Monday Bolts – 7.21.14
Darnell Mayberry: “Huestis would represent another significant milestone. His selection, which on draft night was viewed as a duplicate of last year’s pick, Andre Roberson, also would make more sense. By taking Huestis with the second-to-last selection in the first round, the Thunder secured another critically cost-effective rookie scale contract. The difference is that standard four-year deal — two guaranteed years and two team options in the final two seasons — would come on the back end of a preliminary year in the D-League and ensures the Thunder would have Huestis developing in its program for at least five seasons. It’s forward-thinking at its finest.”
John Klein of the Tulsa World on the 66ers: “Losing the 66ers is a blow to Tulsa because the team was a direct link to the Thunder for northeastern Oklahoma. The 66ers weren’t wildly popular in Tulsa but did have a loyal but small following and was a strong link to the Thunder. It gave Tulsans a chance to see young players who were possible future Thunder stars assigned to the 66ers. But, there was simply no place for the 66ers to move, according to the Thunder.”
Kobe on Seattle: “I’d much rather come here in the postseason than Oklahoma.”
Megan Fox was starstruck by Russell Westbrook.
Darko Rajakovic in a Q&A: “Definitely it helped me a lot, because the style of game is different in Serbia where I was coaching, it was different in Spain and it’s definitely different over here. So all of those experiences together are helping me to learn and see different angles of basketball. I learned one thing: there is not just one way to do something. I think that’s going to help me going forward.”
Ben Golliver of SI.com on the midseason tournament idea: “A four-team tournament would be really easy. Miami would play Indiana and San Antonio would play Oklahoma City in the first round. The winners would face off and the losers would face off. Then, because the NBA would need to account for their regular season match-ups, a third set of games would be needed — during the tournament or later — to square things up. For example, let’s say Miami beats Indiana and San Antonio beats Oklahoma City. Miami would then face San Antonio in the tournament championship, with Indiana playing Oklahoma City in the consolation game. Miami and Oklahoma City would then need to play a game, and Indiana and San Antonio would need to play a game, to ensure that the regular season schedule match-ups remain the same. Right now, all East teams face all West teams twice during the regular season.”
