Jordan Hill’s draft stock slipping
By Mike Baldwin
You probably can scratch Jordan Hill off the list of possible players that Thunder general manager Sam Presti might select with the No. 3 overall selection.
Latest draft rumors have Hill slipping in the draft, possibly to as low as No. 8, 9 or 10 if Golden State doesn’t select the Arizona forward at No. 7.
Presti isn’t giving indications which way he’s leaning but early speculation is the Thunder might bypass Hasheem Thabeet and Ricky Rubio and go with James Harden, possibly DeMar DeRozan.
Harden, a stocky, 6-foot-5, left-handed shooting guard, is said to have a high basketball IQ with a knack to get open and get to the free throw line.
Oklahoma City’s image
By Mike Baldwin
When the organization moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City one of the first reactions was the team would suffer since many NBA players wouldn’t like playing in a small market.
A lot of media assumed Oklahoma City would have a difficult time signing free agents and retaining players who presumably would want to play in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc.
Spotting D.J. White at the Women’s College World Series last weekend was another indication Oklahoma City isn’t the “small market” black hole some paint it.
In exit interviews, before players left town, most said they were either from smaller communities themselves, or actually felt a small market was good for them to concentrate on playing NBA basketball.
Restaurants not staying open late, and the windy, winter weather, were the only real complaints.
In a few years, Thunder fans will go through what Cleveland fans’ are experiencing with LeBron James.
Will Kevin Durant stay in OKC for eight or nine seasons or want to move to a larger market to improve marketing his name nationally and internationally? Durant, so far, has said he likes Oklahoma City. He sounds as if he plans to stay for years to come. Of course, he doesn’t have to reach a final decision for a few more years.
Joe Smith has raved about Oklahoma City since his trade to Cleveland. Out-of-town players said word already is spreading the college-like crowds are a big benefit.
Bottom line is some free agents will chose not to play in Oklahoma City because there’s not a lot of night life and this is a small market. But there are a lot of advantages to playing in Oklahoma City. After one season, we’ve discovered being a small market actually has advantages.
White said the Women’s College World Series was good for softball and good for Oklahoma. For someone from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who played basketball in Indiana, to already talk about Oklahoma City as if it were his home away from home is another example how NBA players playing in a small market might not be the disadvantage some think.
We’re Moving
To make way for more NBA blogging, courtesy of my partner Mike Baldwin, Thunder Rumblings as we know it will be moved to blog.newsok.com/thunderrumblings.
Mike Baldwin’s blog will now be at blog.newsok.com/nbainokc.
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