Tuesday Bolts – 7.14.09

The Las Vegas Sun on Shaun Livingston: “Today, the NBA is more of a young man’s game than it’s ever been. That said,

it may be tougher to find an older soul in the league than baby-faced, rail-thin 23-year-old Shaun Livingston. Before even hitting the age where car insurance begins to come relatively cheap, the 6-foot-7 point guard has been a prodigy, a budding star, the victim of a horrific freak injury and then the comeback tale everyone is hoping is completed with a happy ending.”

Kevin Durant: “I’m not leaving Oklahoma. What ya’ll keep asking me for?”

Orlando matched Dallas’ offer for Marcin Gortat and somebody wasn’t that thrilled about it: “Marcin Gortat was looking forward to playing for the Mavericks, according to his agent. The Magic surprised, and disappointed, Gortat when they matched the five-year, $34 million offer sheet he signed with Dallas. Agent Guy Zucker said the center “was definitely very disappointed” on Monday when Orlando matched the offer.”

Because I know some of you care – Blake Griffin scored 27 on 11-15 shooting yesterday, grabbed 12 rebounds and even stepped back and hit a 3. Dude’s good.

Rodrigue Beaubois has been ripping Vegas up so far and if you’ll recall, that’s who OKC traded for Byron Mullens: “Beaubois finished the game with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists, but he wasn’t satisfied — not only because it fell short of his 34-point explosion on Saturday but also because of the final result. “I’m not happy because we are losing,” he said. “So I think I can help more, especially on the rebounds.” Fortunately for Beaubois, no one remembers the final score in July, just the performance of individual players, and so far he’s more than lived up to his first-round billing.”

Darnell Mayberry sees someone in Roddy Beaubois: “Thunder draft pick Rodrique Beaubois is Rajon Rondo in the making – with a better jumper. Beaubois, the No. 25 pick who the Thunder dealt to Dallas in a draft-night deal along with a future second-rounder in exchange for Byron Mullens, has proved to be indefensible when driving to the basket. He’s got ample athleticism to finish at the rim and is so savvy with his passing that he finds the open man when he’s doubled or draws any extra attention. He looks like he’s 12 in a 15-year-old’s body so he must get stronger. But my money is on him turning into something after learning the ropes for a bit under Jason Kidd.”

Channing Frye reached terms with Phoenix: “Frye agreed to a two-year contract with the second year at his option. He will earn about $2 million next season. The 6-foot-11 Frye is entering his fifth NBA season. He has averaged 8.2 points per game in two seasons with the New York Knicks and the last two with the Portland Trail Blazers. He averaged just 4.2 points last season.”

The NBA is preparing for labor talks: “The league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire in June 2011. Team owners can extend the CBA through the 2011-12 season by a December 2010 deadline, but are expected to decline the option. Stern has said he would like to begin labor talks with the Players Association this summer in hopes of brokering a new agreement that could ward off the threat of a lockout in two years.”

SI writers looking at a couple issues from this offseason: “Millsap, no matter how it turns out. If the Jazz don’t match Portland’s offer sheet, Utah takes a big hit that could put it on the brink of missing the playoffs. If the Jazz do match, Utah faces money concerns that will probably force a Boozer trade. That not only affects the season ahead in Salt Lake City but also the landscape of the entire league.”

Nick Collison, once again out-Twittering everyone: “Just got done lifting at UW despite them playing coldplay and james blunt in the weight room. Luckily I’m a machine and chew steel.”

James Harden’s vicious one-hand slam from Sunday night: