Tag Archives: Paul George

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 13 July 2017

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Had a great time at the Paul George welcoming party and introductory press conference. Hopefully next year, at this time, we’ll be celebrating his contract extension. Here are the Rumblings.

Royce Young looks at the year long recruitment the Thunder are about to undertake with Paul George: “George was supposed to arrive at 1 p.m., and word had circulated on social media. Thunder fans, as has become their tradition, deployed to meet at their usual spot. On what was of course the hottest day yet of summer in Oklahoma, George’s flight was delayed an hour and a half. Bottles of water were passed around. A dozen or so pizzas showed up. Fans chanted, played music, fanned themselves with homemade signs and exchanged conversations that mostly started and ended with some variation of “Paul George? Paul George!” But George was here now, and he walked to the fence and pressed his hand up against it, dragging it from one end of the line to the other. Fans chanted “P-G-O-K-C!” as he posed for a selfie up against the fence. He waved and jumped in a black SUV. Fans hustled their way to line the road that exited the hanger and waved at George and his family as they were chauffeured off into OKC. And thus began Day 1 of a one-year recruiting trip.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 13 July 2017 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 06 July 2017

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Happy the Thunder re-signed Andre Roberson. I was beginning to get worried that would be a long, drawn out situation. Instead, Roberson wanted to come back to OKC and OKC always longed to bring Roberson back. I guess $10 million was the middle ground. Here are the Rumblings for this Thursday.

Royce Young and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN team up to talk about the Roberson extension: “Roberson’s market was a tough one to gauge in the NBA because of his specialist role as a defensive stopper. After turning down an extension in October, Roberson didn’t garner the kind of interest he expected this offseason. His offensive issues are well-known, highlighted by his struggles at the free throw line during this past postseason, when he hit only 3-of-21 free throws and was a target of intentional fouling.”

Erik Horne looks at the trade market for Enes Kanter: “The NBA is trending small at the expense of the traditional big man. It’s not that Kanter isn’t effective. He was one of the most efficient offensive threats in the NBA last season, averaging 24.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per 36 minutes.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 06 July 2017 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 03 July 2017

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We’ll just call these Rumblings the Paul George edition. Here’s Monday’s edition of DTR.

Tuesday will mark a dubious anniversary for Thunder fans. But Sunday marked a not so fun anniversary for Sonics fans: “Sunday is the ninth anniversary of the settlement that allowed the owners of the Seattle SuperSonics to move the NBA franchise to Oklahoma City. Renamed the Thunder, the franchise has been among the NBA’s most successful since 2008-09, its first season playing in Oklahoma City. The Thunder had a 23-59 record in their first season but have been above .500 every season since. Beginning with the 2009-10 season, the Thunder have a .653 win percentage, second to only the San Antonio Spurs’ .725 win percentage in that time.”

Taj Gibson signed with Minnesota on Sunday. Here’s what his exit means to the Thunder: “Not long ago, the Thunder was stacked at power forward. Suddenly, it looks like a position of need. Free-agent Taj Gibson agreed to a two-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday that The Vertical was reported for $28 million.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 03 July 2017 →