They may have been one of the NBA's least-active teams in free agency this summer, but the Thunder have remained in the news in recent weeks — in August alone, Oklahoma City had four players in the gold medal game in London and signed Serge Ibaka to a long-term extension.
In yesterday's round-up of Northwest Division notes, we heard that the head coach of the Thunder's D-League affiliate in Tulsa had been hired away by the Trail Blazers, and received the latest updates on a potential extension for Eric Maynor. Here are today's Thunder-related links:
- Russell Westbrook appeared on 710 ESPN in Los Angeles, and was asked about the Lakers' summer acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. As Sports Radio Interviews notes, Westbrook wouldn't concede that the pickups were more than "good."
- Westbrook also called the Heat the team to beat in 2012/13 and said he wouldn't mind seeing the Lakers in the playoffs again.
- In an Insider piece for ESPN.com, Chris Broussard explains why he thinks the Thunder are still the favorites in the Western Conference.
- The franchise's old home, Seattle, continues to make progress toward building a new arena. King 5 TV in Seattle reports that Chris Hansen has purchased another parcel of land for $8MM in the area where he hopes to construct the new building.