Who Needs Blake Griffin?
Now that Blake Griffin has declared for the NBA Draft, the next 1 1/2 months leading up to the May 19 Draft Lottery will be spent speculating where the Oklahoma forward and Player of the Year could end up. As of today, the Sacramento Kings have the best chance to land the No. 1 overall pick and select Griffin, this year’s consensus top pick.
Here’s my breakdown of how Griffin would fit on the 14 current lottery teams and why I think the Washington Wizards are the best fit for Griffin, the Memphis Grizzlies are the worst and the Minnesota Timberwolves don’t need him.
14. Phoenix Suns, 42-35
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 0.5 percent.
How Blake would fit: The Suns have a near clone in power forward Amare Stoudemire. But trade rumors have surrounded Stoudemire and center Shaquille O’Neal all season. If the Suns were to trade Stoudemire or O’Neal this summer, Griffin could become Phoenix’s cornerstone for the future. Griffin is not as talented as Stoudemire offensively, but he’s already a better rebounder and is expected to blossom into a more consistent low-post defender.
13. Charlotte Bobcats, 34-43
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 0.6 percent.
How Blake would fit: Emeka Okafor is more comfortable at power forward but has regularly played at center and can be moved there full-time if Griffin comes aboard. Alongside Okafor, the Bobcats would have one of the best low-post tandems in the league. But the presence of point guards Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin could help Griffin become an immediate impact on the offensive end as well.
12. Indiana Pacers, 33-44
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 0.7 percent.
How Blake would fit: The Pacers are one of the faster paced teams in the league, averaging 104.4 points, and Griffin’s athleticism would be a natural fit filling the lane with speedy point guards T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack. And with Danny Granger as the focal point of the Pacers’ offense, Indiana wouldn’t need to ask too much of Griffin offensively right off the bat.
11. New Jersey Nets, 32-45
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 0.8 percent.
How Blake would fit: Griffin would easily become the most dominant big man in New Jersey since Derrick Coleman. He’d instantly become a nice complement to rookie center Brook Lopez, who is the only Nets player who is averaging more than 5.4 rebounds. New Jersey has a promising young power forward in Yi Jianlian, but he’s more perimeter-oriented and doesn’t add near the toughness Griffin possesses.
10. Milwaukee Bucks, 32-46
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 1.1 percent.
How Blake would fit: Scott Skiles, one of the league’s most defensive-minded coaches, would love to get his hands on Griffin’s appetite for hard work and hustle. The Bucks have ample offense in wingmen Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson. And the addition of Griffin could allow Milwaukee to let restricted free agent Charlie Villanueva walk this summer, opening up a starting spot for Griffin alongside center Andrew Bogut.
9. Toronto Raptors, 30-46
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 1.7 percent.
How Blake would fit: The Raptors are at a crossroads and could soon lose franchise forward Chris Bosh and free-agent-to-be Shawn Marion. But Griffin could ease the sting of their potential departures and become the face of the Raptors’ franchise. Toronto has some nice young talent that Griffin would be surrounded by in point guard Jose Calderon and forward Andrea Bargnani, and Griffin’s low-post skills would make the Raptors 3-point shooters even more of a threat.
8. New York Knicks, 30-47
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 2.8 percent.
How Blake would fit: David Lee is the Knicks only low-post scorer, which puts a great deal of pressure on New York’s guard play. But if he lands in coach Mike D’Antoni’s lap, it’s not far-fetched to think Griffin could put up stats similar to the 20 points and 10 rebounds Amare Stoudemire regularly posts in Phoenix. The only cause for concern here is Griffin has yet to develop his mid-range to perimeter shooting, a must in D’Antoni’s run-and-gun system.
7. Golden State Warriors, 28-49
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 4.3 percent.
How Blake would fit: There is no helping the Warriors’ defensive deficiencies (league-worst 112.5 point per game), but Griffin would step right in and become Golden State’s most talented big man. Griffin’s athleticism would lead to easy scoring opportunities in transition, and his rebounding could be a nice addition alongside center Andris Biedrins, whose 11.5-rebound average does little to put a dent into the Warriors’ porous rebounding differential (minus-4.88 per game).
6. Memphis Grizzlies, 22-54
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 6.3 percent.
How Blake would fit: While playing in front of only an announced 12,662 fans a night would be the worst situation imaginable, Griffin could instantly turn Memphis’ young core into arguably the best in the league. A starting five of Mike Conley (21), O.J. Mayo (21), Rudy Gay (22), Griffin (20) and Marc Gasol (24) would give Memphis a nice mix of athleticism, size and skill at each position, possibly creating match-up problems for years to come if kept intact.
5. Minnesota Timberwolves, 22-55
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 8.8 percent.
How Blake would fit: Al Jefferson is the face of the franchise, and the Wolves just traded O.J. Mayo to Memphis during last year’s draft in exchange for forward Kevin Love. Together, Jefferson and Love seemingly serve as Minnesota’s frontcourt of the future, leaving the Wolves without a pressing need for Griffin. Still, the Wolves would be crazy not to take Griffin, but what they do from there is where it gets dicey. Love could move to the bench. But it’s not far-fetched to think Griffin could come off the bench and be brought along slowly, similar to how Miami is handling last year’s No. 2 overall pick Michael Beasley.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder, 21-55
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 11.9 percent.
How Blake would fit: No lottery team needs a low-post scorer as much as the Thunder. Nenad Krstic is a pick-and-pop shooter. Nick Collison is primarily a rebounder. And Robert Swift is likely on his way out of town. Griffin isn’t the answer to the Thunder’s interior defense woes. His ability to score from the painted area, however, would take loads of pressure off Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook and give what is a jump-shooting Thunder team a reliable scoring option when jump shots aren’t falling.
3. Los Angeles Clippers, 18-59
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 15.6 percent.
How Blake would fit: With Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby, Zach Randolph and rookie DeAndre Jordan, the Clippers have the most talented frontcourt of any lottery team. But Kaman’s injury-prone, Camby’s aging, Randolph’s a head case and Jordan is a project. The Clippers have done a good job of acquiring young talent, however, and Griffin would join rookie guard Eric Gordon and second-year forward Al Thornton as building blocks.
2. Washington Wizards, 18-60
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 19.9 percent.
How Blake would fit: This could be the best situation for Griffin. The Wizards, when healthy, have an All-Star caliber trio in Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. Griffin could fit nicely at power forward alongside an underrated center in Brendan Haywood and could add more interior toughness and defense to a team that is notorious for being soft.
1. Sacramento Kings, 16-60
Odds of winning the No. 1 pick: 25 percent.
How Blake would fit: Considering Sacramento is the worst rebounding team in the league (minus-5.09 differential) and is second-to-last in opponent scoring (109.4 points per game), you could make the argument that no team needs Griffin’s talents more than the Kings. Sacramento has two quality young big men in power forward Jason Thompson (22) and center Spencer Hawes (20), but neither rebounds nor scores from the post nearly as well Griffin.
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Making A ROY Case For Russell Westbrook
The Thunder officially launched its campaign today for Russell Westbrook in the race for Rookie of the Year.
But unlike several teams past and present, Oklahoma City officials didn’t put on the full-court press and woo voters through gifts or gimmicks.
There are no gadgets. No clever or even cheesy promotion that portrays Westbrook’s accomplishments. And no DVD filled with his highlight-reel plays.
The Thunder just sent out this, a flyer on Westbrook that lists his stats and achievements. Not very convincing, really.
But the New Jersey Nets were just as bland, only they included a cool video link in their electronic flyer.
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Malik Rose: “I don’t think we’re” packing it in
Malik Rose sat expressionless at his locker, staring across the Thunder’s dressing room while still in full uniform after many of his teammates had already showered, dressed and ducked out for the evening.
His only hope after a 117-99 embarrassment to the Indiana Pacers was that his Oklahoma City teammates haven’t officially packed it in.
“I don’t think we’re doing it,” said Rose, the 13-year veteran forward and the lone Thunder player with championship experience. “Until I see for sure I’ll say we’re not.”
Only hours earlier at the team’s morning shoot-around, it was Rose who all but guaranteed a different effort against the Pacers, assured we’d see a different Thunder team than the one that allowed the Portland Trail Blazers to bully their way to a 35-point drubbing two nights earlier inside the Ford Center.
“The effort is going to be really good,” Rose said Sunday morning. “I’m looking for us to really rebound from that loss.”
The Thunder trailed by as many as 27 points. Oklahoma City lost its last lead after the Pacers took a 2-1 advantage with 1:29 gone by.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks, assuming his team also would come out with much better effort, said he was stunned. Rose said he was angry.
“The way to avoid being labeled as packing it in is to fight through it,” Rose said. “Have some pride and not let guys throw alley-oops and shoot 3s when they’re up 25 or 30 points. We got to send a message and not let that happen. Nothing dirty or flagrant. But there are certain unwritten rules in sports. You don’t steal second up 10 runs. You don’t play-action pass up four touchdowns. You don’t throw lobs up 30. That’s what I’m really disappointed about.”
Rose continued. He talked about how a “deflating feeling” has crept inside the locker room after yet another team came into the Ford Center and outplayed the Thunder both individually and collectively.
“As a team, once we get that deflated feeling we don’t know how to rebound and pump ourselves back up,” Rose said. ”And that’s what I want to see us do over these last six games.”
But who’s going to put an end to it? Who on this team has the heart, ability and esteem to say ‘Enough’ and demand that others follow their lead?
Desmond Mason has been lost for the season to a knee injury. Kevin Durant still is not a vocal leader. Russell Westbrook is a rookie. Jeff Green, while tough, is far from an enforcer. And Nick Collison is a quiet veteran who leads by example.
“It’s one thing to say it. It’s another thing to do it out on the court,” Rose said. ”We have guys who are well capable of doing that. We haven’t gotten a concerted effort from enough people on the court at one time to generate some momentum from it. But we have plenty of vocal leaders. We have plenty of emotional leaders. We have plenty of leaders period. We just need people to do it, to follow.”
When asked if he thought his young teammates understood the importance of finishing the final six games strong, Rose paused, then sighed.
“I hope so,” he said. ”But if not they’ll soon learn it.”
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Thunder-Pacers live blog, 6 p.m.
Bulletin Board Material
Never believe an athlete when you hear him or her say they don’t read the clippings. It’s not true.
Sure, there are lots of players who don’t pick up the paper every day or wake up and search the Internet over their Cinnamon Toast Crunch. But if something disparaging is said or written, believe it finds its way into the player’s hands. That’s been my experience at the high school, college and professional level.
It goes a long way in explaining the 35-point thrashing the Portland Trail Blazers put on the Thunder on Friday night inside the Ford Center. Mike Baldwin had a story in Friday’s editions of The Oklahoman quoting ESPN’s Ric Bucher as saying the Thunder has a brighter future than the Blazers.
Well, apparently the Blazers took exception, especially to this bit….”Kevin (Durant) can dominate his position to command a double team to try and stop him,” Bucher said. “As good as Brandon Roy is, there are certain matchups you don’t have to double him hard. The Thunder isn’t at the same place right now. But their flexibility, their room to grow, is better. And they already have some key parts you have to have. Portland doesn’t have that point guard yet. And in my mind they don’t have that superstar player.”
LaMarcus Aldridge proceeded to post a season-high 35 points and a career-high 18 rebounds on OKC, and point guard Steve Blake finished with 14 points, 10 assists and only one turnover.
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Blazers 107, Thunder 72
Observations, news and notes from Friday’s game…..
* Your coach was not a happy camper tonight……
“We didn’t hit shots. We didn’t defend. We played soft basketball,” said Scott Brooks. ”These playoff teams that we’re playing, they play physical basketball. And 21 offensive rebounds, that just shows you right there we didn’t bring the energy that it takes to win on our home court or on the road.”
* There was more…..
“There’s no question we’ve lost games when teams have outplayed us. But I don’t think this year we really lost a game because the other team just physically manhandled us. We were soft tonight. It’s unacceptable to play like we played tonight.”
* Brooks is going to make sure the players didn’t put this one behind them the moment they crumpled the box scores and tossed them aside as they sat at their lockers….
“I think we are at a stage of our process where this is not a throwaway game,” Brooks said. “We have to take something from this game. We will watch some film tomorrow. We will talk about this game. Once we get that done, once we get on the practice floor, we’re going to do things that are going to get us better and worry about the Indiana Pacers. But we’re not going to let this game go without talking about it and looking at it and we definitely have to learn something from it.”
* Shaun Livingston got some surprise playing time. I’ve been saying all week in print, on this blog and on NewsOK.com videos that I don’t expect him to play over these final games. Couldn’t have been more incorrect. He played 27 minutes tonight, and I thought he looked pretty good all things considered. You can read my full story on Livingston’s Thunder debut in Saturday’s editions of The Oklahoman.
* Brooks said he could use Livingston more going forward…”I definitely liked what I saw tonight,” Brooks said. “He makes plays for others and that’s what we need.”
* LaMarcus Aldridge did whatever he wanted offensively. Jeff Green threw everything he could at him. None of it worked. L.A. finished with a season-high 35 points with a game-high 18 rebounds.
* I asked Brooks why he didn’t send more double teams at Aldridge. You could tell early that L.A. had it going and it could be a long night. Brooks said he thought Jeff Green would be able to do a solid job on Aldridge by himself and that the Blazers’ 3-point shooters could burn the Thunder if they doubled…..”You pick your poison. I thought we could guard guys down low with maybe just a little bit of a help, not a full out rotation. But the effort was not there. We didn’t do either one. We didn’t stop them down low and we didn’t stop them from the perimeter.”
* Joel Przybilla pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked three shots. The silver lining, if there is such a thing in this game, is that Przybilla had 10 rebounds and two blocks in the first half alone. I guess that means the Thunder did a decent job on him in the second half. No wait, he only played eight minutes in the second half. Never mind.
* Behind Alrdidge and Przybilla, the Blazers out-rebounded the Thunder 57-32, outscored OKC 46-26 in points in the paint and out-hustled the Thunder to the tune of a 24-6 advantage in second-chance points. Ouch.
* Blazers point guard Steve Blake dictated the pace early with seven first-half assists. He finished with a game-high 10 for the game.
* The Thunder’s ball movement, on the other hand, was pretty non-existent. Brooks blamed that aspect of the game for the team’s offensive woes tonight even while answering a question about how the turnovers (12) were one of the few positives….”We have to have better ball movement,” Brooks said. “When you don’t have better ball movement, usually what happens is you don’t turn it over you just take bad shots. I thought tonight we didn’t have good enough ball movement, especially against a good playoff team.” And there you have it.
* Kevin Durant said the goal in these final seven games needs to be consistency….”We got to be consistent, especially myself,” Durant said. “Get back into my rhythm that I had early on and continue to just go from there. But as a team we’ve got to be consistent on both ends.”
* Durant refused to blame his inconsistency on the games he missed with a sprained ankle disrupting his streak….”I can’t blame it on that,” he said. “I just got to focus more on my shot. I think I’m getting good looks….I know I’ve just got to continue to work even harder now. Hopefully everything gets back on pace and individually I do well.”
* Texas coach Rick Barnes attended Friday’s game, supporting Durant and Aldridge. Barnes might be in attendance Sunday as well in support of Durant and former Longhorns guard T.J. Ford….”I wish we would have played better for him, but it’s good to see him again,” Durant said. “It’s been a long time, but hopefully he’ll get to see many more of our games….I talk to (the folks at Texas) all the time. They’re family so I can’t lose contact with my family.”
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Thunder-Blazers Pre-game Notes
The comparisons between the Thunder and the Blazers are never-ending. In today’s editions of The Oklahoman, Mike Baldwin, quoting ESPN’s Ric Bucher, became the latest to dissect the similarities between the two. It’s a natural link considering the young talent both teams possess.
But Jeff Green stopped short of saying the Thunder aspires to be the Blazers, who enter tonight’s game at the Ford Center sixth in the Western Conference standings at 47-27.
“We’re trying to be better than that,” Green said. ”People compare us because we’re young. That’s it. That’s the bottom line. We have a totally different group of guys. We’re just trying to be the best we can be. Obviously we want to be better than every team in the league but it’s going to take some time. But the more and more we work at it I think the better and better we’re getting.”
The Thunder hasn’t copied the Blazers’ blueprint, but Oklahoma City has built a promising future similar to the way Portland has constructed its revival and now sits on the cusp of the postseason for the first time since 2003.
“I think if you talk to both GMs, they probably have the same plan to build through the draft,” said Nick Collison. “We’re off to a good start. But the next step isn’t just going to happen. We have to be able to do it. We have to be able to make that step as a team.”
LIVINGSTON WILL BE ACTIVE TONIGHT
Shaun Livingston will join the 12-man active roster tonight and be in uniform but isn’t likely to see any court time.
“I can’t predict if he’s going to play or not,” said coach Scott Brooks. “I hope that we’re going to get him some minutes (at some point). We’ll see…I can see him playing, but I just want him to be comfortable with us and us to be comfortable with him.”
After signing with the team Tuesday, Livingston went through individual workouts Wednesday, participated in his first full practice Thursday and a shoot-around session Friday morning. The early impressions from his new teammates was that he’s still got a lot of talent.
“I think he’s slowly getting it back,” Green said. “The injury that occurred with him, it’s tough to come back right away and be in a good rhythm right out of the gate. I know it’s going to take a couple of years for him to fully get to where he left off when he was with the Clippers before the injury happened…But we’re a patient group of guys, and we know with his work ethic he’ll be back to normal soon.”
Said Collison: “He can play. The injuries he went through are pretty unbelievable, almost unprecedented I think. To see him back where he is, he’s doing really well. It’s going to probably take him some time…But it’s an opportunity. He’s a guy that everyone knew could play. But we’re making an investment in him and hoping that he can get back to where he was. And if he does it’ll be a great pickup for us. Time will tell. It’ll be a tough injury to come back from but it seems like he’s doing great.”
WHY WEAVER GOT SENT DOWN
Brooks explained Weaver’s assignment to the Tulsa 66ers Friday by saying it’s simply an opportunity for the rookie guard to get more playing time. Weaver was averaging 19.6 minutes over his past five games with the Thunder. He figures to be getting twice that in Tulsa while also having an opportunity to have the ball in his hands more, play some minutes at point guard and have more freedom to develop his game.
“He’s going to be able to play there two games and only miss one game here,” said Brooks, indicating Weaver is likely to be recalled prior to Sunday’s game against Indiana. ”I like what he has done for us, and he will continue to improve because he is a great worker. But he’s getting minutes down there and it helps when you get minutes. I know he was getting 16, 17 minutes up here, but he’s getting 40 minutes down there. I thought he did a good job. He was filling up the stat sheet. They didn’t win the game, but I thought his numbers and his play was pretty good. So he’s just getting an opportunity to play extra minutes.”
SO WHO GETS WEAVER’S MINUTES TONIGHT?
Brooks was non-committal when asked Friday who would slide in at the shooting guard position tonight for the 16-20 minutes Weaver normally receives. Brooks said he could play Kevin Durant extra minutes at shooting guard, give Jeff Green more minutes or go big or small.
“I don’t know who exactly will take those minutes,” Brooks said. ”Guys just have to be ready if they get the opportunity. There’s minutes to be had right there. We can go big or small. That’s just going to be a game-time decision depending on what they do.”
SEFOLOSHA STICKING ROY
Thabo Sefolosha will get the start on Blazers leading scorer Brandon Roy, who has torched the Thunder this season with averages of 27 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in two games.
“He’s had his way against us. He’s a great player,” Brooks said. “We want Thabo to make sure that his touches are very difficult. But he’s going to have to have four guys on his backside helping out. One thing about Roy that makes him so difficult to guard is he’s a great shooter and he’s a great ball-handler. He gets to the rack. He can score around the basket over big guys, and he’s a great free throw shooter so you can’t foul him.
“Our challenge is to try to limit his catches and make him get away from his sweet spot. He’s a mid-range guy that can shoot 3s. So Thabo has to really be physical with him and challenge his ball-handling skills and have help on the weak side.”
COLLISON GEARING UP FOR ODEN
Keep an eye on the match up between reserves Collison and Greg Oden tonight. In the Thunder’s first meeting with the Blazers on Feb. 6, Collison won the battle. He scored 21 points with 13 rebounds while holding the 2007 No. 1 overall pick to four points and two rebounds in a 102-93 win inside the Ford Center. Oden made amends for that performance, however, by scoring 16 points with 10 rebounds and three blocked shots in a 106-92 win inside the Rose Garden on Feb. 11. It was Collison who was held to four points and two rebounds in the second meeting.
“Oden’s a load when he gets the ball deep,” Collison said. “I had a real tough time with him in Portland. So I’m going to try to do a better job of not letting him catch it so low…With him he’s just so big. If he’s catching the ball in the paint he’s tough to stop. If you can make him catch it off the block he has a much more difficult time so that’s what we’ll try to do.”
GREEN MATCHING UP WITH LaMARCUS
Drawing the assignment of containing the athletic and versatile LaMarcus Aldridge will be Green, who gives up about two inches but can make up for it with his strength, length and quickness.
“It’s going to be tough,” Green said. ”He’s been playing very well, averaging about 25 points the last couple of games. He runs the floor very well for a big man. He’s probably the best in the league at doing that. He rebounds. He’s a weak side shot blocker. So it’s going to be tough. I’ve got to keep him off the boards. I can’t let him get easy looks. So it’s going to be a good match up. It’s going to be fun.”
SUSTAINING THE SAN ANTONIO EFFORT
If the Thunder is to be successful tonight, the team must play with the intensity that it played with in San Antonio on Tuesday night. Duplicating that effort, however, is always easier said than done.
“Hopefully it’s just a habit,” said Collison. “The point we want to get to is that’s just our habit, that’s how we always play and that’s the effort we always have. We’ve had it a lot lately. Hopefully that’s just who we are right now.”
GOING GREEN
The Thunder is expected to wear special T-shirts on the bench tonight in honor of the NBA’s Green Week.
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I’ve Got Derrick Rose Colored Glasses
As I was sitting at my desk in the office today, an editor approached and delivered a package.
It was a box from the Chicago Bulls.
Inside was a silver square canister about the size of a 5 X 7 photo album. On the front is a red rose-colored shot of the United Center crowd in the background. Bulls rookie Derrick Rose’s mug shot is emblazoned in the forefront at right. Rose is smiling, wearing 3-D glasses with a Bulls logo in the middle, two action photos of him on the left and right of the spectacles and the words “Derrick Rose Colored Glasses” written on both sides of the frames.
At left of Rose’s image was a cheesy but catchy item that read “New! Derrick Rose Colored Glasses. Gives you a “Rosy” outlook!” There is even an “As seen on TV” logo at bottom right.
The most unnecessary campaign for Rookie of the Year has officially begun. And if I wasn’t already casting my first-place vote for the No. 1 overall pick (I was), the Bulls could have sold me with this thoughtful gimmick to bring attention to a soft-spoken player who has done nothing but let his game speak for itself.
Inside the tin can are a pair of 3-D glasses that come with a booklet that gives you facts, stats and celebrity testimonials like this gem from New Orleans point guard Chris Paul, “I think he’s a lot faster than me and a lot more explosive than me, and he’s a lot more athletic. I should be asking what I see of myself in him. I think he’s adjusted to the game very well.”
And just for good measure, the Bulls included a DVD of Rose and a 5 X 7 card with more quickie facts and stats.
Hello, Oklahoma City Thunder. Are you paying attention?
You had a chance to steal my heart, and my vote, with a Russell Westbrook Runaway ROY Train.
Too late now. I’m seeing the ROY race through a pair of Rose Colored Glasses.
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Thunder To Honor Wayman Tisdale Tuesday
The Thunder will honor former Oklahoma star Wayman Tisdale with the Thunder Community Hero Award for the month of April at Tuesday night’s game against San Antonio. Tisdale will be recognized during an on-court presentation for his contributions to basketball in Oklahoma and for his courage and spirit battling cancer and assisting others who have faced the same challenge.
Tisdale was diagnosed with cancer in his knee in 2007. His right leg was amputated from the knee down in 2008 and he now wears a prosthetic leg.
Tisdale, through his foundation, also assists other amputees who don’t have health insurance or whose insurance won’t fund medical needs. He was recently honored with a similar Courage Award during an NBA Legends event at NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix.
Tisdale, a three-time All-American for the Sooners and a 12-year NBA veteran for Indiana, Sacramento and Phoenix, will be presented the Community Hero Award by Thunder general manager Sam Presti and Devon Energy Executive Vice President Alan Marcum. Tisdale will be joined by his wife, Regina, as special guests of the Thunder.
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P.J. Carlesimo Lands At TNT
Former Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo has been hired by TNT as an in-game analyst.
Carlesimo will work tonight’s Denver-Utah game, the second of the network’s double-header at 9:30 p.m., alongside play-by-play man Kevin Harlan and sideline reporter Marty Snider. Carlesimo also will be an analyst during the network’s 40 games in 40 nights coverage for the NBA playoffs.
The deal has been in the works for months between TNT and Carlesimo, who also served as a radio analyst during the NCAA Men’s Tournament for Westwood One.
Carlesimo has had several radio and television jobs over his career, most notably his work as an NBA analyst for NBC and the San Antonio Spurs during the 1999-2000 season after the Golden State Warriors fired him midway through the season.
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