Tuesday Bolts – 8.6.13
David Aldridge of NBA.com on OKC’s offseason: “Is it too harsh to suggest the league’s standard bearer for how to build a franchise through the Draft is at a crossroads? The luxury tax was the Rubicon through which the Thunder would not pass, but that decision has already cost OKC Harden, and with Martin’s departure the Thunder’s running out of pieces with which to surround Durant as he gets to the meat of his prime. Yet OKC has, at least thus far, not used its amnesty to help ease the cap/tax conundrum or looked seriously at moving one of its big pieces for smaller ones that could add quality depth. GM Sam Presti has always taken the long view, and that may be the right course here; the Thunder was in The Finals just two seasons ago and there’s no need for a panic move. OKC will thus need a big jump from Lamb (see above) or one of its other young pieces — including Adams, whom most think a long-term project. But teams don’t usually take projects with the 12th pick overall. At the least, Adams should be a good rim runner immediately.”
In a 5-on-5, Tom Haberstroh picks KD for most underrated small forward: “He might be the most efficient high-volume scorer of all time. He was a member of the 50-40-90 shooting club last season while shooting about 18 shots per game. That’s insane. Frame it another way, no one has ever posted a better true shooting percentage while shooting as often as he did. Ever. I’m afraid as long as LeBron is around, KD will be criminally underrated.”
Talking the Thunder’s offseason with Zach Harper.
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “At some point during their effort to stay atop the West, the Thunder eventually will dip into the luxury tax. But they’re not doing it when they have a 60-win team with a core that is 24 years old or younger; they’re not starting the clock on the dreaded repeater tax before they deem the return on investment to be worth it. That’s a judgment call that Presti will have to live with. The Thunder’s behavior under the NBA’s new financial and competitive paradigm will be put to the test over the next three years, as the contracts of Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka approach their expiration dates. So, too, will the very different strategies being pursued in other small markets like Detroit, where the Pistons signed Josh Smith and acquired Brandon Jennings in a sign-and-trade. Every team perceives its window for winning differently. What the Thunder are trying to do flies in the face of the CBA’s goal — which is to shrink that window for everyone. Presti is trying to find a way to have his championship shot now and keep the window open longer than the rules want to allow. Say what you want about trading Harden and letting Martin walk in free agency. By staying under the tax line as long as they have, the Thunder will have the opportunity to push above it at some point in the next three years — when other teams now competing with them for supremacy in the West presumably will be forced to pull back. That’s the plan, anyway — one that I have a hard time assailing.”
Different podcast, talking some Breaking Bad and Thunder.
Kyle Hunt of Salt City Hoops wonders if the Jazz needs to be snazzier: “Take Russell Westbrook for example: He’s unquestionably one of the best point guards in the NBA—ruthless, dedicated to the game, and one of the fiercest competitors in the league, but after a contest you’ll likely find him donning a polka dot polo, short pants, a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that hardly fit on his big-boy nose, and a child-size backpack, which makes Westbrook look more like a school boy than an NBA all-star guard. Fans and media representatives might not think too much about the nerdy get-up, but there is most definitely a strategy present here. Instead of focusing strictly on Westbrook’s success or lack thereof, the suspenders and backpack suddenly become the prime topic of discussion at the post-game conference, no matter how poorly Westbrook or the Thunder performed. Once the spotlight is shifted elsewhere, these players wearing nerdy clothes can relax and focus on winning basketball games instead of talking to the media about the anxiety of facing the San Antonio Spurs in their upcoming game. Considering the Jazz will likely face quite the media blitz this year in response to drastic roster changes, could they implement a similar fashion-based strategy?”
Jeffrey Morton of Denver Stiffs: “In a sick, and rather twisted consequence of making the Luxury Tax (a mechanism that allows a team to exceed the soft salary cap with a financial penalty) extra punitive (luxury tax penalties were increased in the 2011 CBA and trade restrictions were placed on tax paying teams) the NBA and NBPA (player’s union) have prevented small market teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder from taking that next step to make their team better while “inconveniencing” large market teams.”
