Friday Bolts – 2.22.13
Ben Golliver of SI.com has OKC as a deadline winner: “Delicate is the word to describe Thunder GM Sam Presti. Oklahoma City pulled off two moves on Thursday, dealing reserve point guard Eric Maynor to the Blazers for a trade exception and acquiring guard/forward Ronnie Brewer from the Knicks for a 2014 second-round pick and cash. The Thunder boast one of the league’s deepest rosters but the pair of moves provides just a touch of improved balance. Maynor was not having his best year following a major knee injury that cost him most of the 2011-12 season. The more athletic Reggie Jackson was emerging as Russell Westbrook’s back-up and there just aren’t that many minutes to go around when the All-Star starter plays 36 a night. Brewer gives coach Scott Brooks one more experienced, defensive-minded body to add to a wing mix that includes Kevin Durant, Thabo Sefolosha and Kevin Martin. Brewer can be used when OKC goes to smaller lineups or in certain matchups that might not be as favorable for Martin. He also provides an added degree of injury protection for Sefolosha. Presti also shaved more than $1 million off of his books this season. That’s delicate defined: improving the bench’s positional balance while cutting payroll.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on OKC acquiring Ronnie Brewer: “He does give the Thunder another defender to throw at wings, though, when Thabo Sefolosha is otherwise occupied and they want to keep Kevin Durant out of foul trouble. Not a bad pickup, but he’s also unlikely to make a big impact for them this season.”
Kelly Dwyer of BDL: “Brewer’s role on the team might seem superfluous with the similarly-sized Thabo Sefolosha on the squad, but Ronnie remains an underrated player that moves expertly without the ball, and defends like mad no matter his minutes allotment. Even with Thabo around, this was a steal for OKC.”
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider gives OKC a B for acquiring Brewer: “Adding Brewer really cost the Thunder next to nothing. Oklahoma City had to give up a second-round pick that’s likely to fall at the end of the round in 2014, and Brewer is making the veteran’s minimum this season. He gives the Thunder another option on the wing and will probably fill the role Daequan Cook did during the 2012 postseason, playing spot minutes when Kevin Durant slides down to power forward in smaller lineups. With Brewer’s 2-point percentage tumbling this season, however, incumbent DeAndre Liggins might be the better option. Liggins is a better outside shooter and has shown stopper promise at times over the past month.”
The definitive Giorgis Printezis mix.
Eric Freeman of BDL on if this was this worst deadline ever: “Ultimately, the great thing about a boring deadline is that we can stop pretending it matters pretty much immediately. In five years, we’ll look back on this period in time and consider the trades that preceded it — the Raptors’ deal for Rudy Gay, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s decision to trade James Harden in October, even the Lakers’ summer move for Dwight Howard. These deadline deals will be afterthoughts. As with these five deadlines of years past, we can look, laugh, and try to remember why we anticipated so many trades in the first place.”
Darnell Mayberry: “Here’s another way to look at the trade exception received in the Maynor deal. It effectively extends the lifespan of Maynor as an asset. If the Thunder didn’t trade Maynor today, he likely would have walked in free agency this summer. The Thunder would have lost him for nothing. But by trading Maynor now and getting the exception, the Thunder essentially gets another year to get something (there’s that word again) for him, theoretically of course. It beats getting a measly mid-second round pick. It’s a pretty [shrewd] move.”
Zach Lowe of Grantland: “I liked the Thunder snagging Ronnie Brewer from the Knicks for a second-round pick. I’m not sure what happened to Brewer in New York. He started off defending well in killer small lineups, getting baskets on cuts, and even making corner 3s. The 3s weren’t going to last, and he did suffer a couple of bumps and bruises, but he could still do that other stuff for a team that could use some healthy, stout wing guys … The Thunder have never really had a full-time backup small forward for Kevin Durant. Thabo Sefolosha has basically assumed that role in the playoffs, and he wasn’t big enough to guard LeBron James in the Finals. DeAndre Liggins and Perry Jones aren’t going to be ready in June. Brewer may not impact the Thunder at all, but he’s worth a shot as a backup defense-first wing and potential extra ingredient in small lineups with Durant at power forward.”
KD just sold his Seattle home for $2.4 million. In other real estate news, Robert Swift had his house foreclosed on but won’t leave. Sounds like Robert Swift is doing well.
Why no big trades? Ken Berger of CBSSports.com explains: “The smartest ones of the day? In no particular order, the Bucks acquiring Redick for three role players instead of a first-round pick and the Thunder turning Maynor — a solid backup who was essentially out of the rotation — into a future asset that can be used to add a player without giving up any of their own and without triggering the dreaded consequences of the new luxury-tax rules. If the Thunder had kept Maynor beyond the deadline, they would’ve lost him for nothing because they couldn’t afford to pay him. This way, the life of the asset is extended and can be parlayed into another asset when the time is right.”