Darnell Mayberry: “Westbrook, a sneaker free agent, said that he’s not with Nike or adidas. He was wearing Jordan’s today, a different pair than the Thunder colorway Jordan’s he wore to media day Monday. Westbrook could be just testing out the J’s, or it could be a tell-all sign of where he’s headed. After all, Dwyane Wade did recently confirm that he’s leaving the Jordan Brand. Westbrook said he expects to have a new shoe deal done before the start of the regular season.”
Former Thunder scout and current Blazers assistant David Vanterpool to Blazersedge: “Russell is fiery because of his competitive spirit on the court. He’s a great guy. They’re both great, great people. Damian has a warm personality and so does Russell, especially when he’s comfortable around people that he knows. For Damian to look up to Russell means a lot, simply because Russell had to come from a situation where in college he didn’t always start at point guard, he wasn’t really recruited out of high school, he wasn’t predicted to play point guard in the NBA at all.”KD’s getting bigger and stronger. Also known as, “aging.”
Berry Tramel doesn’t like the new flopping rules: “It wasn’t going to work. Fines are not an impediment. Suspensions are the only way to go. First offense, warning. Second offense, sit out a game. Third offense, sit out three games. Hitting players in the pocket book doesn’t work. And it’s not even going to pass muster, anyway. The NBA players association has said it will file suit, saying the league does not have the power to levy such fines without labor negotiations. It’s a great get-out-of-jail free card for the NBA. Scrap the new penalties. Apologize to the union. Go straight to the suspensions. Hit the floppers where it hurts. And that’s not the wallet.”
KD will be at Penn Square Mall tonight.
Cool shirt, KD (via TrueHoop).
J.A. Adande of ESPN.com says prepare for the end: “Oklahoma City simply doesn’t have the revenue streams to handle the luxury tax as easily as the Lakers or Knicks. The irony could be that the harsher tax undoes the greatest success story of the small-market teams the system was supposedly designed to protect. If they don’t trade Harden they could use the amnesty provision on the two years and $17.5 million that remain on Kendrick Perkins’ contract after this season. One way or another, the makeup of this team is going to change. Change is the only constant in the NBA. (Can you believe only three members of the 2010 championship team remain on the Lakers?) So enjoy this version of one of the league’s most likable teams. It might be the last time you see it in this form.”
More Adande: “I think the Oklahoma City Thunder will win the Western Conference, taking advantage of the acclimation period for the Lakers. But that’s predicated on Oklahoma City avoiding the Los Angeles Clippers in the playoffs. The Clippers went 3-1 against the Thunder last season, including a pair of home-and-home victories within a five-day span in April. They were successful in part because Chris Paul won the point guard battle. While Paul and Russell Westbrook both scored about 20 points per game, Paul more than doubled up Westbrook in the assists category, with 9.5 per game. The Clippers also had three fewer turnovers per game than the Thunder.”
http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/10/dt-mailbag-kickstarting-a-dynasty/
@ou_sas perfect time to leave this post
@OBoymuzik I (and Royce - I suppose I should give him _some_ credit) aim to please.
Darnell was right in the first place. Royce White is a headcase. And a turd. Check the resume:
Kicked of out DeLaSalle High School for numerous cheating infractions. Kicked off Minnesota college team for shoplifting, disorderly conduction and, in a separate incident, suspicions of laptop theft. Announces retirement from basketball on Youtube, says he's going to become a musician.
NBA resume: signs 4-year contract in July with millions of guaranteed money. White holds out of training camp to try to re-negotiate contract he signed 3 months ago. Makes national news (unflattering to his employer) before playing a minute of NBA basketball.
Yesterday the Rockets agreed to his bus demands. Is he in training camp today? Of course not, he'll come in on Monday, the 6th day of training camp. Why Monday? Because Royce White sets his own agenda.
As the Grantland video makes clear, OKC would have passed on White even if he were available with the 26th pick. Presti's right again.
@DXL ERIC LINDROS. Nuff said.
@DXL You can leave DT.
@DXL I don't see how we can say 'Presti's right' here when he didn't even have the option of taking him lol
@supreme35 See the Grantland video. OKC and a lot of other teams would have passed if the Rockets didn't take him. White's bringing a lot of embarrassment to the Rockets organization right now.
It's not about the mental issues. It's about the timing and the public nature of holding out of training camp. This could have been resolved months ago.
@CP2 @DXL @supreme35 at the time of Darnells story, most of us didn't have the full story, because Darnell didn't include it in his article even though it was available. There haven't been many discussions since then.
@DXL @OBoymuzik @supreme35 Me thinks that Royce White once stole DXL's laptop.
Get over it, bra.
@OBoymuzik @supreme35 You can dispute that with the numerous other commentators who brought up the Royce White story (and Darnell Mayberry's "headcase" comment) in previous days. If it's not a story then why was this blog discussing it?
@DXL @supreme35
Barkley thinks LeBron can be better than Jordan
Lakers' Howard tells Shaq: 'Move on'
Peyton to join as Grizzlies part-owner
White,Rockets have 'innovative' travel plan
Clips' Billups returns early, goes through drills
Bulls GM: Optimistic Rose returns in 2012-13
Dirk down on flopping rule;Cuban concerned
Lakers' Blake practices just 10 days after injury
there's the top nba stories on ESPNs website, we've talked extensively about 1
@OBoymuzik @supreme35 Why does anyone care? Royce White not showing up to training camp is a national story, much discussed by the commentators on this blog. If you don't like my opinion, fine. But to imply it's not a story anyone cares about is ridiculous.
@Jooseppi Well, Houston was obviously lying. OKC, on the other hands, doesn't draft players with criminal and behavioral histories.
@DXL 1) You don't know Presti told his agent that. You know his agent said OKC was out.
2) His agent also said Houston was out.
@DXL @supreme35 are you Darnell? why do you care?
@OBoymuzik @supreme35 Presti told White's agent that he wouldn't be selected by OKC. Period. It's in the recent Grantland video.
White was off OKC's board. Obviously because he's a turd.
@DXL @supreme35 he was taken 16th, 12 picks ahead of our selection.
@DXL please don't call any 21 year old with mental issues a turd.
@OBoymuzik Why is Royce White out of training camp at this moment? The Rockets have given in to all his demands. You don't have to fly during training camp.
The only explanation: Royce White is all about himself and soaking up the attention.
@senseandsenescence @OBoymuzik
Rockets blogger agrees with me.
"Having said that, Royce should not be coming public with this. This sort of thing needs to be kept in-house. I understand that there might be a desire to raise an awareness for the condition. Throwing your new team under the bus (pun intended) is not the way to do it. If he wants to negotiate terms with the team, that’s his entitlement, but he should not be putting the media on notice.
Why is this just now happening? If you read my first thoughts, you know I have nothing but sympathy for Royce in this situation. But I had presumed, with the facts that we had had, that it was some sudden panic with the onset of camp that caused him to not report. Now it almost seems calculated. Why wasn’t this arrangement worked out months ago?"
http://www.red94.net/thoughts-royce-white-situation/10121/#more-10121
@senseandsenescence @OBoymuzik It doesn't make sense to hold out of training camp. You can attend training camp and still formulate a "sustainable plan" for the season.
White could have handled this with the Rockets in private months ago while he was negotiating his contract. Only after the contract was signed did White begin his campaign of embarrassing the Rockets organization.
@senseandsenescence @OBoymuzik Protip: Character doesn't fundamentally change. Once a turd, probably always a turd.
@DXL @OBoymuzik He is out of training camp because he is developing a sustainable plan for the season, not just training camp. That's shows some forethought and helps the team more than just giving in to an inadequate plan and having a mental breakdown in the middle of the season. It may be his fault that an appropriate plan was not in place in time for camp, but I imagine at least the majority of the fault lies with the Rockets. Honestly I don't think it is fair to assign fault in an issue which neither side has much experience.
Protip: When you think there is only one explanation for a complex issue, you are most likely wrong.
@DXL i posted a few days ago that it's very possible that Royce White is a guy with mental issues and is also a bad dude. But since he has the mental issues we shouldn't be judging him.
I would also like to point out that this is the most we've ever talked about a Houston Rockets player on daily thunder.
@OBoymuzik Fine, he's a criminal and a dishonest person. He has a criminal record. He was kicked out of school for cheating, multiple times. How can those incidents be justified?
@DXL why do you care? he's not on the thunder, we didn't have the opportunity to draft him? so why does it matter?
@DXL nah
Rondo WANTING to take the 3? Hm.
@novelisticbee0 If Rondo could make 3's he'd be close to the best.
on a crappy quality stream Courtney Lee and Paul Pierce look identical.
@OBoymuzik
man suck to be ugly
@Bsooreal @OBoymuzik http://i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/002/135/sw50sw8sw578.gif
I don't know who NBAtv watchers have as announcers but I got Brian Scalabrine. I'm pretty pumped.
DARKO!
@FreeFezzyFel Dude's a scrub. Reminds me of my left tackle.
@FreeFezzyFel WHITE MAMBA
former Thunder Forward Jeff Green is not a starter i wish we could bench Green when he was in OKC
@tydude well garnett pierce are going to start even if he was better
Anyone think Sullinger will get a little playing time today?
@novelisticbee0 Did he make it by bus?
@novelisticbee0 Guys, seriously.... joke. The interwebs are not strong in me.
@Tronchaser @novelisticbee0 You also can't take a bus to Turkey.....
@Tronchaser @novelisticbee0 thats Royce White
@OBoymuzik @Tronchaser @novelisticbee0 only a head case could confuse the two
@Tronchaser I really hope this isn't a joke. Lol
If it's not, I believe the person you're thinking of is Royce White.
@Tronchaser @novelisticbee0 Wrong dude
Great we get to hear Celtics broadcast on NBA TV
When we win a Championship. Does Harden Shave his beard?
@Bsooreal NO! It's a brand all by itself.
@Tronchaser
man that thing needs a trim though.
@Lost Ones @Bsooreal @Tronchaser The beard does a swell job of hiding his teeth.
@Bsooreal @Tronchaser needs to cut that shit off TBH