Daily Thunder.com

Ah yes, the U.S. Open begins today and that means it’s Father’s Day weekend. I’m excited. One of my absolute favorite weekends of the year. Oh, and did you realize we are exactly one week away from the 2009 Draft? I know, finalllllyyy.

Sean Deveney looks at draft rumors: “Ricky Rubio is slipping in the draft – false: Most of the smoke-screening and posturing is centered on Rubio. The Grizzlies are No. 2 but remain likely to trade the pick, and they have a range of options. They are hoping to move down and get a big man – leaving whomever winds up with No. 2 to take Rubio.”

Russell Westbrook met the President this week and also talked about his China trip: “What was it like to have dinner with the President? “It was good. We got to meet him for 20 seconds, not too long. Just get his picture. It was nice. It was nice to meet him and interact a little bit. But we didn’t really get a chance to talk to him at all. You’ve just got to run through and take a picture. You know how that goes with the President. But he spoke for a good 15 minutes or so.”

James Harden worked out for the Thunder yesterday, but I think Presti had the thing guarded by the secret service, because there’s no info about it. Darnell Mayberry did say this: “Meanwhile, the player many think is a perfect fit for the Thunder, James Harden, is in Oklahoma City today going through an individual workout at the team’s practice facility. The Arizona State shooting guard is the second player to workout by himself in OKC. USC’s DeMar DeRozan also worked out alone. My guess is the Thunder walks away with one of those two some how or another. Something tells me it’ll be Harden.”  Keep Reading…

Thunder play-by-play man Matt Pinto will be on The Sports Animal this Friday morning at around 8:25. I really enjoy Pinto. He’s a quality basketball mind and he’s always got something interesting to say.

Derek Fisher was asked some questions about traveling (like actual traveling, not NBA traveling) and he had something nice to say about OKC: “What’s the most surprising/unexpected place you’ve ever visited? A: Being in the NBA, you are on the road and in a different city every few days. We have traveled to Oklahoma City, and I was very surprised to find such a sense of community, kind people and was extremely touched by the Oklahoma City National Memorial honoring those who were lost in the bombing of the Federal Building.”

Sam Amick of the Sac Bee sits down and interviews Ricky Rubio (on video). One interesting quote, among many: “I come here to play and to play the minutes. I didn’t come here to play in the NBA, and (be) done. No, I want to be a really good point guard here in the best league in the world, and I want to have minutes. So I have to find the team who wants me, who really wants me.”

Keep Reading…

Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld on Hasheem Thabeet: “At HOOPSWORLD we’ve had some informed sources tell us the Thunder are interested in drafting a point guard and moving Russell Westbrook over to the two. If that’s the case, you would think the Thunder are probably interested in, say, Stephen Curry, Jonny Flynn, or maybe Ricky Rubio. Then there’s been the ongoing rumor that Sam Presti really likes James Harden (and what’s not to like?), who would play the two next to Westbrook. Then again, as Mayberry aptly points out, what the Thunder truly lack more than anything else is a defensive stopper in the middle. The only real low post defensive stopper in this draft is Thabeet.”

Brandon Jennings was like, “Rubio’s no good!” now he’s all like, “Just playin’!”: “One more thing, I went overboard about the Rubio thing, I was wrong for saying he’s all hype that’s not fair. I was wrong, I guess I just wanna compete against the best. But off the court the kid is a great guy. I will never disrespect him, I just like too go against the best … well yea saying he’s all HYPE yea that was wrong. But far as wanting too be the best PG no. Im mad im not gon be the #1 pick.”

Speaking of Twitter, Nick Collison mildly amuses me again: “Golfing at det scremphs charity tourney. Thru 7 holes I’ve used 7 balls. My golf names..vanilla slice,andrew slice clay, condoleezza slice … I can’t believe the restaraunt Sbarro is filing for sbankruptcy. Its getting sbad, really sbad.” I actually laughed out loud at the last one. Keep Reading…

And finally, after all of that, we crown a new NBA champion. Congratulations are in order for Laker fans everywhere, even if basically all of the NBA and sporting world hates you. And now with that out of the way, only 10 days until the draft…

HoopsWorld looks at the studs and duds from the last four NBA drafts: “Without a doubt Durant has made a bigger impact on the NBA than Greg Oden, but he’s also a better player than 90% of the league after just two seasons. With a team built to run and Durant as the focal point, the Thunder will be a team to be reckoned with in the not-too-distant future – and Durant only continues to improve. Durant raised his scoring by five points as a sophomore, his shooting percentage 40 points, and added two more rebounds a game. What’s he got up his sleeve for Year 3? The All-Star Game should be on his resume very soon.”

The Baseline reports that the Charlotte Observer reports that Steph Curry could go as high as No. 3 in the draft. Hey, who’s picking third again?: “Davidson guard Stephen Curry could be as high as the third pick in this month’s NBA draft and is unlikely to fall below the seventh pick, the Charlotte Observer is reporting. The only players clearly ahead of Curry at this point are Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet, a source tells the newspaper. Many have speculated that Curry could go to the Knicks, but the Knicks have the No. 8 pick in the draft.  The source also said that four point guards — Curry, Spain’s Ricky Rubio, Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn and Memphis’ Tyreke Evans — could all go in the top eight.”

Something I was thinking about - The Lakers claim 15 titles. Five of those titles came while they were the Minneapolis Lakers. So if that counts, then I’m ready and fully willing to take that 1979 NBA title and count it. I didn’t feel right about it before, but seeing as one of the greatest sports franchises ever is doing it, I guess it is alright.

OKC still has assistant coach spots to fill: “Still down one assistant coach because of Paul Westhead’s departure following the firing of P.J. Carlesimo and subsequent promotion of Scott Brooks and hiring of Ron Adams, the Thunder could have one more assistant’s position to fill. The team is expected to move on without one of its four remaining assistants and has already begun interviewing candidates. The new additions could be announced in the near future. According to one league source, the positions could be filled before the June 25 draft, and at least one of the hires is likely to be an offensive-minded coach.” Keep Reading…

A couple of good stories came out late yesterday that I didn’t want anybody to miss…

Stephen Curry had an interesting Q&A with The Baseline: “The Washington one is set, and after that it’s still open. We’re in talks with a lot of teams trying to get the right schedule going for the last week and a half. Beyond Tuesday in Washington, I don’t have anything set yet. CL: Last time we talked, you mentioned the Thunder … SC: Oklahoma City, Portland and … I think that was it. CL: There was another one, the Bucks. SC: Oh, Milwaukee. We’re still talking to all those teams. I don’t really know what’s going to happen beyond Tuesday.” So Curry is going to work out with OKC and the fact he’s to work out with Portland means they may be trying to move into the lottery to get him.

Darnell Mayberry on the history of UCONN big men: “The list is long but not so illustrious. It contains familiar names like Emeka Okafor and Charlie Villanueva but also includes forgettable faces such as Travis Knight and Jake Voskuhl.It’s the fraternity of big men from the University of Connecticut. Some have gone on to great success in the NBA. Most have not. Hasheem Thabeet is next in line, for better or for worse.” Keep Reading…