Wednesday Bolts – 5.20.15
Chad Ford of ESPN Insider has OKC taking Cameron Payne: “The Thunder need a long-term starter at the 2 guard, but they need a player who’s ready sooner rather than later. But at this portion of the draft I’m not sure that player is available.They also could use help behind Russell Westbrook at the point and Payne seems like a terrific option. He’s heady, crafty and his balance between scoring the basketball and shooting it appears just about perfect. R.J. Hunter, Kelly Oubre and Jerian Grant are other strong possibilities in OKC.”
Tim Bontemps of the NY Post: “With this team clearly in win-now mode, Grant could provide the Thunder with a ready-made replacement for Reggie Jackson, whom they traded last season, as a player with the ability to back up and play with Russell Westbrook in the backcourt.”
Berry Tramel: “The longer the Thunder goes without a championship, the more you wish Presti had kept Harden for that 2012-13 season just to see the result. But the hidden benefit of the trade was payroll flexibility. Sure, Jeremy Lamb, a draft pick that became Steven Adams and one season of Kevin Martin gets all the focus on what was shipped from Houston. But what also arrived was the ability to continue to make deals. To get a Waiters. To get a Kanter, with the opportunity to sign him as a restricted free agent, which almost surely would not be available to OKC if Kanter was not already wearing Thunder blue.”
A look at available players in the 14-pick range.
Darnell Mayberry: “Most assume the Thunder will target perimeter players given the team’s depth in the frontcourt, and OKC focused primarily on point guards and shooters at last week’s NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. But Presti said he’s not going to pigeonhole the team into picking a specific position.”
Something else looking at OKC’s draft thoughts for ESPN.com.
Victor Mather of the NY Times behind the scenes at the lottery: “It is 7:45. There is now the awkward issue of what to do with ourselves; we will not be released from lockdown until the made-for-TV announcement is completed a bit before 9. Moreover we are in a weirdly anachronistic limbo: No one has a phone. The default play when stuck at a boring dinner party of surreptitiously checking one’s emails is unavailable to us. Some idle chat breaks out, and soon reporters are pulling out old-school notebooks to get a quotation. Men in suits nosh on catered pineapple. The Ping-Pong balls remain in the bottom of the machine, their crucial job done. The backup basketball sits rather forlornly, unused.”
Draft Express has OKC taking Cameron Payne.
Chris Mannix of SI.com has the same: “There was a measurable buzz around Payne at the draft combine in Chicago, with executives seeing a natural playmaker who blends scoring and distributing well. Payne is a little undersized, but the Thunder can patiently develop what could be a quality backup to Russell Westbrook.”
