The Thunder have signed Oklahoma City native Daniel Orton, the team announced Saturday.
With the roster already full at 15, it’s essentially a training camp invite on a non-guaranteed deal. If Orton were to impress, a player could be waived (Hollis Thompson) to keep him on the roster. The likely scenario is for him to stay part of the organization with the 66ers after training camp and preseason.
Orton (6-10, 255 pounds) has been basically a complete flop in the NBA after leaving Kentucky after a freshman season in which he didn’t play. He appeared in 16 games (two starts) during the 2011-12 season as a member of the Orlando Magic and recorded averages of 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per contest.
BTW Amare started Hakeem camp. Dont know if someone mentioned that already
Did anyone just see Patty Mills drop the 3 as time expired to beat the previously undefeated Russians? That was awesome! On the back of a 39 point game against GB. Gotta love that!
@Stringer Bell yep. Mills is killing it
It's quite clear a team needs at least three stars to win an NBA championship. Those three can be all guards or a combination of positions. But the one factor that always rings true is you must have 3. And each of the three must be able to take over the game at any moment. When asking who should we take if a choice must be made between Harden and Ibaka, then my opinion is Harden. Ibaka is no doubt a talent. His shot blocking ability is unparalleled. His ability to help from the weak side is awesome, but if he's ever asked to do more then he gets beat. I do believe he will grow and get better on both offense and defense. Harden is ready now. He's been pivotal in winning big games. He's capable of varying the load if Russ & KD aren't getting it done. Now, we can't rely entirely on our three stars. Role players with specific duties are very important as well. Miami demonstrated this to us this year. Their three stars played well (not always at the same time) during the Finals. But the role players are what killed us. A defensive specialist, a 3-Point specialist, and a PG who's entire role was to kinda faciltae. These guys won Miami the championship. Our role players are good but are they good enough to do what Miami's did to us? I hope they are.
@Jameswade99 Our role players are better than Miami's. We have a defensive specialist (Thabo), a PG that can facilitate (Eric) and a 3 pt specialist (DC). Their role players just got hot. That's what wins championships. Look at every winner of every major sport in the past couple years. Cardinals got hot, Packers got hot, Giants got hot, Mavericks got hot. You could say "Yeah, but look at the Spurs- 20 game winning streak" Getting hot has to come with a balance of youth that can carry you the distance of your streak...the Spurs got tired. Age got them far, but couldn't get them past the finish line. We have the talent & the pieces, Miami was just clicking and couldn't miss.
@Bryson @Jameswade99 Is Maynor better than Chalmers? For the roles they play that's very debatable. Is Thabo better than Battier? Again, for the roles they play, that's debatable. Battier was rarely punished by us for playing PF defenisvely but flourished behind the arc with Ibaka on him. If our role players are so good how could we allow that to happen? Cook barely played in the series, but the Heat got a great contribution from Mike Miller who had wide open shots consistently. I think the furthest I would go is to say Miami's role players were utilized better than ours. What did Perkins do in the series? We've got (supposedly) three defensive ace big men role players and Miami's role players did what they want anyway
@justin_mia That's called poor coaching bro. That was the worst move.....because Scott Brooks is the weakest link.
@Bryson I agree that Miami's role players got hot but as DB said, our role players plus Hatden just flat out didn't show up. On bad scoring nights, both KD and RE find other ways to help. Harden never really did. I only asked the question because we didn't do a lot this summer to improve. We are content with Maynor coming back and our draftee. I don't know that our bench or role players have it in them to play like their counterparts from Miami.
@Jameswade99 @DennisBerry @Bryson I agree with you that the team didnt make MAJOR moves, but I'm convinced the Sam Presti knows what the heck he's doing.
I'm torn between Harden or Ibaka though. I feel like there are more Hardens out there than Ibakas. I feel like Ibaka needs to do the WORK to get where he needs to be. I think Ibaka has a higher ceiling when it comes to potential than Harden.
@DennisBerry Getting Maynor back is gonna be a good step up I'm thinking. Remember when our 2nd unit created leads? Good times are still ahead.
@Legendary_Dork @DennisBerry @Bryson I know we can't take on any BS contracts. I also believe if we are going to take the next step and win a championship we either need a serviceable big that can both guard and be a threat to score. Miami had Bosh who actually had a solid series in the paint. As Justin said their role players did whatever they wanted. My point was heading toward flipping Ibaka and maybe a couple role players for a mid level big. We may lose some shot blocking but if Perkins could guard one on one (not just Howard and Bynum) then Ibaka's shot blocking wouldn't be as necessary. Again, he is a great help side defender but it appears he focuses too much on helping and not enough on guarding his man. I would've liked to have seen maybe Ibaka (cuz he's probably going to command a larger salary than we can afford), Cook (very serviceable 3 point threat who we replaced with Thompson), and someone else traded for a solid big guy that currently earns under 10M. Then we could grow our young new young big guys while having an offensive threat of a big. Perkins was supposed to be able to lock down the paint and give us 8-10 PTA and 7-9 boards each night. That still hasn't happened. He's not getting it done.
@Jameswade99 @DennisBerry @Bryson ok first off i ask WHOM did you want to get for centers? and im being non assholish. cause you gotta keep in mind we cant take on any BS contracts, or go over the cap. I mean thats the WHOLE point of getting thabeet, hollis, and this dude. Its to possibly develop them, and SAVE money. I just got the feeling ibaka will want 12-15 mill and beard will take less to help the team. I like ibaka, but i just think hes going to get a big head. Also id like to point out that harden HAS been assured by the head organization that he wouldnt be traded, ibaka has not.
ive very excited to see if PJ3 can come in and fill a role for us too. Plus if we keep maynor, then theres the secondary PG we needed all year
@DennisBerry @Bryson I'm not so disappointed about PJ3, but I do believe our team took a step back this year by doing nothing to improve our interior.
@Jameswade99 @Bryson I agree. That's why I was mad it appeared we didn't go after anyone, except trash ass centers and a rookie from Georgetown who looks 9 yrs old
@Bryson @Jameswade99 I disagree, their role players are better. Thabo is very comparable to Battier, and shot a career high from 3, at the same time he was ALWAYS hesitant to shoot it and commonly ruined offensive possessions and allows himself to be double teamed off of. We have arguably the best top 3 guys in the league, and 1 of them didn't show up. After that it gets shaky.
Jamaica is awesome. How the hell did all that speed coalesce in that tiny island country? Saw an espn feature a while back about a ton of speedsters coming out of south-central Florida but this Jamaica thing is above & beyond that.
@Tequila or Failure thats what happens when track is your number 1 sport. anyone with any kind of athletic genes will run track primarily. not football or basketball or soccer. that kind of dedication will produce serious talent
@sleeping-giant.tumblr A friend at work was saying at the Jamaican under 14's 100 meter track meet there was a crowd of 14,000. If that's true then maybe that gives people an idea of how big track is in Jamaica.
Gotta love that kind of passion.
@Tequila or Failure British TransNational Slave Trade bruh
@DennisBerry Yeah, there's gotta be something to that. Wonder what African country or region was home to the present-day Jamaicans? Whichever it is, probably a sleeping giant in track & sports in general if they can get their stuff together enough to focus on athletics instead of just basic survival.
@Tequila or Failure Sub Saharan I mean
@Tequila or Failure @DennisBerry Eugenics. Saharan produces the best endurance runners. I am not sure about sprinters
That's awesome that Bolt looks up to Durant.
@supreme35 Duran'ts pretty tall.
@justin_mia True. Everyone looks up to Durant lol
@supreme35 @justin_mia It still holds true too because he can jump high!
On NBC in the Pacific time, Right now they're showing the womens beach volleyball Treynor and Jennings vs the Italians; how much longer until the 100 meter race comes on
USA is a 23 point favorite tomorrow
If you like the 100 meters this video is amazingly cool. Watch to the end where they compare the winners from the early years to today's younger kids.
http://nyti.ms/Pxsp7E
@Old Man Game that's badass
@Tronchaser That's evolution. I don't know what else to say.
@Tronchaser And the 15 year old scoring the bronze as recently as 1980? That's crazy! 1980 isn't exactly ancient history.
@Old Man Game Lots of factors to consider.
@Old Man Game I would be more inclined to the later there.
@Tronchaser But the 8 year old though. Okay I can buy that his shoes are better but how much does training really factor into him nearly medaling against the world's greatest sprinters of that day? I think it is also possible that it may show they weren't really getting the best athletes back then.
@Old Man Game I would say more tech advances and workout advances.
Bolt is a freak. We see amazing athletes all the time but this is something different entirely. No one should be able to separate from the pack against other guys running sub-10 second 100 meters like he did there. It's unreal.
when is Usain Bolt going to race?
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@MisterJohnsonOKC Thanks for all your help guys
@MisterJohnsonOKC when do they race
@Old Man Game @MisterJohnsonOKC Right now they're showing the womens beach volleyball Treynor and Jennings vs the Italians
@thelaughingwiseman @MisterJohnsonOKC Central. I guess they probably are still tape delaying yours.
@Old Man Game @MisterJohnsonOKC What time zone are you guys on? I live in California
@thelaughingwiseman @MisterJohnsonOKC They just showed it about 5 minutes ago.
What will Maynor's stats and minutes be this season?
@thelaughingwiseman Eric Maynor's stats will be: 6' 3", 164 lbs. Approximately.
@ou_sas basketball statistics. pts. ast, rbs, to ratio, that stuff
@thelaughingwiseman I figured, I was being facetious.
@thelaughingwiseman @ou_sas 1 arm sleeve tattoo
I really liked his old dynamic as the primary ball handler for the 2nd unit and have Harden play the more scorer role and slash to the basket. Harden could play playmaker with Russ and Durant in at the same time. I feel Maynor with Harden and Ibaka in can do them all wonders
@thelaughingwiseman I'd like us to drop the backup center from out rotation and give those minutes to Serge. We saw in it the playoffs a little bit with Ibaka coming back in at the end of the first. I think it will help his growth with having him and just Harden on the floor.
@dancassidy35/FreeLatWill! I seriously think that's the only way Ibaka can learn how to defend and rebound down low. He just seems to fixed on the help-defense that he doesn't try and do post defense as much. But if he were to be thrust into playing the 5 and having to score and defend inside would make him a very strong player
@thelaughingwiseman Depends on if he takes back his old role or takes on the Fisher role