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Oklahoma City: Where the trade winds come sweepin’ down the plain

by Royce Young on January 13, 2009 at 9:00 pm 3 Comments

As the trade deadline starts nearing (about a month away), Oklahoma City is the talk of the town. With a roster full of savvy veterans with expiring contracts, contending teams have their eyes on the Thunder. One thing that I can’t help but wonder: How does OKC have so many players that other teams desperately want, but yet the Thunder are 6-33? Does that make sense to anyone? If the roster is full of coveted players, shouldn’t that mean the team shouldn’t be six and thirty-three? I digress…

Most recently, Chris Sheridan wrote a piece for ESPN.com talking Earl Watson trades. One interesting thing he said (among many interesting things he said): “Well, if you are playing GM the same way I am, the best option seems to be to wait another five weeks, wait for a better offer and let Watson keep doing what he’s doing. Eventually, someone will get him on the cheap. But the guess here is that the selling price will be a little higher than it was when the Thunder were ready to let the trade to Charlotte go through, especially if Watson keeps averaging 10 assists as he has the past two games.”

You have to give it up to Earl. He was a big time stinker for the first two months, but now he’s playing well and becoming a more attractive pick-up for a contender. So thanks Earl for upgrading your value from a late second-rounder and an aged, out-of-his-prime veteran with a huge contract to maybe a late first with that crusty veteran.

But I’m not even sure if trading Watson is the best move. I realize now the Thunder have Chucky Atkins and Kyle Weaver’s also playing a little back-up at point, but in this league, you need a solid back-up point man. Watson has two years left on his deal and while I realize Russell Westbrook is playing very well, he is still 20 and is still learning a new position. If this is the Earl Watson we could see playing second fiddle to RW, why not keep him around for another year? He’s averaging close to 10 points and 10 assists the past week and while I realize he won’t keep that up, now that he’s evidently healthy, his game has improved drastically.

Is what Earl can give back to the Thunder via trade worth more than what he can give potentially on the court? I never thought I’d say that especially with how Earl made me want to leap out of Loud City at a few times earlier in the year, but if he can continue to play consistently, I’m not sure I wouldn’t like to keep him.

But it seems Presti might be hell-bent on shipping Watson. So what can OKC get? As Sheridan said, both Boston and the Lakers would love to get Watson, but they don’t have players that can match up salary-wise. With some playing on the ESPN Trade Machine, here’s the deals I came up with. Keep in mind, if Bill Simmons is the Picasso of the Trade Machine, I’m Homer Simpson with a barbecue pit .

A. Boston. Boston really doesn’t have anything to offer because anyone with a contract that could line up is untouchable. The guys the Celtics would be willing to deal (Eddie House, J.R. Giddens, Brian Scalabrine) don’t make enough to match Earl’s $6.2 million. The Machine does allow a trade of House, Giddens and Scalabrine go through for Watson but come on, is that going to happen? So cancel out Boston. Nothing happening there.

B. Los Angeles. Honestly, there’s not too much that’s attractive on their roster other than Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar. But no way the Lakers let Ariza go for Earl Freaking Watson. I would assume Farmar would be part of the deal because he’s the guy getting replaced if Watson comes to town. And also the fact it’s been about three weeks since Farmar has stepped on the court. Everyone assumes both Boston and L.A. would attempt to use draft picks, but how many late first round picks can Sam Presti use over the next three years? He’s already got about 200 stockpiled and obviously he’s not going to use them otherwise we’d see a roster full of Earl Watson’s, if that makes sense. I don’t think anything is working out here.

C. A three-way trade. This little diddy could make something possible. Here’s one I worked up (though there’s probably as much chance of it happening as me playing power forward next year): Oklahoma City sends Earl Watson to Los Angeles, the Lakers send Vladamir Radmonivic to San Antonio and the Spurs send Roger Mason Jr. and Jacque Vaughn’s expiring deal to Oklahoma City. The Lakers get the backup point guard they so desperately need, the Spurs get a solid three-point shooting small/power forward to replace the shaky Matt Bonner and OKC gets the three-point threat it clearly needs. Everybody’s a winner right? Well, the hitch is whether or not San Antonio would want Radmonovic. I think the Lakers would part with him because he’s only getting about 18 minutes a game, but I don’t know if he fits into the Spur game plan, plus Bonner has done a pretty good job thus far. And also, I’m not even sure San Antonio would be alright with giving up a promising three-point threat for a streaky veteran tweener. Maybe the Thunder could toss one of its picks in to sweeten the pot. I’m just thinking out loud here.

Basically, you can spend hours swinging three-way deals the Trade Machine will accept, but who knows if Presti could actually pull one off. Joe Smith is likely to be dealt, Chris Wilcox will probably be on the move and even Damien Wilkins or Chucky Atkins could be packing bags. Something’s going to happen, but we’re just not sure what. Hopefully, it’s something tangible that we can say, “Yep, this improved the team NOW,” instead of another, “Well, we got a second-rounder from Charlotte and cash, but I’m sure we’ll deal that pick later for something good.” Shooting guard is the position that’s the most glaring weakness so Presti should focus there and flip one of these players to help the team get better today. I’m sure he has big plans for the offseason as well, but why not take a step today?

On another note, you’ve got to love this quote from Kevin Durant on whether or not he’d like to play in New Jersey when his contract is up in 2010: “I want to stay in Oklahoma as long as possible. I do, that’s the honest truth. I love it there.”

Voting for 2008 Slam Dunk Contest ends tomorrow

by Royce Young on January 13, 2009 at 1:11 pm 2 Comments

And Russell Westbrook gives you even more reason to vote for him — by rapping. Poorly.

So he’s not exactly Jay-Z or Method Man or Coolio or whoever is a popular rapper today. (I don’t listen to rap, if you couldn’t tell.)

But I think he had something going there…

This is Westbrook
Not your normal rook
You vote me to dunk and I’ll show you something… OFF THE HOOK

I think that’s what you were looking for Russell. But speaking of Hook, I actually just watched it for the first time in like eight years today on AMC. Great freaking movie. You lewd, crude, rude, bag of pre-chewed food, dude! It made me think if OKC were to draft Ricky Rubio, we should all call him Rufio or at least we he scores we all either crow, yell Bang-a-rang or chant Ru-bi-oooooo!!!!

What was this about again? Oh yeah. Vote for Russell. He deserves it.

More free basketball, but this time OKC doesn’t close out New Jersey

by Royce Young on January 12, 2009 at 8:25 pm 4 Comments

In the Thunder’s second straight overtime game on the road, Oklahoma City came up short. In OT tonight, the difference was a slow start. The Nets jumped out 7-0 in the extra period while the Thunder missed two shots and turned it over twice before scoring. It all ended up leading to a 103-99 loss to New Jersey.

But they did show some solid resiliency getting back to within two, but the team was gassed. Jeff Green and Kevin Durant both went 48 tonight. Nenad Krstic played a season-high 23. Russell Westbrook played 37 and Earl Watson 38. It was a long, hard-fought night for OKC.

Two things stick out as reasons OKC lost — turnovers and rebounding. The Nets piled up 18 offensive boards on the Thunder and OKC turned it over 22 times. That’s a total of 40 extra, free possessions New Jersey got tonight. Plus the Nets scored 26 points off the 22 turns. That’s bad.

If I were to second guess anything tonight, it has to be the final play of regulation. I understand what Scott Brooks is trying to do there. You’ve got Russell Westbrook who is an elite leaper and the Nets have their seven-footer, Brook Lopez, pulled out of the lane guarding the inbounds pass. So OKC tried to go up top to RW for a tip-in to win. But there was 0.5 seconds left in the game which is enough for a catch and shoot. And Kevin Durant is maybe the toughest man in the world to guard on a catch and shoot. He’s so long that he can get his shot over basically anyone. I’d rather see KD hoist a 29-footer than an oop attempt at the buzzer. That sort of oop is like the equivalent of a Hail Mary in football — high risk, high reward. Oh well. If it goes in then I don’t make a peep.

Since it seems I have to spend at least one paragraph per recap heaping praise upon Russell Westbrook, let me just say this about RW — I’ve been saying he’s got that little jumper coming along nicely, but now he’s expanding on it. Tonight, he used a great baseline dribble-drive, floated out toward the three-point line, took one hard faux step in and bounced back for a sweet 15-footer. That’s the move that can make him absolutely lethal. He’s so freaking lightning quick that every opposing guard is doing to fear his drive. But now with a fake push and a step-back jay, he’s deadly. It opens up his drive even more and he could see more points, more assists and more everything from that. Oh, and he only turned it over two times in 37 minutes, scored 17 and dished four assists.

And Earl Watson has played very well the last two. I’ve been very frustrated over the first two and half months with his play, but he’s been extremely productive the last few. And evidently, it’s because he’s healthy. He had 11 and nine assists and does an excellent job throwing opposing teams a changeup when he steps on the floor. Westbrook creates, Watson distributes. It works pretty well.

One thing about the Nets: Brook Lopez is going to be a very solid big man in this league. He’s got freakishly sweet hands, his footwork is great and he’s seven-feet tall. He torched OKC scoring 31 and grabbing 13 rebounds — five of them being offensive. Nick Collison did all he could to hang with the bigger Lopez and Krispy has never been known as a great defender and plus he’s rusty. It was a perfect recipe for a career night for Lopez.

But I have to give it up to the Thunder for showing up tonight on the road and taking a .500 team to overtime. And on top of that, OKC got the TWO stops it had to have at the end of regulation. And on top of that, the big 11-3 run to tie the game at 88-88 to even give the Thunder a chance. Those a more baby steps in the thousand mile march to respectability. But look at it this way — since Dec. 31, OKC is 3-4 with two two-point losses and one overtime loss. I know it’s easy to coulda, shoulda, but geez, the Thunder’s just 11 measely points away from away from being 6-1 in that stretch.

One quick travel day back home and OKC gets ready to take on the Jazz Wednesday night at the Ford Center. I don’t know — I feel a big home win coming. Just like Marc Stein said in today’s power rankings, it’s strange to feel this much optimism for a 6-33 team, but it’s there.

Thunder at Nets: Pre-game view

by Royce Young on January 12, 2009 at 12:30 pm 2 Comments

vs.

Oklahoma City Thunder (6-32) vs. New Jersey Nets (18-19)
Big Monday, Jan. 12
Izod Center
East Rutherford, New Jersey
6:30 PM CST

TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

Since Dec. 31, OKC is 3-3. That’s .500. That’s awesome. Throw in a very nice road win against a sluggish Bulls team and I’m feeling strangely good about a 6-32 team. Oh and also, 10 minus six is… let’s see… four. That means four more wins and nobody says anything about Worst Team Ever anymore. And better yet, there’s 44 games left! In order to tie the 1972-73 Sixers, OKC would have to go 3-41 the rest of the way. No way that’s happening. Especially because I think the Thunder’s going to notch No. 7 tonight. That’s right.

The Nets are a two man scoring team. Devin Harris and Vince Carter. That’s really it. Brook Lopez is a nice rookie averaging about 10 a game. YI Jianlian is an ALL-STAR!?? that’s getting about 10 a game (seriously, no more fan vote for All-Star games anymore. I bet Penny Hardaway still gets a couple thousand votes still just because people don’t know). Jarvis Hayes hits some threes, Bobby Simmons is a good role player and Ryan Anderson is a decent big, but there’s not a lot to the Nets. But there will be an Eduardo Najera sighting which makes me happy. I love Eddie Naj.

But OKC matches the Nets well. And add in the fact that New Jersey is worse at home (8-12) than they are on the road (10-7) and that leads me to lean OKC. More than likely there will be 45 people there tonight and that’s including the two teams’ entire rosters. So if the Thunder come out with energy and excitement, they could jump on top of the Nets. Because empty arenas typically tend to lead to unexcited home teams. Throw in the fact that Yi won’t be playing and Devin Harris is still hurting and is questionable.

A couple good storylines to pay attention to within the game:
Nenad Krstic versus his former franchise. Is it a big deal? Does this even register on the Revenge Scale? I don’t think Krstic holds any grudge against the Nets, but I’m sure he is a little miffed they didn’t sign him to an extension regardless of a busted knee. Each game Krstic plays, the more acclimated and less rusty he gets. Tonight would be a good game to break out with.

Russell Westbrook vs. Devin Harris (assuming Harris plays). Quick on quick. Speed on speed. Both players attack the rim with reckless abandon, except Harris has a more consistent jumper. Both are very good defenders and both are catching more and more attention. Westbrook finally had a “bad” game against the Bulls but now his bad ones are a 3-16, six points, five turnovers showing but rather a 5-20, 14 point, 12 rebound performance. A major, major key will be Russell staying in front of Harris and limiting his penetration.

Helllooo Nick Collison! Finally. Seriously, finally. In Collison’s last three games since returning from injury, he’s averaged 15.3 ppg and 9.7 rpg. That’s what I’m taking about.

Kevin Durant’s turnovers. KD has been so awesome lately scoring 28 and grabbing 12 boards against Chicago. But he turned it over six times. And that’s on top of the seven he had against Houston. I wrote about his carelessness with the rock about a week ago and I’ve talked about his struggles in ball-handling too (I actually have a theory for this), but he’s got to do better here. Right now, that’s what is holding his PER down and is keeping him from being an elite player.

A road trip can wear on a young team especially when that team will being playing its fifth game in seven days. But like I said, energy is key tonight. The crowd will be non-existent and the Nets won’t be at full strentgh. If OKC can play with confidence early, I think I smell a winning streak.

Thunder at Chicago: Pre-game view

by Royce Young on January 10, 2009 at 3:40 pm 4 Comments

vs.

Oklahoma City Thunder (5-32) vs. Chicago Bulls (16-20)
Saturday, Jan. 10
United Center
Chicago, Illinois
7:30 PM CST

TV: KSBI-52 (Cox 9)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

I’ve been looking forward to this game for about three weeks. Why? Well, obviously not because I think it’s going to be a great matchup between contenders, but for an individual matchup.

I want to see Russell Westbrook versus Derrick Rose. We all do. And this isn’t a “gauge where Russell’s at” type of matchup — he’s played against much, much better point guards than Rose. But it’s more just to watch the rookie with all the hype take on the one that’s gaining steam. John Hollinger wrote about Westbrook probably being the best rookie guard when it’s all said and done. Tonight’s a big chance for Westbrook to prove it.

The thing about Westbrook — early in the season when he had a nice game, he usually followed it up with a stinker. After he scored a then-career high 30 against Miami, he came back with just six on 3-13 shooting. After 19 solid points against the Mavs, he scored just two against the Spurs. But since that two point game against San Antonio, Westbrook has scored in double figures every game since (12 straight). And Russell, I apologize in advance for the jinx. I’m sorry.

The point I’m making is every game it kind of seems like he’s due for a typical random rookie stinkpot. But he hasn’t done it in three weeks. Compare that to Rose who had games with just three and eight in two of his last four. It’s completely plausible and highly possible Russell may not play well tonight. Because I’ve been waiting for it to happen for a week. But he’s got that little pull-up elbow jumper working for him and he’s playing totally under control and staying within himself. He looks awesome right now. And he’s just 20 and he’s learning a new position. Can you tell I’m excited?

The last time Rose and Westbrook hooked up, it was in the 2008 Final Four in San Antonio. Rose outscored Westbrook 25-22 and the Tigers beat the Bruins 78-63. It should be another really good matchup between the two guards.

As for the actual game and not the game-within-the-game, OKC will keep this one close down the stretch. Nenad Krstic is figuring things out and playing back-to-back games should help him acclimate himself to the flow a lot better and I actually expect a solid game from him. I’m curious as to if Krstic will start over Robert Swift tonight and also curious to see what the starting five will look like. Last night it was Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Nick Collison and Robert Swift, a throwback to P.J.’s type lineups with Durant at the two and Green at the three. I could see that lineup working well tonight but I could also see it creating mismatches in the Bulls favor. So I really don’t know. That’s why I sit in my underwear and write previews and Scott Brooks actually makes the decision.

I’ll toss out another prediction because I was relatively close last night and say I like the Bulls, but not by much. I’m going with 104-101 win for Chicago. The Bulls are 12-5 at home and OKC hasn’t won on the road in a month. It makes for a pretty easy decision, but my OKC optimism keeps me thinking it will be close.

Rockets do their work at the charity stripe to down Thunder

by Royce Young on January 10, 2009 at 12:39 am 6 Comments

I went and saw Gran Torino tonight (which was excellent, by the way) and didn’t watch the game. So sue me.

Evidently, I missed a good one. I’m just doing a box score drive-by and here’s a few quick ruminations:

1. No Chris Wilcox, no Damien Wilkins. Woo and woo. I like Joe’s theory at Thunderguru — holding Wilcox out so not to risk injury seems very plausible. Holding Wilkins out because OKC would be better off letting me hoist stupid jumpers seems very smart.

2. I listened to the first quarter on the radio, but one thing was pretty eye… er, ear-catching. The Rockets didn’t make a field goal until three minutes left in the first quarter. Yet the most they ever trailed in that quarter was by seven. Incredible.

3. What’s the deal with Robert Swift? Obviously, he’s just a token starter. He’s been in the first five the past six games, but the most minutes he’s played has been 21. Tonight he played just 10. Are they trying to slowly — and I mean slowly — work him back into game shape? Or are they trying to keep him somewhat happy so that they can make a decision on whether to bring him back next year? Or is he just biding time until Krispy Nads is ready to take over full-time? I think I found my answer.

4. Speaking of Krispy, judging by the box score, it looks like he’s adjusting decently back to the NBA game. But on the radio in the first quarter, I heard him make a major mental boo-boo. The Thunder had the ball with two seconds on the 24 and the ball went in two Krstic and he was totally clueless and swung the ball to Russell Westbrook. I’ll just cut him some slack and chalk it up to being rusty, even though you could not play basketball in 45 years and have enough court awareness to look at the shot clock, especially when there’s two seconds on it. But hey guys, come on… he’s new.

5. Twenty-two turnovers? Seven by Kevin Durant? Geez.

6. I really wasn’t aware Earl Watson was rehabbing a bum thumb for the first two months of the season and since he’s been “healthy” he has been better. I’ll give him that. But I only feel about .001 percent bad for all the ragging on him I’ve done. He’s shooting better but he still takes too many “No, no, no, NO, NOOO!!!” jumpshots. And I think I like Kyle Weaver as Russell’s backup more anyway.

7. When I have about two hours that I need to completely flush, I’ll do research on this, but how many games has Oklahoma City lost this year while outshooting its opponents? I feel like this has happened a decent amount under Scott Brooks. Tonight, the Thunder shot 48 percent from the field while Houston shot 46. And on top of it, OKC took seven more shots! The difference was at the free throw line where Houston took 15 more and made 11 more than the Thunder.

8. Seriously, you look at that stat line and you’ve got to think OKC won. 44-31 in rebounds. 48-46 in field goal percentage. OKC made four threes, Houston made five. OKC had six steals, Houston had… oh, I see. Houston had 14 steals. And 21 points off 22 Thunder turnovers.

9. Nice lines though by Westbrook and Durant though. KD continues to be one of the best scorers in the league, notching 27, but his game is becoming full. Six rebounds and five assists to go with the points is nice. Westbrook put up 15, six and six. Is it just me or does anyone think that’s going to be his consistent line for pretty much the rest of his career? He just screams 15, six and six to me.

10. I’m not really a moral victories kind of guy, but I don’t really have a problem with some of these losses. The team is playing contenders extremely well, but there’s just clearly one or two little, tiny things missing or these would be wins. And I fully expect that to be corrected by next year. So imagine all these under six-point losses Scott Brooks has piled up and make them wins. We’d be looking at a 13-24 record just on that alone instead of 5-32. Tack on more experience for the youngsters, more skills developing and maybe an added piece here or there and I think at this point next year we could see a 20-17 record. Is that crazy? Yeah, probably.

Rockets vs. Thunder: Pre-game primer

by Royce Young on January 9, 2009 at 12:50 pm 3 Comments

vs.

Houston Rockets (22-15) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (5-31)
Friday, Jan. 9
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, OK
7:00 CST

TV: FS Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal

It should be a somber crowd tonight at the Ford. Maybe we should all wear black as we mourn the loss of the Sooners. Twas a wonderful season, but nothing hurts more than coming up empty-handed on the biggest stage in your sport.

Maybe the Thunder can give us some solace! Yeah.

I’m in the process of setting up the new website, so I’m a little swamped. But here’s a quick breakdown:

Rockets good.
Thunder not so much.

But I actually sort of like OKC to play well tonight despite that 42-point whooping the other night. Under Scott Brooks, that doesn’t happen much and typically the team comes back competitive. Hopefully, Nenad Krstic gets more settled in tonight and unlike the Wolves, the Rockets don’t hit EVERYTHING. The Rockets are just .500 on the road and the Thunder have played them relatively well. And I’m kind of excited to have a real 7-footer to match up on Yao. I’m going to go on record and make a prediction for tonight: Oklahoma City 101, Houston 97. Yep. Maybe I’m reaching because I need something to help me get over last night. As you can see, I took it pretty hard.

Looking at Kevin Durant’s hot spots

by Royce Young on January 8, 2009 at 10:34 am 2 Comments

I love these NBA.com hotspots. I could shuffle through them all day and look at where guys hit shots from. As you look at them, you notice strange trends. For instance, Kevin Durant:

Look at how many more shots KD has taken on the right side of the court (209 to 159) and how much higher a percentage he’s shooting from the right side (40 percent to 37). Also, he clearly likes the right wing/straightaway three over the left wing trey. A lot of that has to do with the fact that in the offense, he mostly starts out on the right side of the court, but I still find that slightly interesting. And for some serious perspective on how much better KD has been this year, check out last year’s graph:

But here’s what started to catch my eye more than anything from both seasons. He also doesn’t shoot well from the baselines about 6-8 feet out (34.7 percent this year). I’ve always said that’s the hardest shot in basketball. It’s too far to be an easy lay-in and it’s too close to be a pull-up jay. You’ve got no backboard — it’s basically swish or miss. I probably airballed that shot 30 percent of the time in my prestigious basketball career. LeBron James is shooting 24.4 percent from the baseline tweener as I like to call it. (Because you don’t know whether to take a full jumpshot or if you should float it or if you should drop step toward the rim and try and lay it. Just a tough shot.) Kobe is hitting 38 percent on the tweener (10 percent below his season percentage). One of the best shooters in the league, Joe Johnson, is hitting 38 percent on the tweener (six below his season percentage). I don’t think this is big news to anyone, because most everybody knows players hit a higher percentage the more they are in front on the rim. Instead of looking at just a little thin rim, you’ve got everything to focus on — the backboard, the hoop, the square, etc. But that tweener shot is closer than the jumper five feet behind it, yet for the most part, players hit that jumpshot more than the tweener. Swish that around for a minute and take it for what it’s worth.

Also with LeBron, just because it’s crazy — he’s shooting a wonderful 50.8 percent on the season. Good, right? Well, look at his hotspots:

Unless he’s at the rim, he’s not a good shooter. At the rim, sure — he’s hitting 71.6 percent (compare that to KD’s 59.6 — Bron knows how to finish). But anything else, he’s hitting just 34.8 percent. Wow. It’s not like this is any major revelation here because we all know LeBron’s game is getting to the rim, but when you really look at it, it’s kind of amazing. It’s very interesting to see the difference in two of the top six or seven scorers in the league and how they get their points. Durant hits silky jumpers. Bron finishes at the rim. Nothing revolutionary there, but again, I was just struck by that when it was laid out so plain and clear with the hotspots.

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