Wednesday Bolts – 4.22.09
David Berri lists out the bottom 10 percent of the league.
OKC’s has two players – Damien Wilkins at 45 and ChuckyAtkins at 44: “Before we get to the list, let’s define what it means to be “unproductive”. A productive player will tend to shoot efficiently, grab rebounds, gets steals, and avoids turnovers. So an unproductive player is one that tends to shoot inefficiently, fails to rebound and get steals, and is prone to commit turnovers.”
Want to go to the Draft Lottery? Submit a seven-word (that’s right, it says seven) essay describing why you would be the best representation the Thunder could have to the official site. My entry? Blake Griffin Blake Griffin Blake Griffin Please!
KD will host a basketball camp: “Kevin Durant will host a basketball camp from June 29 to July 1 at Heritage Hall High School in Oklahoma City for boys and girls ages 7 through 18. The camp will be divided into two sessions, the first for kids ages 7 to 11 from 9 a.m. to noon, and the second for kids ages 12 to 18 from 1-4 p.m. Each camper will receive a camp T-shirt, a camp team photo and an opportunity to win contests and prizes. The camp costs $199 per kid, but anyone interested in multiple camps or multiple camper discounts are asked to contact Pro Camps via procamps.com/kevindurant.”
A neat Kyle Weaver feature from his hometown:
ESPN is reporting that Derrick Rose has won the Rookie of the Year: “Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose has been named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday. The team is holding a news conference at 3 p.m. ET, at which it’s expected the point guard officially will receive the award. Rose averaged 16.8 points per game, second to the Memphis Grizzlies’ O.J. Mayo among rookies. Rose led all rookies in assists with 6.3 per game and in minutes played with 37 per game.”
Steph Curry has entered the draft: “While as many as six potential lottery picks (Willie Warren, Cole Aldrich, Ed Davis, Greg Monroe, Al-Farouq Aminu and possibly Evan Turner) have already declared their intentions to return to college next season, one player who will not is Davidson’s Stephen Curry. Sources close to the situation tell us that Curry will call a press conference shortly to announce he is putting his name in the draft. From what we understand, it’s very likely he keeps it in too. Curry looks like a pretty solid bet to get drafted somewhere in the 8-15 area, with teams like the Knicks, Nets and Suns currently looking to be the most interested amongst that group. Curry very much wants to graduate from Davidson, and this decision wasn’t an easy one as you can probably tell by how long it took, but at the end of the day, the NBA was too enticing an option considering where his draft stock is at at the moment, and how stacked next year’s draft is already shaping up to be.”
More on the Ricky Rubio draft/buyout situation: “Spanish newspaper “Marca” broke the not very surprising news yesterday that Ricky Rubio will be entering his name in this year’s draft. Rubio’s buyout situation-he has two years left on his contract, and will need to pay 6 million dollars to free himself-remains unresolved, though, meaning still needs to reach an agreement with his team, DKV Joventut, if he’s to play in the NBA next year. Unfortunately for Rubio, Joventut continues to insist, this time via a notice on their official website, that they are not planning on compromising anytime soon, stating that Rubio will have to pay his buyout in full if he plans on leaving for the NBA. They do appear willing to settle for a smaller buyout in 2010, though, if Rubio and his camp are willing to wait that long. Rubio on his part, came out publicly on Tuesday and stated for the first time under no uncertain terms that it’s his wish to leave for the NBA this summer-a move made with very clear intentions. The problem is that all the leverage right now is with the team that holds his contract, as they do not appear to have any real reason to compromise. One possibility that has been brought up is for Rubio’s camp to offer a percentage of his second NBA contract as a means to entice to Joventut to his lower buyout immediately. There likely will not be any type of resolution to this situation until very close to the withdrawal deadline on June 15th.”
Greivis Vasquez reportedly will be declaring for the draft tomorrow and Wayne Ellington is likely to enter the draft: “Following up on our discussion from earlier this week, where we talked about the pros and cons of Wayne Ellington declaring, we had a number of well-connected sources reach out assuring us that it’s only a matter of time before the North Carolina junior puts his name in. “Wayne’s dad has been on an NBA draft fact finding mission for pretty much the entire season,” one source told us. “I would be absolutely shocked if he didn’t declare” another said. Apparently the holdup for both Ellington and Lawson revolves around the fact that they both no longer have the ability to test the waters after already having done so last season. In case of an emergency (an injury possibly) it makes little sense not to play it safe and wait until the deadline, which is what the two have reportedly been doing. Since many teams this year have decided to hold off on scheduling private workouts until after the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago in late May, there might not be as much of a rush to start the process.”
Just to have it handy, your 2009 early entrants list.
Tony Mejia ranks all the prospects by position: “Blake Griffin, 6-10, 245, Oklahoma: A tricky top pick in that he doesn’t look to be that franchise go-to scorer many want the top selection to be, but he’ll be an asset from day one. I compare him to Al Horford, who came in with an NBA-ready body and nearly wound up Rookie of the Year.” Looking at that list, if you’re wanting a center, the pool is pretty shallow. After Thabeet, there’s not a lot there. And Thabeet is no sure thing.
