Friday Bolts – 6.28.13
Chad Ford of ESPN.com gives OKC a B+: “Want upside? Adams has a ton of it, with great NBA size and strength and the ability to shut people down in the paint. If his offensive game comes around, he could be really good. Want rebounds? Roberson was one of the two or three best rebounders in the draft — an athletic specialist who might carve out a Reggie Evans-esque career. Want a scorer? Abrines has a chance to be a better version of Rudy Fernandez if OKC is patient. Want shooting? Jerrett has the ability to be a lethal stretch 4.”
Darnell Mayberry: “Thunder takes Steven Adams, which is exactly who I thought OKC would take if it didn’t or couldn’t trade up for Len or Oladipo. And it’s exactly why I thought the Thunder should trade back. Adams might be a future hall of famer. But tonight nobody can say for sure whether he’ll ultimately be better than Kelly Olynyk, Mason Plumlee, Rudy Gobert, Gorgui Dieng or Jeff Withey. I would have traded back with Atlanta and taken one of the five and a wing player, probably Jamaal Franklin.”
Chad Ford: “Steven Adams is all about potential. He has great size, and he’s a good athlete. He’s already a terrific defender. What Adams doesn’t have yet is an offensive game. He’s a project but with a pretty big upside.”
Dean Blevins teed off on OKC’s draft: “Steven Adams joins Cole Aldrich and Byron Mullens as the third first-round center to get a jersey in five years. But the jersey he’ll wear will say TULSA across the front. Which is where I’m headed. All three players they drafted (Adams, Andre Roberson and Alex Abrines) will wear jerseys that are not Thunder blue. Adams and Roberson will get their playing time in Tulsa. Abrines will get his in Spain (he’s frrom Spain and plays for FC Barcelona). Not adding a single player who will make a positive impact next season is compounded with the fact that there’s no money to buy a shooter to replace KMart in free agency. So, what you see is what you get. Or actually, what you SAW is what you get. Again. The 2012-13 OKC Thunder is about to become the 2013-14 OKC Thunder. Sans Martin.”
Did James Harden mock OKC’s pick? He says he didn’t as he tweeted, “I don’t know what’s going on but I haven’t been on twitter.”
Kevin Arnovitz with truth: “If you’re kvetchy about your team’s late 2nd-round draft pick, it’s time to start your summer hiatus and get some rays.”
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop: “Draft night is fun, but it’s not the night for tidiness. On game night you can live vicariously as a player. On draft night you get to live vicariously as a GM, but unlike players, GMs have messy “we’ll see how this works out” jobs just like the rest of us. There might be a hundred key decisions for a front office to make a year. The job is to get such a high percentage of those draft picks, coaching hires, trades, nutrition plans and like correct that the team has a chance, at the end of the year, to be the very best of thirty. Some braintrusts are so bad the players never have a chance. Other teams, like Pop’s Spurs, have such strong management that any number of cheap players can be plugged in and succeed.”
According to TBJ, OKC’s draft pick should’ve played a different sport.
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com gives OKC an F for Steven Adams: “He’s so raw. He has terrible hands. I really don’t like his strength. How is he going to be able to produce? I just don’t think he’s going to be able to contribute for the Thunder.”
Kids from New Zealand react o Adams getting drafted.
Lang Whitaker: “I still think the OKC Thunder may have drafted Khal Drogo at 12.” Somebody get to photoshoppin’.
New Zealand is excited about Steven Adams: “He now becomes the fourth New Zealand-born player to make it to the NBA after trailblazer Sean Marks, the unlucky Kirk Penney and Aron Baynes, who has switched his national allegiance to Australia despite being born in Gisborne. But he is the first Kiwi to go in the first round, and just the second after Marks to make it to the big league via the draft. Adams spent last season at the University of Pittsburgh where he averaged an unspectacular 7.2 points and 6.3 rebounds before shocking hoops aficionados by declaring for the draft. But the bold gamble has come up trumps for the Kiwi as he has shot up the draft boards after a series of impressive workouts and interviews. He’s rated a physical freak with huge upside, but in need of significant development before he’s ready to play in the NBA.”
