The Set-Up: The last time the Oklahoma City Thunder faced the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Thunder were in the midst of an 8-game win streak, while the Cavs were looking more like a lottery team instead of a title-contending team. Continue reading Cavs vs. Thunder preview (Game 58 of 82)
Erik Horne (NewsOK) on the Thunder keeping Andre Roberson involved: “He’s been around in the background,” said Steven Adams, one of Roberson’s best friends on the team. “I know you guys don’t see him and stuff, but when we’re in, say the back of the stadium, he’s around all the time. It’s good, mate. He’s just doing his own thing, a little rehab. It’s a tough situation to be in, but he’s still keeping in happy spirits, good spirits.”
Brett Dawson (NewsOK) on the Thunder SG starter still being in flux: “I think that (fifth) spot, it could be different,” Donovan said. “I don’t want to say it’s going to be different night to night, but yeah, it could change in certain situations based on what’s best for our team.” Continue reading NTTB Rumblings – 13 February 2018
Nick Gallo (OKCThunder.com) recaps the Thunder’s mauling of the Grizzlies via the long ball: “George was the instigator on both ends for the Thunder, finding ways to not only generate clean looks and free throws for himself, but also to get others involved. It was clear that the day of practice on Saturday helped get George more acclimated to being the lead playmaker with this group. It’s something he’s done all of his career, but the chance to get some work in with his teammates helped the cohesion mightily. For the game, George racked up 33 points to go with 8 assists, while only turning it over 2 times.”
Fred Katz (Norman Transcript) on the Thunder looking better when they hit shots: “The Thunder had just fallen by 25 to a losing team on a night when they were missing Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook, both of whom suffered ankle sprains during the squad’s previous game. OKC scored only 81 points in L.A. But it got its looks. It just didn’t make shots – for whatever the reason.” Continue reading NTTB Rumblings – 12 February 2018
On Episode 26 of the NTTB podcast, we discuss the following topics:
Intro/Outro music provided by OSC Productions
Thank you for listening. We will be doing a podcast once a week. If you have any Thunder or NBA related questions, make sure you hit us up on Twitter (@alexroig_NTTB or @Montero_A13).
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A highlight video of the new players the Thunder acquired at the trade deadline. This is meant to be sarcastic 😉
Fred Katz (Norman Transcript) on the quietness of the trade deadline outside of Cleveland: “The Thunder, of course, were in that category: active in conversations without anything tangible to show for it. It’s a new normal for the NBA, where teams were weary about taking on longterm money and trading first-round draft picks inside a more fiscally conservative environment.”
Erik Horne (NewsOK) on why he thinks the trade deadline was so quiet: “Could a deal have been done? Yes. Would it have made the Thunder better? The team didn’t think so. The same could be said for the Spurs, Rockets, Celtics and Warriors. The Thunder wasn’t the only team among the contenders in their respective conferences who held off from making a roster-altering decision on Thursday.” Continue reading NTTB Rumblings – 09 February 2018
The Set-Up: For many teams, the game after the trade deadline is a battle of attrition. The players that were traded away, of course, will not be available for their old team. And, unfortunately, because of travel and needing to get physicals, won’t be available for their new teams either. With injuries and transacted players, some teams are left with rosters the size of playoff rotations. Continue reading Thunder @ Lakers preview (Game 56 of 82)
Many went into Thursday’s NBA trade deadline thinking the Oklahoma City Thunder would definitely be buyers in the trade market. When their defensive ace, Andre Roberson, went down with a season-ending patellar tear, many around the league thought Thunder GM Sam Presti would try to find a replacement via trade. While the Thunder didn’t necessarily have a large cache of assets, there was a sense this season would not be business as usual when it came to player transactions.
But, alas, the Thunder decided to stand pat and hold on to the assets they do have and the players currently on the roster. The thing about the trade deadline is that you usually don’t hear about the trades that didn’t get consummated. I’m more than sure that Presti did his due diligence around the league, but either the prices were too high or the cupboards weren’t as stocked as he thought they would be. Continue reading Thunder Trade Postscript
Sam Amick (USA Today) on Paul George’s upcoming free agency decision: “He’s well aware how his choice will affect the lives of others, from his actual family to this Thunder group that wants so badly for him to return alongside Russell Westbrook. So he picks his words wisely, even goes over old interviews to make sure he’s saying what he means and meaning what he says. Yet as the 3 pm EST trade deadline nears on Thursday, and with the Thunder (31-24) set to face the very Lakers team that is widely seen as the No. 1 threat for his services, there’s one thing that is helping him be more at ease: he’s not going anywhere just yet – if ever.”
Russell Westbrook and Paul George are here to take your basketball.
Paul George had a big fan at the Warriors’ game: Former Fresno State Bulldog Derek Carr of the Oakland Raiders. Continue reading NTTB Rumblings – 08 February 2018
The trade deadline primers for team blogs are usually released about a week to two before the trade deadline. And I was planning on doing the same, but then I thought to myself, “Hold up. Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti hardly ever makes a trade that isn’t on the day of the deadline. In fact, he’s usually one of those GM’s that’s on the phone making deals until the very last second of the deadline.” With that in mind, I said to myself, “Self, we’re not releasing this article until February 8th (a.k.a. the trade deadline).”
And if you think I spend an inordinate amount of time talking to myself, you may be right. In my defense, I can’t really help it. My internal voice is the “stay thirsty, my friends” Dos Equis guy.
If I had written this article two weeks ago, it would be completely null and void because of the Andre Roberson season-ending injury that occurred 11 days. If I had written this article a week ago, I wouldn’t have seen the general cluster (you know what) the team had become in the five games after the Roberson injury. And if I had written this article before Tuesday night’s thrashing of the Golden State Warriors in their arena, then my judgement could have been clouded by the negativity of the four-game losing streak the Thunder had heading into the Warriors’ game. Continue reading OKC Thunder 2018 Trade Deadline Primer
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