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Breaking down the Orlando Summer League roster

by Royce Young on July 6, 2009 at 10:23 am 243 Comments

Oklahoma City’s first summer league game is today at 4 p.m. and like reader Lefty said in the comments, “It’s only like five weeks until college football, and I don’t even care, because we get to watch the NBA summer league this afternoon. How messed up have I become?” I hear that. Here I am waiting for four o’clock to roll around so I can watch me some summer league basketball. Dedicated fan or over-obsessed nutjob? You tell me.

But there are things to be excited about. I’m psyched to see James Harden in action and also to see Serge Ibaka for the first time. But there’s some other interesting names on the roster, most of which have as much chance to make it to fall camp as I do, but nevertheless, it should be fun to watch some basketball again.

Russell Westbrook (PG) – Thunder
We all know he’s good. But what kind of progress has he made so far this summer? He’s been working on his jumpshot and decision making this summer so it’ll be interesting to see if he’s made any progress. He’ll be one of the elite players in the league and it’s hard to say how much playing time he’ll get. But he’s not participating in the Vegas league, so I’m guessing anywhere between 20-25 minutes a game. He’ll probably be able to get just about anywhere he wants, but the main think to look for is for more consistency on his mid-range jumper, a better ability to finish around the rim and also if he seems to have more control of the offense with the ball in his hands.

Shaun Livingston (PG) – Thunder 
Livingston’s play at the end of the year was extremely encouraging for Thunder fans and extremely discouraging for Earl Watson. If Livingston continues to progress, Watson may be left on the end of the bench next to trainer Joe Sharpe. What’ll be most interesting to watch is if Livingston’s side-to-side agility has improved any and if he looks even more comfortable on his knee than he did at the end of the year.

Serge Ibaka (PF) - Thunder/Ricoh Manresa 
With news coming out that Ibaka is going to be on the Thunder roster next year regardless of what happens in Orlando, this week became a lot less important for him. But he’s still the most interesting player to watch this week. Really nobody has seen much of anything from Ibaka and he’s a major unknown. We don’t know what to expect from him. Shot blocking? Rebounding? Post game? Any semblance of a jumpshot? We know he can dunk, but can he play defense? His unreal athleticism and length get me giddy and I know when he’s on the court, my eyes are only going to be on him. Keep Reading…

Monday Bolts – 7.6.09

by Royce Young on July 6, 2009 at 7:50 am 44 Comments

Just a few days after Jerry Brewer made us feel good about ourselves, Steve Kelley comes along and poops on our thunderbolt232parade: “I’m not one of those people believing it is so sweet and nice Oklahoma City has a team. I think it’s a bad joke on the league. Oklahoma City still is a one-horse town that won’t sustain its love for the Thunder, won’t attract the upper echelon free agents and won’t be able to keep its own stars. I’m sure there are plenty of fine people in OKC, who enjoy their NBA team. Some even understand the game. But they should know that their team was built on the insults the Bennett ownership group hurled at Seattle.”

OKC to make an offer to Anderson Varejao?: “One rumor circulating is that Oklahoma City might make former Cavs forward/center Anderson Varejao an offer. That doesn’t add up. Sure, he would be a perfect fit for the emerging Thunder. But Thunder GM Sam Presti is best friends with Cavs GM Danny Ferry. They have a buddy-buddy system going strong, and the perception is Presti would not do anything to hurt Ferry’s team.”

Kevin Durant on James Harden: “I see him as a lot of guys,” Durant said. “Brandon Roy is one guy who comes to mind. Paul Pierce, the way he controls his body. He’s not the most athletic, quickest guy, but he’s sneaky athletic. He’ll dunk on you and uses his body very well.” After the pick-up game on Monday, Durant, Harden and other teammates went out to eat. “We got to bond with each other,” Durant said. “He’s a great guy. We’re getting started early. I can’t wait for the season to start.” Keep Reading…

Report: Serge Ibaka to join the Thunder for 2009-10 season

by Royce Young on July 6, 2009 at 7:40 am 9 Comments

I’ve been working to get this as confirmed as possible, but according to this site, Serge Ibaka has signed a four-year deal to play with Oklahoma City, starting with next season:

“The young player from Congo Serge Ibaka will leave for the NBA next season. The 18-year-old, who spent this season in Spain with Manresa, is to sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder, which will have to pay the Catalan club 400 thousand Euros, as Ibaka has still two seasons left in his contract. The Thunder will have the 2.08m centre for the next four seasons for a total earning of around 4.5 million euros. Ibaka won the Spanish league’s dunk contest last year and averaged 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1 block in 31 games.”

The report comes from this article which appears to be much more credible, though I can’t read a word of it. But it appears that Ibaka will be on the roster for next year. Even more reason to believe the Thunder won’t do anything major in the free agent market this summer.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Jacob, here is the second article translated.

When and where to watch OKC’s Orlando Summer League games

by Royce Young on July 5, 2009 at 8:20 pm 10 Comments

The Orlando Pro Summer League kicks off tomorrow (or today, depending on when you’re reading this) and a lot of folks have been wondering when and/or where they can see the Thunder’s summer squad play.

The league runs from the 6th to the 10th and the Thunder will play every day for a total of five games. The games will be four 10-minute quarters, halftime is just eight minutes and teams are allowed two 30-second timeouts per half. Also, players are allotted 10 personal fouls. I have no idea why. Anyway, here’s the schedule. All times CST.

Monday, July 6th
Oklahoma City vs. Orlando – 4 p.m

Tuesday, July 7th
Oklahoma City vs. Indiana – 6 p.m.

Wednesday, July 8th
Oklahoma City vs. Boston – 4 p.m.

Thursday, July 9th
Oklahoma City vs. New Jersey/Philadelphia – 2 p.m.

Friday, July 10th
Utah vs. Oklahoma City – 10 a.m.

The Orlando Magic’s official site will be streaming every game, so you can see the games by clicking HERE. Box scores, game recaps and cumulative stats can also be found at the Magic’s official site. Also, winning matters about as much here as it does in your Saturday morning men’s league, so don’t take these games too seriously.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: What’s most important to Kevin Durant

by Royce Young on July 4, 2009 at 7:30 am 31 Comments

This is a feature done on Kevin Durant right before the start of last season, but this offseason is actually pretty similar for KD – going to class, working out and just kind of waiting on camp to start. If nothing else, this was enjoyable to watch just to see Durant with a backpack on going to class. And to laugh at that dude’s jumpshot.

Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. Happy America Day. Go blow some stuff up.

Friday Bolts – America! Edition

by Royce Young on July 3, 2009 at 8:37 am 94 Comments

Fanhouse looks at 10 NBA players under 30 fighting for their NBA lives: “Robert Swift (Oklahoma thunderbolt2City) — The former lottery pick has never been able to stay healthy and has never developed into a dependable NBA center. He is a legit 7-footer and does have a decent touch around the basket, but his knees have failed him and he doesn’t have much of a resume. Swift has played 97 games in five years and has had two major knee surgeries. The market for him will be thin.”

One man dares to doubt the genius of Sam Presti: “Which leads me to ask, is Sam Presti really the genius he is portrayed as?  From a transaction standpoint, I can’t argue with the results.  He turned a going nowhere roster into a team with a lot of potential, but I still think he has botched the last two drafts.  Considering his laurels rest in how great he is at talent evaluation, that scares me. Perhaps he’ll make some trades or make a shocking free agent acquisition in the next couple of weeks that will change my mind, but right now, I think there is more myth to Presti’s mystique than a lot of fans want to admit.”

Reminiscing about the Thunder’s move: “It took 61 truckloads to carry the 786,000 pounds of freight the franchise moved halfway across the country – piling up 110,000 miles. The franchise also paid to relocate the employees who wanted to stay with the team, which wouldn’t reveal the total cost of the move. The early days of the Oklahoma City NBA franchise – then without a new name or colors – were centered in a plain, second-floor conference room at the Skirvin Hilton downtown. What would become the Thunder’s office at the Leadership Square building was still unfinished, with wires hanging from the ceiling.” Keep Reading…

Update: Gortat to sign with Dallas; Rubio to stay in Spain

by Royce Young on July 2, 2009 at 1:32 pm 75 Comments

UPDATE: It’s official, Marc Stein reports. Gortat to Dallas. Sigh…

Restricted free-agent center Marcin Gortat was scheduled to fly to Dallas on Thursday after giving the Mavericks a verbal commitment to sign an offer sheet with them next week, according to NBA front-office sources. Sources told ESPN.com that the Mavericks are bringing Gortat to town to tour the area and the team’s facilities after extending him an offer believed to be worth Dallas’ full mid-level exception — which could translate to a five-year deal starting at roughly $5.6 million — in hopes of dissuading the Orlando Magic from matching the offer.

Keep Reading…

Buying clothes that fit

by Royce Young on July 2, 2009 at 12:10 pm 51 Comments

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Right now, Oklahoma City has expressed high interest in two guys – Marcin Gortat and Paul Millsap. Sam Presti phoned both of them within an hour of the free agency period starting with Millsap and then Gortat minutes later. Both are restricted free agents but both look like they’ll be cut loose by their current teams. They play different positions and do different things yet OKC will probably have to pick one or the other to direct its focus on – there’s no way the Thunder splurges and signs both. In some ways, I actually wonder if the Thunder signs either.

But right now, if you had to choose, which one do you go after? The seven-foot center Gortat or the brawny power forward Millsap? You can look at lots of things – need, fit, upside, price, nicknames. (Gortat has maybe the best in the league with The Polish Hammer and I don’t even know what Millsap’s is. I started calling him “The Milkman” last year, but I’m sure that’s not official. You’ve got to weigh those sort of things.) I see it this way: Which would you rather have, designer clothes that look really awesome or clothes that actually fit? What you buy needs to fit your wardrobe and shouldn’t make you start throwing away all the clothes you’ve already got. It should just be something that you can add right in and doesn’t cause a total rearranging of your closet. Keep Reading…

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