Friday Bolts – Father’s Day Weekend Edition

First off, I want to wish a very happy Father’s Day to my pop and also to my most excellent father-in-law. (Again, I

actually have really great in-laws. I know, I’m very lucky.) I guess while technically we’re honoring you for being a dad, it’s also kind of a celebration of me because without me, you wouldn’t be a father. (Well, without me or my two brothers. Whatever.) So I guess happy Father’s Day to me, and also you.

Sean Deveney sticking to form and going off the path with his mock draft: “Oklahoma City. Stephen Curry, G, Davidson. The consensus seems to be that the Thunder will take SG James Harden. But the Thunder almost never do what the consensus indicates. Curry would give OKC a sweet-shooting combo guard to pair with PG Russell Westbrook. They could try for Thabeet or Rubio here, too. There’s been talk about Hill, but Hill has not worked out here.”

The official FreeDarko mock: “Oklahoma City Thunder – Rodrigue Beaubois, France – The Russell Westbrook of Europe meets the Russell Westbrook of … um, America. We (outside of stoicism fetishists like Joey) think of the San Antonio canon as one of boring, solid, workmanlike. But ignore Duncan for a minute. The team that brought us James White! This is what Presti took from the Spurs playbook, beyond the Big Three + flexibility trope: get players who can jump over canyons. I look forward to the first Green-to-Westbrook-to-Beaubois-to-Durant fastbreak in which feet never touch the ground.”

More Twitter brilliance from Nick Collison: “We interrupt our coverage of the escalating nuclear situation in N. Korea OMG!!!!!!! ITS THE JONAS BROTHERS ON LARRY KING!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!”

Could Rubio miss training camp for whatever team takes him?: “Spain’s smart money says Ricky Rubio still will be in Europe come preseason 2009-10. His contract mess (being held as collateral for past club debts) is up to a judge to decide. A conciliatory meeting takes place June 23 before the adjudicator grants a court hearing sometime in the future, who knows when.”

Dime’s newest mock: “Oklahoma City – James Harden, SG, Arizona State – If they can’t land Griffin, Harden is a more than acceptable second option. Fitting into the two-spot alongside Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, Western Conference GMs are certainly going to be worried for years to come.”

FanHouse debates Hasheem Thabeet’s bust potential: “I can’t get over how this guy is above Jordan Hill, or DeJuan Blair, guys who can do more than stick their hands way up in the air. Premier big men in this league, the kind you want to spend a top 3 pick on, all have some level of touch around the basket, save Dwight Howard. And Thabeet is no Dwight Howard. Of course, when he was drafted, Dwight Howard wasn’t Dwight Howard.”

And they do the same with Ricky Rubio: “To be honest, of all point guards rumored for the lottery, Rubio has the biggest, most public oeuvre. The ACB, early-round Euroleague competition, youth international competition, and of course the Olympics — I dare say Rubio has been on TV as much as the “proven” Evans over the last three years. And it’s interesting to me that (Brandon Jennings aside) players, coaches and scouts never have anything bad to say about Rubio’s game — it’s all remarkably glowing. But we as fans pick apart the things we see as faults — the things you nudged at, like his athleticism. Here we have a player we know can play basketball very, very well, yet he doesn’t fit the mold of our prospects — he can’t jump a llama or beat an unladen swallow in a sprint — so we doubt him. If we ever want to change the system to where players are selected instead of prospects, it seems to me Rubio would be a fine starting point.”

Dime sees Sam Young as the next Josh Howard: “You know how Sam Young story is going to go. Sometime around January 2013, when Young is starting for a contender and his name is beginning to surface in All-Star talk, the mainstream will catch on: Who is Sam Young? How did everybody miss this guy? People’s Exhibit 397 that the Draft is an inexact science: Sam Young. If that sounds a lot like Josh Howard’s story, that’s because it is.”

Pro Basketball News’ mock: “Oklahoma City – James Harden, G, Arizona State: The Thunder has a few solid young wings and drafted Russell Westbrook last year to run the point, so going Harden over Rubio seems like a declaration that they want to keep the keys in Westbrook’s hands. Rubio is a pretty intriguing prospect with great defensive instincts, so it wouldn’t be shocking if he’s their choice, but Harden seems to be the more natural fit.”

Two really good Draft Express articles evaluating shooting guards and point guards: “A recurring theme in this article, we find Jermaine Taylor at the top of our rankings at 32.2 points per-40. Not only is he almost 6 full points ahead of Jodie Meeks, but he even ranks slightly ahead of Stephen Curry, the top scorer in our first analysis. As you can see here, and will continue to see throughout this article, Taylor carried a bigger load than anyone in the NCAA. Jodie Meeks checks in next on our list, while James Harden sits in fourth. Both players were clearly utilized heavily by the teams due to their excellent perimeter scoring abilities. The third and fifth spots are owned by Marcus Thornton and Jack McClinton, who used their opportunities to handle the ball to create their own shots in addition to spending time off the ball.”

UPDATE: A couple players will work out for the Thunder today: “The Oklahoma City Thunder has scheduled another round of pre-NBA Draft workouts today. The group is highlighted by former Oklahoma player Taylor Griffin and former USC forward Taj Gibson.”