Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE/Getty Images
Sorry for the late recap but I’m just getting caught up on my DVR. In other news, Argo was really good.
The essentials: The Jazz dropped the Thunder to 0-2 in preseason play, 97-81, as Perry Jones III led Oklahoma City in scoring with 14 points. Russell Westbrook and James Harden didn’t play, while Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka both played fewer than 20 minutes.
The Jazz on the other hand, went with their starters for quite a lot of the second half, to which OKC’s second and third unit guys did a nice job of hanging tight with. But without real quality offensive options to look to, the Thunder couldn’t score enough points to make up a deficit. In summary, 0-2 PANIC.
Here are five quick takeaways: Keep Reading…

Forbes on Russell Westbrook joining Jordan Brand





Seriously though, why would the Thunder not keep Harden?
I already linked to Bill Simmons’ Grantland column about why the Thunder have to pay James Harden, but there’s a lot of great stuff in there. (Other than our statewide nightmare of him not writing “Thunder” being over.)
Both sides of the issue are laid out perfectly clear: It’s a game of chicken between two sides that both want each other. The Thunder are preaching their woe-is-me small market line about the luxury tax and “challenges” while Harden clearly wants the money he knows he’d get elsewhere. It’s a matter of who will blink first.
Except there may be no blinking at all. Keep Reading…