Thursday Bolts – 6.25.15
If the trade stays as-is, Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider gives OKC a C+: “Depending how much the Thunder spend to re-sign restricted free agents Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler, they were looking at paying 3.25 times Lamb’s $3 million salary in taxes, so moving his contract for the $1 million guaranteed portion of Barnes’ 2015-16 salary enables them to save about $8.5 million. Given how unlikely Lamb was to contribute, trading him was a no-brainer. It was just a matter of what, if anything, Oklahoma City could get in return.”
Darnell Mayberry with some new details: “Previous reports indicated that the Thunder would receive the non-guaranteed contract of Matt Barnes in exchange for Lamb, with OKC immediately waiving Barnes to shed salary. But neither Barnes nor his contract is coming to OKC, The Oklahoman has learned. The Thunder is in pursuit of a draft pick for Lamb, although his lack of playing time over the past three seasons has sabotaged his trade value. Charlotte owns the ninth overall pick in Thursday’s draft, as well as the 39th overall selection. The Thunder, however, isn’t expected to receive either of those picks. The more likely scenario under the proposed deal is Charlotte sending OKC a future draft pick.”
Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com’s latest mock: “Payne will be in consideration at No. 11, but this is a spot that would be ideal. He can back up Russell Westbrook and also be an insurance policy in case Westbrook bolts in a couple of years. Payne starred at Murray State. He is a good offensive point guard who can really score in a variety of ways.”
Stanley Johnson is 10th on Chad Ford’s latest Big Board: “Many scouts saw Johnson as a star coming into his freshman season. A number of them had him in their top 5 and we had him ranked No. 8 on Big Board 1.0. Once the season started, concerns began to mount about his athleticism and ability to finish at the rim. While teams love his NBA body and motor, does he have the skill set or explosive athletic ability to be a star? With just one day to go before the draft, some teams still have him ranked in the 5-to-10 range. Others have him 15-to-20. The Pistons, Hornets, Heat, Pacers, Jazz and Suns seem like the six best bets to take him.”
In Goodman’s 2012 re-draft, Dion Waiters goes 14th: “This is a tough call since the Bucks didn’t really need another scoring guard, but Waiters and Rivers are the best on the board. Waiters has done more over the course of his career, averaging 14 points per game primarily with Cleveland and also with Oklahoma City for 47 games this past season.”
Berry Tramel: The draft analysis of Westbrook from seven years ago is fascinating. One of the more solid websites at draft prospecting, realgm.com, said this about Westbrook: ‘While he is still raw offensively, his play on the defensive end of the floor is simply suffocating. If you rate the 2008 draft class as pure basketball players, I’m not sure Russell Westbrook would be included in the top-20 at this point in his development, but his feel for the game is so naturally sophisticated, his fundamentals will eventually catch up with his instincts and athleticism…'”
Enes Kanter has been left off the Turkish national team, and he claims it’s because of “political reasons.” Those political reasons appear to be his support of a U.S.-based Islamic scholar.
John Stovall of ESPN.com on Stanley Johnson: “The first time I laid eyes on Johnson, he was a freshman playing for Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, CA. He has changed his body since then, becoming a first-round NBA draft choice in the process. Johnson plays hard, has solid skills and is not light in the confidence department. He still needs a little skill work but he can be an immediate rotation player thanks to his strength, motor and intensity. It would be a little surprising if Johnson lasts until the 14th pick, but I got lucky. He reminds me of a young Andre Iguodala.”
