Daily Archives: September 26, 2017

“I’m coming!” – The two words that galvanized a franchise.

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“I’m coming! I’m coming!” A simple exchange in what was basically a blowout in February, set the stage for what we’ve seen this offseason from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder could not do anything when Kevin Durant left them on July 4th, 2016. By the time he made his decision, most of the top notch free agents were already off the board. Instead, the Thunder strategized from that point forward and hoped opportunities would arise from a turbulent NBA landscape. And arise they did.

The summer of 2016 basically set the stage for what happened in Oklahoma City this offseason. When every team was infused with an extra 20 million, moves were made that were almost immediately regretted once the ink dried on those contracts. Finding an extra $20 million in your team’s salary cap is like finding $1000 in between your couch cushions. Some people will make wise decisions with that extra money. But others will treat it like house money and YOLO the hell out of it. Many teams made bad decisions that summer that eventually led to their salary caps being tied up for the next 2-4 seasons. Continue reading “I’m coming!” – The two words that galvanized a franchise. →

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Daily Thunder Rumblings – 26 Sept 2017

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Royce Young (ESPN) on Russell Westbrook and Paul George being extremely important in Carmelo Anthony’s decision to join the Thunder: “News of the trade broke on Saturday. The deal became official Monday, with the Thunder sending Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott to the New York Knicks in return. Anthony spent 6½ seasons in New York. After then-team president Phil Jackson publicly announced in March his desire to trade the 10-time All-Star, the relationship with the front office deteriorated, culminating in Anthony’s trade.”

Sam Amick (USA Today) on Paul George’s feelings for the Thunder after making the Carmelo Anthony trade: “Just hours before on a sleepy Saturday morning, right about the time George and Olivia were working their way around the local lakes, the Thunder pulled off a blockbuster trade by landing 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony and surely upped their odds of retaining George and fellow co-star/Southern California native Russell Westbrook in the process. Yet in the George household, a three-story beauty where poles and tackle are strewn about the living room and his closest family and friends are visiting in the kitchen, George is too focused on fishing to worry about free agency just yet.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 26 Sept 2017 →

Recapping Thunder Media Day

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Alex Roig – NTTB

Media days can sometimes be an exercise in repetition. The same 2-3 questions can be rinsed, washed, and repeated for every player. What do you expect your role to be this season? What do you think about “latest talking point in the country”? What are the team expectations?

You can probably fill an entire article just with the answers from those 3 questions alone. The difficult part is trying to cut through all that player-speak and listen in to what the real themes are for the team. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, the one theme that consistently permeated throughout the entire day was winning.

But every team heads into the season talking about winning. Even those teams looking at an entire season of ineptitude find ways to think of sunshine and rainbows before the season starts. The Thunder’s talk of winning felt different though. It was talked about with brazen confidence. And for good reason, too. The brand new Big 3 of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony gives the Thunder a collection of players they’ve never had since they moved to the Great Plains.  Continue reading Recapping Thunder Media Day →