Monthly Archives: June 2017

Thunder Draft Options: Dropping back and 2nd round

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Rainier Ehrhardt – AP Photo

As we head towards the 2017 NBA Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a bevy of options at their disposal. I’ve looked at the Thunder moving up, staying put, or getting involved in a trade. But the team has a couple more directions they could go in. They could trade down and in the process pick up another asset. Or they could draft at their position and then buy or trade for a 2nd rounder later in the draft. Their original 2nd rounder was traded to Denver in the Joffrey Lauvergne trade from last offseason.

The team is at a little bit of a crossroads in their current development. They have a top-5 superstar that is currently in his prime, but the rest of the roster is extremely young. Last season, the Thunder had three rookies who played extensive minutes. In addition, the four best players on the team behind Russell Westbrook are all 25 years of age or younger. Of those 4 players, three have been signed to extension (Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, and Victor Oladipo) and the fourth will likely learn his fate by the middle of July. Continue reading Thunder Draft Options: Dropping back and 2nd round →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 22 June 2017 (Draft Day Edition)

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Welcome to Draft Day. Let the madness begin…..

According to NewsOK, Sam Presti is the top draft day decision-maker in the league.

Brett Dawson looks at what the Thunder may do with their pick based on recent draft history: “There’s a school of thought that the Thunder has enough young players, so it should be looking to trade for a veteran – or, at the very least, take an older rookie who’s closer to contributing. There’s the notion that you can’t have too many good young assets, and so OKC should take the most desirable player possible in the hopes of creating a trade down the road. There’s plenty of debate about what the Thunder should be looking for. A backup point guard? A shooting wing? One of the many available big men with upside?” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 22 June 2017 (Draft Day Edition) →

Thunder Draft Options: Standing Firm at 21

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NCAA BASKETBALL: JAN 02 Indiana at Nebraska

Oklahoma City comes into this draft with only one pick: no. 21 in the first round. There are options to move up, move down, or trade. But another scenario would be the Thunder staying at 21 and drafting a player there. Luckily for them, this is an incredibly deep draft with talented players scattered all they way into the first third of the second round. With that said, there are also disclaimers. Picking in the 20’s is a crap shoot. For every Reggie Jackson or Serge Ibaka the Thunder have drafted in the 20’s, there’s also a Mitch McGary or Byron Mullens.

There are a number of factors that could come into play with this draft pick. Are the Thunder looking for someone that could play immediately as a role player? Or are they looking for someone with more upside that could possibly be more than a role player once they fully develop? Players that can fit into a role immediately are usually older players that have several seasons of either college experience or international play under their belt. A good example of that from the Thunder would be Alex Abrines, who was able to step into the role of floor spacer after about the first quarter of the season. Domantas Sabonis, on the other hand, had only two years of experience at Gonzaga, and is more of a developmental project for the Thunder. The Sabonis the Thunder get in 2 years will likely be a much different player than the Sabonis they had last season.

With that said, here are 5 options the Thunder may choose from their draft spot at 21. Continue reading Thunder Draft Options: Standing Firm at 21 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 20 June 2017

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Happy Transformers Day to all (at least the early screening). Here are the rumblings for this Tuesday.

Former Thunder scout Chuck Martin was hired by the University of South Carolina as an assistant coach.

Ben Collins of SLAM Magazine asks the question we’ve all been asking since the regular season ended: Why is the MVP award even up for debate?: “Fifty years from now, when your self-driving car casually plows through a half-dozen jersey barriers and into a bridge stanchion while you’re flipping around Basketball Reference, you will exit the remains of your TeslaFord 27 Coupe Presented by Starbucks™ and you will be furious. You won’t be pissed at the car. (You tried to hack the in-car blender and it messed with the GPS. That’s on you.) You will be pissed at the Basketball Reference thing. You’ll have been looking at Russell Westbrook’s 2016-17 stats and there will not be the appropriate technology to explain why a 2017 MVP debate even existed.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 20 June 2017 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 19 June 2017

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I hope all the father’s had a great Father’s Day yesterday. Lots of draft talk coming this week. Here’s Monday’s DTR to start your week.

A recap of Russell Westbrook’s Father’s Day.

Welcome to Loud City looks at Oklahoma State’s Juwan Evans for 21: “Running an offense, playmaking, and executing the high pick-and-roll are all directly in Jawun’s wheelhouse–it’s his bread and butter. Last season at OSU, Evans had an assist percentage of 43.6%, and a usage rate of 32.7–both of which are the highest in the draft. Evans also gives this team another thing they desperately need–especially when Russell goes to the bench—a ball handler that doesn’t have an issue creating contact and getting to the free throw line. He averaged 7 free-throw-attempts per 40 minutes last season. Obviously, after scoring 19 points-per-game last season at OSU, Evans can put the ball in the hoop, but it’s his decision making that really opens the door for his role in Oklahoma City.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 19 June 2017 →

Do the Thunder have a chance at acquiring Paul George?

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At around 2:00 PM CST on Father’s Day, The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski released the following tweet:

First off, the timing of the tweet makes it very purposeful. Over four days before the NBA Draft is due to take place gives the Indiana Pacers plenty of time to receive trade offers that have some meat behind them. While many will look at this as a negative move from Paul George’s part, it actually likely helps the Pacers in the long run.

No one in the NBA wants to see a lame duck season from a player or a team. That’s what the 2017-18 season would’ve been like for the Pacers had they allowed George to just go through the motions next season. With this definitive statement from the George camp, both sides can now put into motion the necessary steps to move forward from this break-up. Continue reading Do the Thunder have a chance at acquiring Paul George? →

Thunder Draft Options: Movin’ On Up

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Mark Dolejs – USA Today

The Oklahoma City Thunder own the 21st pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. There is certainly a possibility the Thunder stick with the pick and take a player at 21. But the Thunder have been known to do some shuffling in order to move up in the draft. Of the nine drafts the Thunder have been involved in (to include the 2008 draft, in which they were known as the Seattle Supersonics due to the fact the team hadn’t officially moved to Oklahoma City yet), they have moved up in the first round in four of them.

Here’s a quick summary of the Thunder’s history of moving up in the first round. A quick note: The idea of moving up doesn’t necessarily mean the Thunder change their draft position. If the Thunder starts the draft at 25 and then ends up with the 11th pick, that just means that the team picking 11th drafted the player OKC wanted in exchange for something else. Continue reading Thunder Draft Options: Movin’ On Up →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 16 June 2017

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Enes Kanter thinks Russell Westbrook will finish out his career in Oklahoma City: “Enes Kanter has been very outspoken this summer, but this time it was about Russell Westbrook. In an interview with SI.com published Thursday, the Thunder center said he thinks Westbrook, who isn’t a free agent this summer but is eligible for the Designated Veteran Player Exception contract which would keep him in Oklahoma City an additional five years, will stay with the Thunder his entire career. “One thing I saw about him is he’s a loyal guy,” Kanter said. “I understand he’s from L.A., he loves L.A., he goes to L.A. every summer, but he’s a loyal player. “I think he’s gonna finish his career in Oklahoma City.”

In the midst of a Jerry West to LA Clippers article, we start to see the bread crumb-like rumors of Blake Griffin possibly going to Oklahoma City: “Paul also has plans to talk with the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets, one executive said. Griffin can sign a five-year deal worth $175 million with L.A., or sign a four-year deal worth $130 million with another team. The Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder are two teams that will make a bid for Griffin, according to several executives.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 16 June 2017 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 15 June 2017

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Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World looks at what a difference five years can make: “June 12, 2012, is a date that ranks among the more significant in this state’s sports history. That night, Game 1 of the NBA Finals was played on Oklahoma soil. StubHub’s ticket prices ranged from $312 to $10,140. With Thunder Mania at its zenith statewide, Oklahoma City defeated LeBron James and the Miami Heat 105-94. In Tulsa and the surrounding area, the ABC telecast was seen by 277,000 viewers. Kevin Durant scored 17 of his 36 points during the fourth period. Russell Westbrook finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double. OKC limited the Heat to 41 second-half points. With young superstars, that Thunder team improved to 9-0 in the postseason at home and had the homecourt advantage in the Finals. That Thunder team seemingly was destined for championships. The fifth anniversary of the Thunder-Heat Game 1 — June 12, 2017 — will not be remembered as having been locally significant.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 15 June 2017 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 14 June 2017

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So Russell Westbrook won the MVP yesterday. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it was for Shaqtin-A-Fool.

Russell and Nina finally introduced Noah to the world yesterday. And lil’ man did not disappoint.

The Charlotte Observer reviewed the recent history of the No. 11 pick, which is dripping with Thunder past and present histrionics. Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 14 June 2017 →