DT Mailbag: Sorting the Thunder

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If the Thunder went to Hogwarts, which house would each player be in? — Missy S.

Well that’s a great question that I’m excited to answer.

First, here’s a quick breakdown of the houses:

Gryffindors value bravery, are daring, have nerves of steel and are chivalrous. Hufflepuffs are hard workers and value patience, loyalty and fair play. Ravenclaws value intelligence, creativity, knowledge and wit. Slytherins are ambitious, cunning and resourceful — they do anything to get their way. Here’s how I’d sort the roster:

Russell Westbrook: Slytherin. You could make a case for Westbrook to be a Gryffindor and seeing as the Hufflepuff mascot is a badger, he’d fit there too. But Westbrook is a perfect Slytherin. He’s extremely driven and absolutely does whatever it takes to get what he wants. He’s for what’s good and right, but his path towards it is sometimes a bit sketchy. And can leave you wondering what side he’s really on.

Kevin Durant: Gryffindor. Duh. Nobody has more ice in their veins than KD. Crunchtime ain’t no thing to Durant. Chivalrous? He’s kisses his mom and grandma and is ridiculously polite. And he’s Headmaster Presti’s favorite student. He’s definitely OKC’s Seeker too.

Nick Collison: Ravenclaw. He’s a clever player that approaches the game with a high level of intelligence. Collison has a quick wit that he shows off on Twitter sometimes and is creative with his skills.

Thabo Sefolosha: Hufflepuff. Thabo just does his job, and doesn’t make any noise about it. He works hard, is very loyal to his teammates and fits into his role. He’s got to be patient too — he only gets to shoot once every 15 possessions.

Serge Ibaka: Gryffindor. Ibaka Instagram’d this picture of himself yesterday. He looks like he’s about to say what’s up to Nearly Headless Nick and chill in the Gryffindor common room with Dean and Seamus for a while.

Kendrick Perkins: Slytherin. I think Perk is the definition of resourceful. He’s got limited basketball abilities, and somehow has made a successful NBA career out of it anyway. Making about $8 million a year for crying out loud. Plus, come on. He’s so Slytherin-y.

Kevin Martin: Ravenclaw. Highly intelligent player that understands angles and spacing maybe better than anyone in the league. He scores in a ton of creative different way.

The rest of the team? Eh, just make ‘em all Hufflepuffs.

What are your thoughts on this Anderson Varejao stuff? — Dan T. 

So this has become a bit of a thing lately with the Cavs reportedly open to trading him and Cavs bloggers and writers including the Thunder in potential trade scenarios. For example, the one Fear the Sword floated that included sending Perry Jones, Perk, Jeremy Lamb and the Toronto pick in exchange for Varejao.

Darnell Mayberry offered an extended take where he reasoned that Varejao has had injury issues in the past plus the deal would be anti-Thunder culture, dealing away a guy like Perk with young talent and a valuable asset like the pick. The question about this deal is, what’s most important? Winning now, or positioning to potentially win later? I don’t see any way around it: The Thunder with Andy Varejao as their center are a better Thunder. OKC’s obviously very good as is, but Varejao is a special player that can rebound, run pick-and-roll brilliantly, and defend the post.

To turn away the chance at a player like that feels a little crazy. Especially when by all appearances, it would make you better.

The only thing about that kind of deal that gives me pause is that Toronto pick. Because it could be very good. Maybe not. But it potentially could be somewhere in the 4-6 range. And with how top heavy this draft class is, that could mean one of the three most talented rosters in the league could be adding a player like Shabazz Muhammed, Cody Zeller or Alex Len. Think about that.

But maybe Thunder fans are setting their sights too low with Varejao. Consider this question…

With all this talk of Kevin Love got me thinking. Do you think it is possible and do you think Presti is talking to them? I know this team is playing ridiculous and there is the aspect of, if we couldn’t pay Harden how can we pay Love, BUT lets face it, fun to think about. You trade Perkins terrible contract along with Maynor, Reggie and PJIII. All good young talented players, for KLove. Throw in as many draft picks as you need and boom! Then it is just a matter of who is your C and who is your PF. — Brent P.

I don’t know what’s crazier — this trade idea or the fact a couple people on Twitter didn’t approve of it. One person actually tweeted me, “But who would be our backup point guard then?” Yeah, because backup point guards > the best power forward in basketball.

The emerging beef between Shane Battier and Mike Dunleavey about who is better at Jeopardy sparks a few interesting thoughts. One is, that if they added a jeopardy tournament to all-star weekend, I think it could eventually be better than the dunk contest. Let’s test the intelligence of our players if intelligence is indeed part of the game. My question is, who would be the Thunder’s best contestant in this competition?  — Joe M.

Nick Collison. For sure. He’s a Ravenclaw. He’d probably be Tri-Wizard champion too.

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