Highlights from the Paul George introductory party/presser

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The Oklahoma City Thunder held a welcoming party for new forward Paul George at The Jones Assembly building in downtown OKC. The event was something new for the Thunder as they’ve never really held a welcoming party for any player. Thunder GM Sam Presti said as much in his press conference. But he also said the Thunder have always been an organization that is willing to try new things. These are different times and the Thunder are really in a new position. No longer are they trying to just keep homegrown talent. For the first time, they are trying to woo someone. And that year-long courtship has gotten off to a promising start.

Here are some of the highlights from tonight’s party and presser.

He kept mentioning “representing those three letter.” I’m guessing he meant OKC!

 

On playing with Russell Westbrook and against him. ​

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On getting better in the offseason and why he continues working on his game.​

Continue reading Highlights from the Paul George introductory party/presser →

Russell Westbrook up for some big awards in the 25th ESPYs

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Russell Westbrook will be competing against some pretty big names to garner some more hardware in what has been a very successful year for the Oklahoma City Thunder guard. 

In April, Westbrook surpassed Oscar Robertson in triple doubles in a season with 42 of them. That record stood for 55 years before Westbrook did what he did this season. Then in June, Westbrook took home the NBA’s biggest individual award, winning his first MVP. 

Westbrook is up for three of the biggest awards of the night. The most obvious is NBA player of the year. He’ll be up against LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and ex Thunder teammates Kevin Durant and James Harden. 

The next big award Westbrook will be up for is Record Breaking Performance of the Year for breaking the triple-double record.  He’ll be competing against Michael Phelps’ Olympic performance from the 2016 Olympics, Bill Belichick’s record for Super Bowl wins as a coach, and Diana Taurasi breaking the WNBA’s scoring record. 

And the final big award Westbrook will be up for is Male Athlete of the Year. He’ll be up against Kris Bryant, Michael Phelps, and Sidney Crosby. 

Westbrook will also be in the tournament-like category for Play of the Year in the NBA category for his game winner against the Denver Nuggets, the same game that notched him the triple-double record. 

The ESPYs will air at 7pm CST on ABC. 

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 12 July 2017

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img_4133-5The offseason continues to be a very active one for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Last week were all the moves. This week are all the introductions. What a time to be a Thunder fan. Here are the DTR’s for this hump-day.

Nick Gallo of the official Thunder page chronicles the arrival of Paul George. And if you look within the words, you’ll see I provided an assist.

Patrick Patterson and Raymond Felton were introduced as members of the Thunder on Tuesday: “It was almost like a contest. Patrick Patterson discussed his love of fishing, mudding and simply getting to cruise the open road in his truck. Raymond Felton guessed, or perhaps bragged, that no one has ever heard of his hometown of Latta, S.C. To these two new Thunder veterans, Oklahoma City will be a booming metropolis compared to where they were raised. It also might just be the closest thing to feeling the comfort of home that they’ve had so far in their NBA careers.”  Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 12 July 2017 →

Paul George Arrives into Oklahoma City

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Paul George arrived into Will Rogers airport with much fanfare. Oklahoma City Thunder Storm Chaser and airport pep rally organizer Devin Newsom held another successful airport gathering. He supplied the party goers with free PG shirts,  pizza, and water. 

About 200 fans braved the blazing heat to show George a little OKC love. George arrived about an hour later than scheduled, but that didn’t matter. Sam Presti and many Thunder staffers were there to greet him when he arrived. 

When he got off the plane with his gray OKC Thunder hat, the place erupted with cheer. George walked along the barrier fence giving high fives and wearing a huge smile on his face. After a couple minutes of showing fans some love, he got into an SUV with his family and was whisked off likely to the practice facility. 

Paul George is here. Will he be here this time next year? That remains to be seen. If nothing else, this was a great start. 

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 11 July 2017

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img_4133-5If you haven’t already checked it out, we have released the inaugural episode of the NTTB podcast. You can check it out here. Here are the Rumblings…

Brett Dawson says ex-NBA stars are intrigued by the Westbrook-George pairing: “Because no matter what role he’s playing — fan, analyst, future front-office official — Billups is pumped for the pairing of Westbrook with small forward Paul George, the four-time All-Star the Thunder acquired this month in a trade with the Indiana Pacers. “I love it, man,” Billups said. “Two of my favorite players in the league. Two two-way players. Two players that really want to win. I think it’s gonna be really exciting.”

Austin Sternlicht of Thunderous Intentions looks at if this version of the Thunder is its deepest ever: “General Manager Sam Presti has done an incredible job this summer making sure this team has enough manpower down the roster to compete with the elite Western Conference teams. He essentially replaced Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo with Paul George and Patrick Patterson. On Friday evening, he signed veteran point guard Raymond Felton to a one year deal. The backup point guard position was specifically a disaster for the Thunder last season. Semaj Christon and Norris Cole simply were not able to meet the demands of even a below average backup point guard.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 11 July 2017 →

NTTB Podcast (Episode 1) – The Sam Presti Appreciation podcast

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On the inaugural episode of the NTTB podcast, we (Alex and Anthony) discuss the following topics:

  • How the podcast came to be
  • Sam Presti’s best week ever!
  • An in-depth look at the 4 transactions that have shaped this offseason for the Thunder
  • Will Nick Collison be back with the Thunder?
  • And a review of some of the moves around the league

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).

Also, we will eventually get the pod up on ITunes, so please leave a review on there anytime you want and tell your friends about us. Thunder Up!

 

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 10 July 2017

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The beginning of another week. Hope your Monday goes great. Here’s today’s edition of DTR.

Erik Horne looks at where Paul George is from (not LA), and looks at how that might affect his future decisions: “George isn’t technically from Los Angeles. Drive an hour north of L.A. through the San Gabriel Mountains and you’ll roll into the high desert of Palmdale and its 154,000 residents. It’s where George sprouted from 6-foot-1 as a freshman to 6-foot-8 in his final days at Pete Knight High School. It’s where George was called “Paul Paul” long before he was PG-13.”

The tipping ordeal for Andre Roberson was met with some friendly ribbing from teammates Steven Adams and Enes Kanter. Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 10 July 2017 →

Thunder sign Raymond Felton

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The Oklahoma City Thunder signed free agent point guard Raymond Felton to a one year deal on Friday. According to Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript, the deal is for the veteran minimum, which is around $2.3 million.

The 12-year vet played for the Los Angeles Clippers last year, primarily as Chris Paul’s back-up. He played in 80 games, starting in 11 of them. He averaged 6.7 points and 2.4 assists on 43% shooting from the field and 32% shooting from deep. Felton was a key stabilizing figure in the Clippers’ locker room, during a season that saw both Paul and Blake Griffin go down with significant injuries.

This will be the 7th team Felton has played for in his career. He will almost assuredly slide into the back-up point guard spot ahead of 2nd year player Semaj Christon, who’s team option the Thunder have yet to pick up. The Thunder have until July 15th to pick up Christon’s option. With this signing, the Thunder have 12 guaranteed contracts totaling about $125 million. The luxury tax line for the 2017-18 season sits at $119 million.

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 07 July 2017

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Happy Friday to all! Here are today’s edition of DTR.

Brad Botkin of CBS Sports looks at how quickly OKC has recovered from Kevin Durant’s departure: “Look what happened to the Cavs when LeBron James left for Miami. Kevin Garnett left Minnesota for Boston in 2007, and the Wolves, after making eight straight playoff appearances with K.G., haven’t finished higher than 10th in the West since. Yet here are the Thunder, barely more than a year after Durant’s departure, again ready to launch a two-superstar attack on the NBA with the addition of Paul George next to Russell Westbrook. Indeed, it has been a home run offseason for OKC, which also added Patrick Patterson on a three-year, $16.4 million bargain before re-signing Andre Roberson to a three-year, $30 million deal Wednesday.”

After re-signing Roberson, Oklahoma City may enter this upcoming season as the best defensive team in the league: “OKC was already in the top 10 for defensive rating last season, and that was before adding George and Patterson. The Thunder have now become one of the biggest winners this offseason, with a much-improved roster from last year. They’ve made moves to be a strong contender in the West, and have formed a defense strong enough to at least challenge the high-powered Warriors. The question now becomes whether their offense can keep up. We know about Westbrook and George’s offensive strengths, but Roberson is a liability on that side of the ball.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 07 July 2017 →

Seven things from Summer League

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Charlotte Hornets v Oklahoma City Thunder

With Thursday’s loss in the 3rd place game, the Oklahoma City Thunder finished out the 2017 Orlando Pro Summer League with a record of 2-3. After winning their first 2 games of summer league, the Thunder went on to drop their next three to finish in the fourth position of the 8-team league.

There honestly isn’t much that can be gleaned from this year’s summer league team. When you are a perennial playoff team, summer leagues are usually to see what you have in the cupboard, as the main dishes of the team usually don’t have to play summer league. Of the 13 players who were available to play for the Thunder, only about five have realistic chances of playing in the league.

Here are seven things from summer league: Continue reading Seven things from Summer League →