Thursday Bolts – 8.28.14
Per Brian Mahoney of the AP: “The NBA is expanding the area that must be clear behind the basket and cutting the number of photographers along the baseline in an effort to improve player safety. The new regulations, calling for an extra foot of open space on both sides of the basket stanchion, were sent to teams Tuesday by league president of operations Rod Thorn and executive vice president of team marketing and business operations Amy Brooks in a memo that was obtained by The Associated Press.”
Ben Golliver of SI.com has OKC No. 2 in the West: “The franchise’s first championship of the Oklahoma City era is within reach if it can simply avoid the bad luck that piled up throughout last season. A career year from Kevin Durant, who surpassed James in both the MVP race and Player Efficiency Rating, carried the team through Russell Westbrook’s multiple absences, but it wasn’t enough to make up for Serge Ibaka’s devastating calf injury that limited him during the conference finals. Still, it took a vintage performance from Duncan to slay the Thunder in six games, and Oklahoma City can take heart knowing that it posted a 6-2 record against San Antonio last season when Ibaka played.”
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider has OKC in the second tier: “As you can see, the Thunder’s win total should put it into the first tier, right where you’d think they’d be. However, OKC won just 2.5 percent of the simulations. That’s not just due to the expected strength of the Clippers and Spurs, but also the Cavaliers. The Thunder won about 11 percent of the simulated Western Conference titles, but fell short in most matchups with Cleveland. However you slice it, the road to the 2015 championship shapes up to be an arduous one.”
The Rockets had a weird offseason.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com with interesting details on Kevin Love’s pending contract: “The Cavs would be quite happy to sign Love to an “extension” to start with the 2016-17 season because he’d have to pick up that player option. An extension, however, could be for just two additional years and $37.3 million through the 2017-18 season under league rules. Doing it this way over the next four seasons, Love would be assured to earn $70 million. If Love waits until next summer and starts a new contract with the Cavs, he could earn an estimated $76 million over the next four years. If he wanted the maximum years, he could actually sign for up to five years and an estimated $107 million if he wanted to next year. Summing it up, if Love signed today, he’d assure himself $37 million more guaranteed. If he waits until next summer, he can assure himself $107 million more guaranteed.”
