Tag Archives: Thunder

Jazz Player Hits Best Trick Shot of the Year

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On any given night you can see an NBA player do something that will make you say “woooooowwwwww”.

Well tonight was one of those night’s. The Utah Jazz faced the Oklahoma City Thunder and with only .2 seconds on the shot clock, when the ball was passed to him, Bookerhad to be as fast a western gun slinger reaching for his holster. Check out the vine video below.

Cavs Trade Waiters for Knicks Smith & Shumpert

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Well the Cleveland Cavs season just a little more interesting, Dion Waiters after being sent to the locker room after shoot around, later found out he was the subject of a three team trade. The Cavs will send Waiters to the Oklahoma City Thunder while getting J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks and a lottery protected first round pick from the Thunder. The Knicks recieve the Cavs 2019 second round pick along with Lou Amundson and Alex Kirk, along with Lance Thomas from the Thunder.

The upside for the Cavs, they get a wing defender they’ve need all year. Shumpert is 6’5” 220 lbs which makes him a more viable defender in a league where they average shooting guard ranges from 6’3” -6’7”, that added length comes in handy. If he can hit shots when the defense collapses on Kyrie and LeBron he may have found a perfect home. J.R. Smith is the wild card, since winning the sixth man award he’s longed for an expanded role to display his talents. If he is willing to accept that role he could increase his market value when he hits free agency. Another big ‘if’ is can he play to the ceiling he showed to when he was in Denver and his first few years in New York? Is he that same player any more. Time will tell.

The Knicks shed some necessary salary to and get a draft pick which is something they’ve lacked the last decade. The Knicks know their season is lost and are smart to look to ways to accumulate assets to build out that roster in the summer.

The Thunder might have gotten the player with the most upside in the deal. Waiters, can create his own shot, showed himself to be a decent defender when effort is shown and he has improved his jump shop since last season. Will he fit is the question? He was often frustrated not being a starter and being allowed to freelance this season, how will he cope with having to share the ball with Westbrook and Durant? Waiters, if he can accept his bench role with the Thunder will provide them with another guy who you aren’t afraid of him having the ball in his hands and someone who can create a shot independent of Durant and Westbrook.

The trade deadline is about 7 weeks away, this should be just the start of trades as teams try to round out their team with talent to make a championship run. For the Cavs and Thunder, we’ll see how these moves affect their play going forward.

Kobe and LeBron Christmas Day Jerseys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Christmas day the NBA teamed up with Adidas to have special jerseys to commemorate the holiday. The teams who play on Christmas wear “Big Color” uniforms which will go on sale for fans to purchase on November 15. The line will not only include jerseys, but jackets and warm up shirts as well.

NBA Executive VP of Global Merchandising Sal La Rocca said this will highlight a new and exciting product during one of their most visibile dates.

“We worked with adidas to amplify our long-standing tradition of playing on Christmas Day, BIG Color gives our players an enhanced look on the court and highlights one of the most visible dates during our season with a new and exciting range of products.”

The teams that will sports these jerseys are the court goes as follows;

New York at LA Lakers 3:00 PM on ABC

Oklahoma City at Miami 5:30 PM on ABC

Boston at Brooklyn 12:00 PM on ESPN

Houston at Chicago 8:00 PM on ESPN

Denver at LA Clippers 10:30 PM on ESPN

Source: Forbes

OKC Thunder Trade James Harden to Houston Rockets

After being unable to reach a deal with the reigning 6th man of the year, the Oklahoma City Thunder decided to trade away James Harden to the Houston Rockets.

Along with Harden the Thunder send center Cole Aldrich and forwards Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to Houston. In return the Thunder will receive guards Kevin Martin, rookie Jeremy Lamb and two 2013 first round picks and a 2013 second round pick.

All summer both sides had been negotiating and attempting to come to a compromise. The Thunder last offer to Harden was a 4 year deal worth $53-54 million, while Harden was looking for something closer to $58-60 million.

The deadline for teams to sign their players to contract extensions is October 31, but the Thunder felt it was best to end negotiations and move forward with Harden so the contract talks wouldn’t become a distraction.

”We wanted to sign James to an extension, but at the end of the day, these situations have to work for all those involved. Our ownership group again showed their commitment to the organization with several significant offers. We were unable to reach a mutual agreement, and therefore executed a trade that capitalized on the opportunity to bring in a player of Kevin’s caliber, a young talent like Jeremy and draft picks, which will be important to our organizational goal of a sustainable team.” said Sam Presti.

While the Thunder do lose 17 points and 4 assist that Harden provided off the bench, they receive a professional scorer in Kevin Martin who’s averaged 18 ppg his entire career along with a sufficient ball handler in Jeremy Lamb who helped lead the UCONN Huskies to a 2011 NCAA Championship.

The Rockets are expected to sign Harden to a 4 year contract extension worth $60 million, the max he can receive under the new terms of the CBA.

Source Yahoo! Sports

Video: James Harden says he Wants to Stay in OKC

James Harden who is coming off a gold medal effort in London at the Olympics has popped up on video professing his love for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“It’s decisions. But I love the Thunder. I’m excited to be here. I think we’ve definitely grown a brotherhood. So hopefully, I definitely want to be in Oklahoma.”

While he may want to stay, for salary cap reasons it may be prudent for Thunder management to get something for him than go over the luxury tax. Unless Harden plans on giving the greatest hometown discount ever.

With next off season a little more than over 10 months away, we’ll just have to await our answer.

Below is the video of Harden expounding his feelings for OKC;

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_magic/2012/09/dwight-howard-thanks-orlando-fans-in-newspaper-ad.html

H/T Daily Thunder