Wednesday Bolts – 8.10.11
Duff McKagan for ESPN.com after Sonics Night: “I want a team back. I actually want our team back, the one that is in Oklahoma City. But that would never happen. As a sports fan, I don’t want to necessarily take some other city’s team, but for us to get a team in that scenario, that means expansion. In this economy, expansion most likely won’t happen anytime soon. So where does that leave us? I just want an NBA team back here in Seattle. Me, and a whole legion of Sonics fans.”
Perk is hosting an NBA Celebrity game in his hometown: “On Friday, former Ozen boys basketball player Kendrick Perkins will host a celebrity basketball game featuring five fellow professional basketball players. The game will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Ozen High School. Perkins, a 6-foot-10 center for the Oklahoma City Thunder, is expected to be joined by Oklahoma City teammates Kevin Durant, James Harden and Eric Maynor along with Milwaukee Bucks guard Stephen Jackson and Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo.”
SI’s Ian Thompson: “The Euroleague does not anticipate its clubs signing players who have existing NBA contracts during the lockout, Euroleague president and CEO Jordi Bertomeu told SI.com. “Our clubs need to have stable rosters,” Bertomeu said via a translator. “They need to know how long they will be able to employ the player. No team will sign a player for only two or three months, or for an uncertain period of time. This is our forecast.”
Nate Robinson has a new website.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com with more on KD potentially playing overseas: “Securing insurance to protect existing guaranteed contracts and future earning potential against serious injury abroad is another key hurdle contracted NBA players must clear if they want to play overseas. Durant, 22, has more than $80 million left on a contract extension he received from the Thunder last summer. Yet it would seem that Durant is willing to take such risks, judging by his recent impromptu appearances at famed Rucker Park and Baruch College in Manhattan for cameos on the New York summer circuit against largely inferior opposition.”
Russell Westbrook is going back to school this summer at UCLA.
Via HoopsWorld, the Thunder are planning offseason workouts: “The Oklahoma City Thunder won’t let the lockout get in the way of their offseason training. While the players aren’t allowed to communicate with management, they are allowed to contact one another and that’s exactly what they’ve been doing in recent weeks. “Guys have called each other to figure out where we can meet and hang out,” Nate Robinson told HOOPSWORLD. “We want to get some good workouts in, hopefully soon. We’ll probably have guys come in around late August or early September to get it going and start playing.” Several Thunder players including Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kendrick Perkins and Eric Maynor recently worked out together in Houston. The group was helping Perkins host his annual basketball camp, but also found time for some training. The team hopes to meet as a whole in the coming weeks for a more extensive minicamp.”
