Tuesday Bolts – 10.25.11

An update to yesterday’s Serge Ibaka rumor: He’s officially signed with Real Madrid. It’s for two months and could sign an extension if the lockout’s not settled.

David Thorpe of ESPN.com writes James Harden is the next Manu: “Harden reminds many of Ginobili because of his average-looking athleticism that gives way to an occasional monster dunk that foreshadows his future if he tried to make athletic plays more often. Remember that as Harden enters his third NBA season, he is three years younger than Ginobili was as a rookie, so the Ginobili we’ve seen play with nuanced craft is far past his peak athletic years. Harden plays with tremendous poise and pace, and as he seasons, he could add more excitement to his game, the way Ginobili can be electric with the ball when his team needs him most.”

Michael Beasley: “Fighting over 3 percent, that’s kind of retarded to me. But it is what is. We’ll come to an agreement. The quicker we can get a deal done, the better. Like I’ve been saying before, the main ones suffering are our fans.”

A film about a struggling small market.

LaMarcus Aldridge says he’ll be holding a charity game soon.

Ty Lawson on playing overseas: “I coulda sat home and played NBA 2k12 and got the same thing accomplished that we did in practice smh.”

Careful, you might be buying a Slam Thunder basketball, not an OKC Thunder one.

Billy Hunter was on the B.S. Report yesterday and said this: “I thought we were trying to reach compromise when we were there last week,” Hunter said. “I suspect it’s more about an internal battle that may be brewing or that’s occuring between the big and small markets over the proposals we’ve submitted. We don’t want to be totally exploited.”

That world tour KD was supposed to play in could get canceled.

Danny Chau of HP in a 5-on-5 on what his second favorite thing was from 2011: “Game 4 of the Memphis/Oklahoma City second-round series was arguably the best game of the year. It had everything: explosive scoring, stifling defense, emotion, pride. A true showcase of two rising elites. Amid exhaustion, both teams took the time (three overtimes) to spell out the meaning of “heart, grit and grind.”