Friday Bolts – 7.8.16
Berry Tramel: “Durant’s father, Wayne Pratt, was up front with agent Rich Kleiman and
business manager Charlie Bell. Durant indicated Pratt was part of the decision-making process. Strange. Pratt was hardly ever seen in Oklahoma City. Wanda Durant (as Durant’s mother now likes to be known) was high-profile from the early days. But Pratt? Never. Now he’s part of the brain trust. I have no idea what that means, but it’s interesting.”
Kevin Draper of Deadspin: “It is very possible that, in the long term, Oklahoma City continues to fanatically support the Thunder. And that while OKC will always be at a revenue disadvantage to large market teams like the Lakers, it shouldn’t prove calamitous. Smaller NBA markets like Portland, San Antonio, and Salt Lake City are full of NBA-supporting fanatics, and it’s not inconceivable that Oklahoma City is too, and will support the 2017-18 Thunder as Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo lead them to a 30-52 record. But for the first time since the Sonics relocated, it isn’t a given that fans turn out in droves, that even non-sports fans watch the team on TV, that Oklahoma City residents stay engaged in the wider NBA. The franchise no longer has a trump card in its battle for local attention with college football. Because Kevin Durant left, for the first time, building and maintaining the Thunder fan base won’t be a given.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “Of note, by the way, everyone who has jumped up for an opportunity to crush OKC’s team-building is nuts. For starters, they made the Western Conference finals four times out of six years with the other two times being injury-riddled non-competes. They reconfigured young talent when the veterans couldn’t cut it in 2014, and they put K.D. in a position to win MVP and for he and Westbrook to both be top-five players in the league. On top of all that, much of the late-game problems with Durant came down to his inability to establish position on catches, something that limited him all the way through this season. Durant is not inculpable for the fact that the Thunder did not win a title, just as he is not solely responsible for their failures.”
I podcasted with Fred Katz of Fred Katz Enterprises.
No excerpt: Just go read this great piece on what Durant’s departure means for Oklahoma.
Charles Barkley: “First of all, let’s get a couple misnomers. I got traded to Houston. I didn’t get asked to go to Houston. First of all, I never asked to go to Houston. So, that notion — I’ve heard that several times, that I was chasing a ring. I never chased a ring. I got out of Philly, because they were a bad organization. They traded the No. 1 pick in the draft, Brad Daugherty. So, I got traded to Phoenix. That was the only time I demanded a trade and wasn’t going to play anymore. But the Suns traded me to Houston. I wasn’t chasing a ring. I’ve never felt like a ring was — this ain’t like the mafia or Jerry Maguire where this thing completes. I was a heck of a player. I didn’t win it. I’m cool with that. I never played on the best team. But this notion that I chased a ring in Houston — they traded me to Houston. I never said let me go play with old Clyde, old Hakeem and old Charles Barkley. So, that’s actually 100 percent not true.”
Enes Kanter is here to save you money.
Erik Horne: “Should Durant opt out of his two-year deal and re-sign long term with the Warriors in the summer of 2017, his maximum first-year salary in a four-year deal (the longest deal he can sign with Golden State) is projected at $33.5 million. Curry, also a free agent in 2017, would command $28.6 million in the first season of a hypothetical five-year max deal. Combined those figures with the locked-in salaries of Thompson ($17.8 million) and Green ($16.4 million) and it occupies $96.3 million, or 94 percent of the projected cap. A smaller salary cap would leave Golden State little room to bring back key players like Andre Iguodala.”
Woj on his podcast: “I know Russell (Westbrook) was bothered by — and some other teammates were too — of, like, there was some knowledge there that Draymond (Green) was in contact with Kevin (Durant) all season long and they’re in a playoff series and I know there was some conversation around the Thunder team of ‘Hey man, this guy kicked Steven Adams in the nuts twice in this series and what are you doing hanging out with this guy? What’s the relationship? We’re trying to beat these guys.’”
KD on raising the price of his shoes: “I’m not an $88 player.”
Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript: “If he signed an extension this summer, it could bump his 2016-17 salary up from $17.8 million to $26.5 million. Meanwhile, his 2017-18 salary would exactly align with the one he could make in free agency next summer: $28.5 million. The extension would total three years for about $91 million. And keep in mind, he’d get that salary bump in 2016-17, as well. The money would be way closer than we anticipated even a couple of days ago. Of course, if Westbrook wants more long-term security, he could still opt to go the free-agency route. The Thunder point guard could re-up with OKC for five more years or sign elsewhere on a four-year deal. And according to the collective bargaining agreement’s extension rules, Westbrook could sign on for only three more years after this one if he were to put pen to paper on an extension this summer.”
