The Thunder have lost another solid piece to their front office.
The Trail Blazers announced Friday three new assistant coaching hires to fill out Terry Stotts’ staff and it includes Oklahoma City’s top pro scout David Vanterpool. (Also hired: Kim Hughes and Jay Triano.)
Vanterpool, 39, has spent the past two seasons as a pro scout with the Thunder. He played for European power CSKA Moscow from 2005-07, winning a Euroleague title there before becoming an assistant coach with the club upon retirement. Vanterpool was also a member of the Trail Blazers’ 2010 NBA Summer League coaching staff.
There was an expectation that Vanterpool would be elevated into Rob Hennigan’s recently vacated assistant general manager position. Instead, it’s two big subtractions. But that’s the consequence for running such a wonderful organization. Other people want your people.
Favorite part of the story is that we signed Serge. Second favorite is that Sam's getting married today. Talk about a nice two days for a guy.
no,tax,no champion.keep the beard,please
@shiki Unless Russ really ticked him off with mustard in the beard then he's staying too. Only need to put it on paper.
Happy Serge Ibaka Day!
10: http://youtu.be/H_vR6YJ36M4
11: http://youtu.be/CKkGw5ePx7Y
Now Scotty is free to play Serge in the 4th quarters.
Very nice news to wake up to on this fine Saturday morning. 1 down 1 to go.
@Old Man Game Sadly... everyone forgets Eric. :(
@EatSleepThunder Eric we haven't got anything left to sign you with, but if you stay for minimum we'll get you a part time job at one of the Norman car lots.
@Old Man Game If I understand it right, all Serge's signing does is get us out from under the deadline and keep him from going into free agency. We still have this upcoming year to sort things out. Of the three guys we wanted to resign, who would you be most comfortable letting the market determine the price for...Serge, James, or Eric? I think you sign Serge and James...let Eric hit the market...then, when all the dust settles, take a look at your options.
@Old Man Game @EatSleepThunder Won't that create a scandal? Wait wrong forum...
@EatSleepThunder @Old Man Game Probably more of a wait and see of how he does on his rebuilt knee this year.
It's obvious that Serge wouldn't sign the contract until this Vanterpool guy left the organization. Maybe Serge has something against him...
This comment has been deleted
@MisterJohnsonOKC he might have found someone else in europe. can't have that if you are Serge or his agent...
This comment has been deleted
@MisterJohnsonOKC Royce celebrated late and is hungover and can't remember his password ; )
Now I feel like there's no reason to rush to sign James, unless he's willing to take less than the max. Just play the season out and if he has another great year and truly deserves the max, then we just match any offer he gets as a restricted free agent. But I really think locking Serge up means we don't have to rush at all with James.
@Daniel Hawaii "Signing" and "keeping" are two different things. It wouldn't surprise me to see us sign Harden in the very near future, too. That would give us the luxury of sitting on them for a season or so to see how they develop. We could then opt to pay the luxury tax if we think we're close to a title...amnesty Perk if Ibaka develops to buy us another year or so...or trade one or both of them along with their contracts.
To get Serge locked up is absolutely huge. He was the biggest question mark by far. It's pretty obvious James wants to stay and it sounds like he will, but Serge was always the wild card.
This signing shows that ownership is willing to go the extra mile and pay the luxury tax to keep our 4 Olympians together for the next 4-5 years and that's a good feeling to have as a fan.
What about Eric? Can we keep Eric? :(
@ILikePancakes I'm hoping we can. I think he's a bigger part of the puzzle than folks believe. Even though KD was often on the floor with them...Eric, James, and Nick worked well enough together that KD was just an after-thought. I liked this because it kept KD in the game, but it also allowed him to sit in the corner and rest for the most part.
Yes I haven't been this happy in awhile.
*Gets onto computer*
*Reads comments*
*Spits coffee at screen*
*Wipes coffee off screen*
*Starts celebrating*
In my opinion, Serge is more important than Harden to sign--a rarer commodity in this league. Does anyone know what the max was?
@DSMok1 I think the max for his years of service was $13.7 mil.
YES YES YES YES YES SERGE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Serge Ibaka deal is 4 years, $48 million, league source tells Y! Sports.
What does this mean for Harden? Do you think Harden is asking for more?
F-yes. Serge gets better by the week. Awesome decision/contract.
OBoy called it! lol
so is this resigning serge the real deal
Funny world though where Nicolas Batum gets a bigger contract than Ibaka. LOL.
@justin_mia Portland makes many bad moves. Despite having at least 4 NBA stat analysts. I know 3 of them.
@justin_mia and gerald wallace gets the same and javale gets about the same. if its under 45 i'll be pretty happy..the ability to amnesty Perk is very valuable if it comes down to it
@OBoymuzik @justin_mia Thunder could even try and flip Perkins for picks or to another team who'd need a very competent defense minded Center
@OBoymuzik Who's guarding Dwight w/no Perk? Cole (no can't guard anyone w/lateral agility), Serge (maybe, needs to prove he can handle true 5's & play on ball D.) Thabeet, Orton,,,, doubtful.
@OBoymuzik @justin_mia and sign Paul Milsap once we amnesty Perkins!
40M/4 yr is cheaper than I thought
@shiki Woj's article says $40M+ which could mean anything. Just that's it's more than $40M.
@justin_mia @shiki thunderobsessed saying something like 42.5, starting at 7 million. it's his math though.
$40M+? Ehhh....
the funny part of this is sam presti gets married TODAY
so if ibaka is taking ten, what are we asking harden to take?
@thunderatom A hike. j/k
@thunderatom footlocker gear and a yacht
@OBoymuzik so he's gonna sign then right?
@thunderatom def lol
Amnesty Perkin's and get Paul Milsap from Utah Jazz. Or get Kevin Love for Perkins. Minnesota is looking for veteran leadership. Perkins is a natural Center and the T Wolves have Derrick Williams
@thelaughingwiseman we just signed serge, perk is here to stay unless the lakers are a disaster
@OBoymuzik What happened to that "we need that post presence to score" and what not. Paul Milsap adds that and with above average defense
Woj's article says 4 years 40 million plus http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--serge-ibaka-reaches-agreement-on-four-year-extension-with-oklahoma-city.html
Offseason grade is now in the B to B+ range (will go to an A+ gold star if james gets signed before the season)