Sam Presti Dismisses Jackson/Van Gundy Rumors
On Friday, we provided an update on the latest rumblings in the Scott Brooks extension talks, in which apparently the Thunder and Brooks remain far apart. Within that post we heard from Marc Stein that should those talks reach an impasse, two names that have surfaced as back up plans are Phil Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy.
Earlier today, we heard that Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti addressed their draft position and luxury tax situation. According to Royce King from Daily Thunder, Presti also dismissed the Jackson/Van Gundy rumors pretty adamantly when he talked to the media. Presti insisted that settling Brooks' contract situation was at the top of the Thunder's offseason checklist:
Odds & Ends: Nuggets, Heat, Thunder, Suns
The Nuggets now have more than enough assets to make a blockbuster deal for another superstar but they shouldn't rush anything, writes The Denver Post's Benjamin Hochman.
NBA Finals Notes: Heat, Thunder
On Thursday, the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-106 to clinch their second NBA championship in franchise history. Here are the latest news and notes surrounding both 2012 NBA Finals teams on Saturday evening:
Northwest Rumors: Harden, Mohammed, Jazz
Thunder coach Scott Brooks will sit down with the team in the next few days to discuss his return, as we heard earlier. Though a dozen Thunder players already have guaranteed contracts for next season, re-signing the coach isn't the only item on GM Sam Presti's offseason agenda. There are possible extensions to negotiate with James Harden and Serge Ibaka, and the team must decide what it wants to do with backup center Nazr Mohammed, who fell out of the rotation in the playoffs and is now an unrestricted free agent. Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor has plenty of work to do as well, and we have news about both teams.
Odds & Ends: Raptors, Melo, Brooks, Heat
We're less than a week away from the NBA Draft, and the Raptors big board doesn't seem to be getting any clearer, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. However, multiple team sources say that the club was impressed with North Carolina power forward John Henson’s workout on Thursday. More draft news and other odds and ends on this Sunday afternoon..
Odds & Ends: Freeland, Thunder, Knicks, Bulls
Joel Freeland will talk to the Trail Blazers this weekend and could agree to a contract before the Olympics, according to Ian Whittell of the Wardle Whittell Agency (Twitter links). Freeland, who was drafted by the Blazers in the first round in 2006, is "open to offers" and will have four Portland execs watching him play Lithuania at an Olympic warm-up in Houston tomorrow, says Whittell (Twitter link).
Here are a few more Friday afternoon odds and ends, including items on the top player on the market, the Western Conference champs, and the NBPA's latest victory….
Draft Updates: Thursday
All eyes tonight will be on Game 5 of the NBA Finals, as the Thunder look to stave off elimination in Miami, but exactly one week from now, we'll be gearing up for the 2012 draft. The first draft-related trade of the month was finalized yesterday, when the Wizards sent the No. 46 overall pick to the Hornets along with Rashard Lewis as part of a three-player swap. Will we see another deal consummated today? We'll keep track of the day's latest draft news and rumors right here, with the newest items added up top….
- Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com wonders whether Royce White's decision to pull out of his remaining workout has to do with an injury or his fear of flying instead of a promise from the Celtics (Twitter link). Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune pegs White as a candidate to be picked at No. 18 by the Wolves, and lists the second-round hopefuls the team will be working out Friday.
- Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal sizes up Andrew Nicholson and the chances he'll go to the Cavs at pick No. 24.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com has tweaked his mock draft in the wake of the latest developments (Insider link).
Earlier updates:
Warriors Rumors: Drummond, Deng, Waiters, Ross
Reports continue to suggest that the Trail Blazers are enamored by Damian Lillard, enough to draft him sixth overall. Such a move would mean that one of the players initially viewed as a consensus top-six pick, Andre Drummond, could be available when the Warriors picked seventh overall. According to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, there could be a very interesting debate among Warriors execs if Drummond was on the board at No. 7. For what it's worth, our mock draft earlier this week had Lillard to Portland at six and Drummond slipping to the Raptors at eight.
Let's round up a few more Warriors-related rumors from Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group….
Odds & Ends: Magic, Wizards, Riley, Lin
Thunder Rumors: Harden, Ibaka, Vorontsevich
Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Finals will get underway in a little over seven hours, and it's essentially a must-win game for the Thunder. No team in Finals history has ever come back from a 3-1 defecit to win the series.
According to John Hollinger of ESPN.com (Insider link), the key to the game for Oklahoma City will be its big-man rotation. Hollinger argues that some of Kendrick Perkins' minutes should be allotted to Nick Collison and Serge Ibaka. As Scott Brooks and his team prepare for tonight's contest, let's round up a few more Thunder-related items….