Wednesday Bolts: 6.14.17

Bleacher Report has OKC taking Indiana’s OG Anunoby in their latest mock draft: The 6’8″ SF averaged 11.1 PPG and 5.4 RPG for the Hoosiers last season. He shot 70% from the floor and 31% from downtown. Draft Express says “Anunoby has an elite physical profile for a NBA combo forward, standing 68 in shoes, with a chiseled frame and a reported 76 wingspan that will easily allow him to play power forward or even spend time at the center position in smaller lineups.”

Fred Katz on who the Thunder might take with the 21st pick: “Oklahoma City has a history of trading down in the NBA Draft.  It dealt for No. 11-overall pick Domantas Sabonis during last year’s draft, which the Thunder entered without a first-round selection. It dealt for No. 26-overall pick Andre Roberson in 2013. No. 11-overall pick in 2010 Cole Aldrich was another. The Thunder have no problem selecting in other teams’ slots. But for now, they sit with only their own pick, No. 21 in the first round and nothing in the second, with the June 22’s NBA Draft looming.”

Russell Westbrook won this season’s MVP of Shaqtin-a-Fool:

Russell Westbrook shared a photo of a smaller, younger Russell Westbrook:

LeBron James is not happy for KD: “Well, I’m not happy he won his first. I’m not happy at all. But at the end of the day from when I played him in the 2012 Finals to now, like I said, experience is the best teacher in life, and he’s just experiencing and experiencing and experiencing. And it also helps when you are able to experience some things with this team as well. He felt like he needed to reassemble and reassess his career and come here.”

Brian Windhorst & Tom Haberstroh on how LeBron’s legacy is as intact as MJ’s: “James has been to the Finals eight times, six of those as the Vegas underdog. Give that poker hand to anyone else in NBA history and see how many come up with three titles. See how many more could’ve been so statistically dominant in defeat as James has been. We constantly hear about Jordan being a spotless 6-0 in the Finals, but we don’t hear that Jordan was 6-7 in getting to the Finals in his 13 postseasons, and James is now 8-4 in his 12 postseasons.”

Jonathan Tjarks on how the Cavs should trade Kevin Love for Paul George: “Swapping George for Love would slide LeBron to power forward, a move he has been reluctant to make due to the toll it takes on his body, but it’s not something the Cavs have to do in the regular season. They could start George and LeBron on the wings, move J.R. Smith to the bench, and use a veteran placeholder like Richard Jefferson or Derrick Williams to play 20 minutes a night as the starting power forward. With so much firepower on the perimeter, having a below-average player in that spot wouldn’t be a huge burden against lesser competition.”

The Warriors are undecided on a White House visit: “Several media outlets, including CNBC and the New York Daily News, reported that the Warriors plan to skip the visit per a unanimous team vote. The reports did not specifically cite President Trump as a reason, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr and star Stephen Curry have been particularly critical of Trump since the election. And forward David West made it clear Trump went against his belief system.”

The NBA Finals were the most-watched since Jordan’s last title: “The 2017 Finals also reportedly drew 20.4 million average viewers, more than last year’s epic set, the highest average viewership in almost two decades — since Michael Jordan’s last championship run and more than four times as many average viewers as this year’s Stanley Cup Finals (4.7 million).”