With the deadline of his expiring deal rapidly approaching, Scott Brooks and the Thunder are finally closing the gap on a new contract.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports the Thunder and Brooks are “getting close” on a new deal. The proposed extension is for four years. Brooks and his representatives have already reportedly turned down a four-year, $16 million deal. Obviously with the deadline to get an extension done coming fast, somebody bent a little.
The Thunder have prioritized Brooks and his deal on their summer to-do list and don’t want to enter free agency without having him taken care of. Sam Presti has continually been clear that Brooks is considered a critical piece to the team’s success.
Expect a new deal to be hammered out very soon, possibly as early as Saturday.
I think it would fun if the Thunder named Collison player-coach. Tell me one thing Brooks or Spoelstra know about basketball that Nick doesn't. Nick knows the guys as well.or better than Brooks. Player-coach won't happen though.
Most teams are going new-school. Collison would have about as much old school in him as any new school aged coach would have. Someday, somewhere.
@Crow i one billion % agree with this :D
@Crow I like it! I think Nick would be a great coach. On a similar note...I'd been toying with the idea of seeing that, if he decides not to play another year, Garnett would want to help coach our big men.
http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/06/saturday-morning-cartoons-thunder-up/#comments
Some people's kg dreams just got crushed. Kevin Garnett is staying with the Celtics. The Herald has learned this morning that Garnett has informed the club he will be back. The 36-year-old considered retirement, but ultimately decided to return for an 18th NBA season — and more. Boston Herald
Damn, Garnett got a 3 year deal. 11.3 mil per
@areayewhy meh i never really wanted him. if i wanted anyone it would be ray allen to replace cook.
@Legendary_dork Same, but i think Boston is getting the group back together for one more run. After a couple days of the Allen to Miami rumor I read he wants to stay in Boston.
@Legendary_dork maybe if jones, miller, and juwan howard retire
@areayewhy i dont see how miami could afford him anyways.
@areayewhy Oops..posted "Garnett as coach" before I saw this. Oh well...maybe next year.
Less than 24 hours from OJ Mayo getting paid. I think that's my early pick for worst FA contract. Hibbert will be close.
Forgot about McGee. He has the most potential for a terrible deal.
@Jooseppi i think McGee will surprise you. He looks really good sometimes, but other times he make knucklehead decisions. I like his career outlook under George Carl.
@TaoMaas Different kind of issues on the mental side.
@Jooseppi The same could have been said about Serge and Harden a year or two ago.
@Jooseppi I'm confident George Carl will get and keep him focused on bball. It seems all players like carl minus melo.
@areayewhy He looked better in Denver but it was only 27 games. He's got everything going for him to be a good player other than the between the ears stuff.
@Jooseppi How is hibbert a terrible contract? his mentor is team duncan he will only improve.
@Lost Ones He's going to get the max.
@Lost Ones Based on what?
@Jooseppi he's a big man and one of the best in the league he deserves close to it.
NBA Free Agency Stars Tomorrow Bye Bye Fisher Bye Bye Nazr
@Lost Ones indeed!
@Lost Ones Wonder if Tay Williams will be signed by the end of the week?
@Old Man Game Depends on his summer league performance
More thoughts on the PJ3 selection. It's another example of how OKC drafting based on potential and character, not on statistical analytics. Presti is not really a stats nerd, contrary to expectations.
Advanced stats guys have changed the conversation in the NBA front offices. PJ3's stats project that he's going to be a marginal player in the pros--that's the real reason he fell. OKC believes he has the potential to get better in their developmental system.
Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka, Mullens, Aldrich, Reggie Jackson, PJ3: none of these recent OKC picks were highly ranked by the advanced stats analysts.
@DXL I disagree with some of that. I'm not a stats nerd, but I follow stats pretty closely and I can say that Harden was a top shelf stat hog in college for a shooting guard. Aldrich also was very good statistically and historically for the Center position coming out of college. But I agree with you on the rest.
@DXLWrong on most. Harden, Jackson and Alrdich were outstanding PER in college and other so-called advanced stats including TS%. Mullens was pretty strong. The weakest was Westbrook.
@Crow No, I don't mean normal stats like true shooting percentage. I mean advanced statistical projections of how players will develop (which includes variables like age, height, position etc). Westbrook and Harden were mediocre by Hollinger's Draft Rater. Mullens, Aldrich and Jones were rated very low by Hollinger's Draft Rater.
The stat nerd teams are using models like the Draft Rater. Hence Terence Ross goes 8th to Toronto (their stats guys like him), while PJ3 went 28th (everyone's stats guys hated him).
@DXL @Jooseppi Westbrook just had a pretty good playoffs. Not great overall. So far, he has one great playoffs, one pretty good and one below average for a playoff starter.
@DXL @Jooseppi Part of it depends on expectations. If Jones is judged by low 1st rounder standards he will probably turn out ok or better.I don't think he will end up worse than ok.
@Crow @Jooseppi I'm pretty certain Presti does not rely on statistical models like Draft Rater. In many ways he's old school: he looks for length, athleticism, character and potential to develop. Not efficient college production, which is what most the advanced statistics measure.
He trusts that the OKC development program will mold raw draft picks. It worked wonders with Westbrook, not so much with Mullens. Jury's out on PJ3.
@Jooseppi @DXL Jones seems like a good pick, on balance.
@Jooseppi @DXL Predicting the draft well would be a very full-time job. Really really advanced statistical analysis might pay off but you got to blend the analysis with some judgment based on game knowledge.
@Crow @DXL I think overall we know what Presti values. Athleticism is a big part of it, and potential goes along with that in many cases. But there's a statistical basis for the picks, as well.
Of course, if you just go by certain types of statistics without looking at other factors, you're going to have issues. Just looking at situationals, why isn't Jack McClinton on an NBA team? Lots of stuff to consider.
@Jooseppi @DXLIt is questionable how much height & position should matter in a draft rating system. Age has some place but not sure I buy in to its being very important.
Degree of schedule difficulty is very important. I think Lillard benefited from weak competition and weak teammates. Oshley does not seem to have given this enough consideration. "Franchise player?" I highly doubt it.
@Jooseppi @DXL College game lacks adjusted plus-minus in public and given the short season and padded schedules with lots of weak teams it wouldn't help that much to have it.
@Jooseppi @DXL I see. Thanks for the clarification. Many similarity systems are way too crude. Kevin Pelton's is terribly crude but somebody formerly with the Pacers liked it. Hollinger's is better than most but could probably be made better.
@DXL @Crow I don't know much about what specific teams use, but even Hollinger considers his draft rater unreliable, especially with one and done players and especially with players from UCLA (seriously). IIRC, his ratings have TJ Ford, Jay Williams, Jordan Farmar and Jrue Holiday above Westbrook, Rose and Conley.
@Crow @DXL Harden also had good supporting situational statistics iirc. Don't remember the others.
@DXL Jones is the same range as Westbrook and Mullens.
@Crow @DXL which could work on russ's favor. his assist should go up if he can actually dish to someone whom can hit that spot
@DXL also people see that his numbers were dipping so they were like, nah pass. But as presti pointed out, his numbers dipped, but they were winning more games.
just like how we dont need kd to drop 40 to 50 a night, if hes looking for other guys then we can just as capable win.
ok ill say this. if brooks can STOP being so damn stubborn, and learn what match ups are, ill be fine with him re signing. He has to understand that mins dont mean crap. if you get butt hurt cause your not playing and yet not affecting the game *aka perk* then you shouldnt be playing to begin with. Its about the TEAM not an individual. and yes i know brooks is learning and growing too, but shesh man...use your brain sometimes. Plus you have other people like mo cheeks and stuff to give you advice :P .
@Legendary_dork While I'd love for an extraordinary coach, to a point I agree. We don't need Brooks to be a good coach in order to win a title. We just need him to not be bad to the point where he detracts from what our players already can do on their own merits.
@JimboSlice @Legendary_dork If Presti, the assistant coaches and the rest of the front office did more of the things well (and convinced him to use it) that Brooks doesn't seem to naturally provide himself they might be better off. But it is pretty impossible to say what is coming from those guys and how good it has been.
@JimboSlice i do agree that hes helping them grow a bit. but in reality its all of their hard work thats paying off. So maybe thats what presti told him...ehh scotty, just dont suck...as much :P and we got a deal!
@JimboSlice @Legendary_dork Exactly, just don't screw up too much and make life more difficult than it should be for the players on the court.
Let's see schedule for today, finalize deal with head coach, introduce draft pick to the local media, do photo ops with draft pick, finish up with putting together offers for Serge and James so you can be prepared for tomorrow. All in a days work for Presti.
@Old Man Game dude, presti has that done by lunch