Friday Bolts – 7.2.10
A lot of you mentioned this yesterday, but Bill Simmons in his World Cup column yesterday: “I love the Cup because it stripped away all the things about professional sports that I’ve come to despise. No sideline reporters. No JumboTron. No TV timeouts. No onslaught of replays after every half-decent play. No gimmicky team names like the “Heat” or the “Thunder.”” He said our name! OMG OMG OMG. Also, there was this line: “Either you rooted for local teams or you jumped on a successful bandwagon (such as the Steelers’ or Cowboys’) because they were always on national TV. The days of “I’m going to fall in love with Oklahoma City because I love watching Kevin Durant, even though I live in Maine” were still decades away.”
Marc Spears reports OKC has made some calls on Chris Duhon: “New York Knicks free agent point guard Chris Duhon has drawn some interest from the Chicago Bulls, his former team. The Knicks, Atlanta Hawks and Oklahoma City Thunder have also made preliminary inquiries into Duhon.”
An excellent point by Henry Abbott: ‘If the Knicks don’t get a big free agent, has this whole cap-clearing experiment been a disaster? I say absolutely not. Being under the cap is a fantastic long-term strategy if you play it strategically. (See Thunder, OKC.) They were loaded down with bad contracts. That’s impossible. Just having nobody on the team is way better than that. I know New York is hungry for a quick fix, and has been focused on LeBron James. But two years from now, getting nobody expensive at all could still lead to a beautiful rebirth of Knicks basketball.”
Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk on KD’s deal: “The Thunder could have tried to save some money by waiting to offer an extension until next summer, then do it under the terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (which almost certainly will lower player salaries). But that is not how you treat a superstar. And Durant is that in the making. He is the ticket to glory in Oklahoma City. He is the guy that fills the arena and sells the jerseys. You don’t lowball your superstar. You lavish them. Oklahoma City got it right.”
Sam Amick on the contract: “While figures of the deal were not discussed, the Thunder are expected to eventually propose a maximum deal for five years and approximately $85 million. Anything less, and they will be endangering Durant’s future with the up-and-coming team. The two sides can’t sign a possible deal until July 8 and have until Oct. 31 to do so.”
Chris Silva on Latavious Williams: “Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti said the organization sought out players like Williams, prospects who help maximize the Thunder’s efforts in Tulsa, players who put in the time both collectively and individually. Presti calls these types of players “earners,” and Williams embodied those characteristics. “Populating that team with like-minded players and coaches only bolsters and adds depth to our efforts in Oklahoma City,” Presti said.”
Mike Tokito of the Oregonian looks at how KD’s contract relates to Greg Oden’s: “In Portland, the Blazers are focused on hiring a general manager (more on that below), but the same clock started for center Greg Oden. Blazers director of NBA scouting Michael Born, who is helping with the GM duties, told me Monday the team has every intention of keeping Oden around. “Obviously we’re going to do everything we can to have him be a big part of our team moving forward,” Born said. “We believe in him long term.” The big question is, what do you pay a player who has played just 82 games in three seasons, yet shows tantalizing glimpses of what he could become? Considering the max deal Portland gave Brandon Roy and the protracted negotiation to complete LaMarcus Aldridge’s extension last year, where does Oden fit in?”
