@Jooseppi @ou_sas @f5alcon I think you're misunderstanding me slightly. I think that they should have let rivers have the starting 2 spot, maybe signed anderson, but certainly stayed away from gordon (what screams win-now more than a max contract for a guy with terrible durability?). I'm saying that by turning themselves into a mediocre team (instead of floundering and acquiring more young talent) they have essentially shot themselves in the foot in terms of being an elite team down the road. They made themselves too good to become great.
@DSYIII@ou_sas@f5alcon
It's a goal in the long term but not the short term. If you make signings every year wanting to win the championship that year, your team is going to be a mess.
Anderson's valuable in the short term. His contract comes off the books right when Davis will get an extension. In the meantime he'll shoot 3s, get some rebounds and take some pressure off the rookies and make the team better.
@ou_sas @Jooseppi @DSYIII @f5alcon The elephant in the room is Eric Gordon's health.
@Jooseppi @ou_sas @f5alcon The only reason we're a contender right now is that we had a GM who made that the goal the second we drafted Durant. Anderson is a super role-player (don't mean that as an insult), but is going to look much worse with Davis in the middle instead of Dwight.
@Jooseppi @DSYIII @f5alcon Agree totally. People think the OKC model is to go from worst to first in no time flat. Presti's never talked like that, it's about building sustainable success, and that starts with culture and is built with the right players and contracts. Davis and Gordon are the Hornets of the future, and Anderson is there to provide offensive balance and scoring. It's not a bad start, really. Honestly, it's probably better long term than signing Durant and Jeff Green within 2 picks of one another. Sure Durant is an all-generation talent, but Gordon and Davis will actually work together as pieces, as opposed to Durant and Green - who both ended up with the same position as their best one.
@DSYIII @ou_sas @f5alcon I think Anderson is simultaneously overrated and underrated. A lot of the focus is on his scoring efficiency, but he's an elite offensive rebounder and doesn't turn the ball over.
@DSYIII @ou_sas @f5alcon I don't think the goal right away is to compete for a championship.
@Jooseppi @ou_sas @f5alcon If anderson is part of your "big 3" you aren't contending for a title. I personally think that Davis is going to be a game-changer on defense in this league, and although they have some nice pieces (I like most of their players a lot...except rivers), it will be sad to see davis end up with a motley crew that isn't competing for titles (perhaps like young KG?).
@Jooseppi @DSYIII @f5alcon If you can get into consistent contention, Free Agents will be more willing to come there. You may not get to the Thunder's top of the heap, but if you're consistently making the second round of the playoffs... well, you're doing all right.
@ou_sas @DSYIII @f5alcon If Davis is 75 percent of what people think he will be, Gordon/Davis/Anderson is a more than respectable core.
@DSYIII @f5alcon Gordon's not a bad player. Definitely in contention for best young SG in the league. And if you pass on resigning good players just for some chase of high lottery picks, then you're a perpetual bottom dweller. You have to gamble on your team progressing at some point, otherwise why even play.
@DSYIII @ou_sas @f5alcon There are some interesting pieces. Gordon is good. Anderson is a good offensive rebounder and shooter. I'm not sure it's good enough to be a playoff team (like was mentioned earlier, the bottom 3 seeds in the west this year were murky and they will be murky next season), but it's probably enough to make Anthony Davis enjoy playing basketball.
@ou_sas @f5alcon Ah, my bad. If you're the hornets why in the world would you even try to sign gordon or get Anderson? Do they think they could win a title at some point with eric gordon as their best offensive player? Why would they close the window on high lottery picks (the thunder method) in order to launch themselves to mediocrity this season? That strikes me as very impatient.
@ou_sas@DSYIII@f5alcon
The Hornets didn't play like a bad team last year. There just wasn't a lot of talent there.
Jack was given away for nothing in the Dorrell Wright trade to the 76ers.
I'm not sure if the aggregate talent level will any better this year. Other than Gordon being healthy.
@DSYIII @f5alcon Oh, I guess they've got Greivis Vasquez, Xavier Henry, and Jerome Dyson too.
@DSYIII @f5alcon http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/transactions-12-13/2012-13-nba-player-movement-tracker
@DSYIII @f5alcon Yeah, he's with the Warriors.
@DSYIII @f5alcon I thought he was traded/picked up by someone else this free agency.
@ou_sas @f5alcon Jarrett Jack
@DSYIII @f5alcon Who are the other guards on that team besides Gordon and Rivers?
@DSYIII @f5alcon The west is going to be an unusual place this year, just because there's so many awkwardly built teams here (New Orleans, Phoenix, and Houston, just to name the most prominent). I think we can predict who the top 4-5 teams will be, but after that, it's really up in the air.