Interview with Clay Bennett
No Names chairman Clay Bennett announced the acquisition of the Tulsa 66ers today, and I had a chance to catch up with him for the second time in as many days. In a brief interview with Jimmie Tramel and I, Bennett talked about the Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma City team name debate, team employment and reiterated the team will not play any of its regular season games in Tulsa.
Q: Do you see Oklahoma City playing any of its 41 regular season home games at the BOK Center in Tulsa?
CB: I don’t see that we’ll play regular season games here. But we are committed to playing as many pre-season games as make sense and however many Tulsa wants us to play here. And we’re trying very hard, even though the relocation has just been completed and (other team’s) schedules were pretty well in place, we’re still attempting to schedule a pre-season game (in Tulsa) this season. That’s not done, but we’re hoping to get that done. But we are committed to a tangible presence in the market with our team.
Q: Is there any way to gauge how much of the ticket request list numbers come from the Tulsa area?
CB: We do have information of that, and it’s meaningful. As we look at the spread of where the registrations are coming from it’s generally Para-pursued to the population and the distance. We have pretty significant numbers from Wichita as well, so it’s broad. It’s very significant.
Q: Can you speak to the amount of exhibition games in Tulsa? Do you plan on having them here every year if possible?
CB: I would like to. I would like to play here. I’d like to have a real presence here, and I think pre-season games is a great way to do it because it’s the first look of the year and if you’ve got exciting rookies it’s the first time everybody gets to see them. So we’d like to commit to that, but we also want to do what’s best for the building and what’s best for Tulsa. But we would like to be a part of it.
Q: Do you think it would have incorporated Tulsa into the franchise if it would have been the Oklahoma whatever instead of the Oklahoma City whatever.
CB: I think that’s probably nominal at the end of the day, especially given the fact that we’re committing to making it a state-wide team. That said, I understand that discussion, and I know how it’s done in certain other smaller markets. But it’s how this was put together, and our commitment is to in fact make it a state-wide team.
Q: Can you address the 1,300 people who have submitted applications for employment with the team and speak to what the process will be going forward?
CB: The interest is terrific. I’m not personally involved with that process at this time, because we’re going through with HR professionals filtering through resumes and applications and also overlying what are the available positions and skill sets required. So once that begins to come together and our respective directors determine the various positions, I’ll be more involved in the selection. But from what I understand and know from some of what I’ve seen, we’ve got some outstanding applications and expect to be able to put together a first-rate staff.
Q: How will you all go about selecting a dance team, and when will that process begin?
CB: We’re getting ready to talk about the dance team. At this point I’m not knowledgeable about the process. I will not be a judge (laughs).
Q: Some people want to know if it’s going to be open to the public.
CB: I expect that at some level it will be, but I’m not sure how all that’s going to work except that we are going to have a dance team and that process of developing the dance team very soon.
Q: You won’t comment about the team name, but can you comment on whether it is finalized? Has it been chosen?
CB: I can’t comment on that.
Q: Why was Marshalls trademarked with two Ls?
CB: I’m just not going to comment on the name until we make the announcement.
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WWLS to air OKC’s games
By Darnell Mayberry
Staff Writer
Clay Bennett, the chairman of Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise, will be a guest on WWLS-FM 98.1 at 5 p.m. today to announce the team has agreed to a radio rights deal with the Citadel Broadcasting station.
Team officials and Citadel executives declined comment on the agreement until after Bennett’s announcement.
Citadel, however, is expected to broadcast all 82 regular season games this season. It’s unclear whether the games will be broadcast exclusively on WWLS or Citadel’s sister stations, WKY-AM 930, will share in the regular-season schedule. WWLS-AM 640 also is part of the Sports Animal Radio Network.
NBA teams generally favor radio deals with stations that share ownership with other stations to allow flexibility in scheduling to circumvent conflicts.
The team has not announced a broadcasting team, but Matt Pinto is expected to continue in his second season as the play-by-play announcer.
The team also expressed interest in area stations owned by Clear Channel and Renda Broadcasting, but local executives from those companies declined comment on the team’s interest citing confidentiality agreements.
Renda-owned KOKC-AM 1520 and KRXO-FM 107.7 carry OU football broadcasts, and KOKC also airs OU basketball and baseball games. Renda’s other FM stations, KOMA, and KMGL, are music-only channels.
Clear Channel stations KTOK-AM 1000 and KHBZ-FM 94.7 also were approached. The temporarily-displaced New Orleans Hornets aired their games on KTOK during their first season in Oklahoma City and on KHBZ during the second year, hosting pre- and post-game shows for the team during both seasons.
In addition to a standard rights fee, the team is believed to have sought the entire block of commercial space during the broadcasts, a compromise several local stations find a hard time making because of the loss of advertising revenue.
WWLS is believed to have become a more attractive option for the NBA team because of its national appeal as an FM station and it’s strong wattage, which allows it to reach more people. Earlier this month, WWLS moved from 97.9 and upgraded its signal to 31,000 watts.
Join us for a live chat
We are venturing into new territory on Wednesday morning, as sports editor Mike Sherman and I, with the help of the good folks at the Opubco studios, will attempt a live NBA videocast at 11 a.m. on NewsOK.com.
There will be a link on the home page of NewsOK.com before the start of the videocast that you can click on and join the live feed. Once there, I’m told there will be a fancy question box for you and yours to submit questions to us and get answered live over the Internet.
In other news, I’m told the NBA schedule will be announced in the middle of next week. That means we will know who’s coming to town and when on Aug. 5th 6th or 7th. As I’ve said before in this space, I’m more excited about the release of the league-wide schedule than I am the team name.
Along the same lines of the team name, apparently the franchise still doesn’t have the name, colors and logos all figured out. This year’s rookies had their photo shoot today in New York and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and D.J. White had to pose in those mesh black practice jerseys the team wore during the Orlando Pro Summer League. Minnesota, Orlando and Sacramento are also unveiling new uniforms this season, and players for those teams wore their new threads for the shoot.
And finally, Yahoo Sports has trotted out a poll aking readers what the Oklahoma City team name should be. The writer says the NBA didn’t like that KOCO-TV reported the name will be Thunder and registered the five other names last week “to keep us on our toes.”
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Nothing ventured, nothing gained
OKC took a shot at landing a promising young player in C.J. Miles this week.
Utah had other ideas, rejecting that attempt by matching the team’s offer on Friday and keeping the restricted free agent shooting guard.
But the attempt was a wise one considering Miles’ age (21) and past production when given the opportunity. That’s why you must overlook his ho-hum career averages of 4.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists. Why you can’t write him off as a player who would have been a minor acquisition. Why Utah ultimately matched a significant four-year, $15 million deal despite having three additional shooting guards on its roster, all of them talented and all of them 27 or younger.
Miles could have developed into something special when lined up alongside Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook. He could have been the perimeter shooting threat that made defenses pay for sagging off to help clog the lane and prevent Westbrook’s penetration. He could have been the hot hand when Durant’s and Green’s went cold.
I could be getting ahead of myself.
But cases like this happen all the time, when teams decide to not retain their free agents only to see those players blossom elsewhere. It happened in Utah in 2004 with point guard Mo Williams.
Williams was a bit player as a rookie for Utah before signing a modest three-year, $5.5 million contract with the Bucks and developing into a top 10 point guard in Milwaukee. Obviously it’s water under the bridge in Utah because the Jazz now have a top five point guard in Deron Williams.
But Miles could have had Williams’ same type of improvement in Oklahoma City, where it’s not guaranteed the franchise will draft a top 10 shooting guard talent next year. (Not saying Miles is or is going to develop into a top 10 player at his position, just sticking with the Mo Williams example).
And so after a week of uncertainty, Miles will remain in Utah, where the Jazz must figure out a way for him to mend a rocky relationship with coach Jerry Sloan while also solving the quandary of how to divvy up minutes among four young shooting guards.
So where does OKC go from here? That’s the question I’m tackling for Sunday’s editions of The Oklahoman. The team doesn’t seem to be eager to jump to a Plan B in free agency. OKC also has 13 players under contract – 14 if you count restricted free agent Robert Swift – and more and more I’m starting to get the sense the front office is content with standing pat with the current cast.
That’s not to say there won’t be a move here or there. I’ll examine some potential options Sunday. But, as I wrote a few weeks back, the free agent market doesn’t figure to be where we see this team shake up things this summer.
Oklahoma City tried its best down that route this week, attempting to add a young, hungry and talented player to its roster. Utah had other ideas.
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Utah will match offer for Miles
The Utah Jazz have matched Oklahoma City’s four-year- $15 million offer sheet for restricted free agent C.J. Miles to retain the 21-year-old shooting guard, according to league sources.
The Jazz had until 4 o’clock central time to decide whether to match the offer. Oklahoma City offered the three-year pro a lucrative contract in hopes the Jazz wouldn’t match the offer. But Utah took the full seven day grace period and retained the former 34th overall pick out of Skyline High School in Dallas.
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Could Utah Match Offer for Miles?
The Jazz have until Friday to match OKC’s four-year, $15-million offer sheet on C.J. Miles, and it’s looking like Utah is using these final few hours to clear up cap space to retain the 21-year-old shooting guard.
Utah traded backup point guard Jason Hart on Wednesday to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for veteran point guard Brevin Knight. The move sheds nearly $1 million off the Jazz’s team salary and helps the team avoid the luxury tax threshold if they choose to retain Miles.
Utah currently has about $61.5 million in team salary, exceeding the $58.68 million cap set for the 2008-09 season. Because Miles is Utah’s own free agent, the Jazz can further exceed their current salary to retain him. But the luxury tax level for next season is set at $71.15 million, meaning any team whose salary exceeds that figure will pay a $1 tax for each $1 it exceeds that figure. It’s a costly position for teams to be in, but it’s not the 2008-09 season Utah would have to worry about the luxury tax if they retain Miles but the 2009-10 season.
Miles’ deal with OKC is likely to start at $3.35 million with 8% annual raises, giving him a fourth-year salary of $4.154 million. Since the Jazz still is roughly $10 million below the tax threshold for next season, they can match the first-year salary of $3.35 without paying any tax.
But with Deron Williams’ new contract kicking in for the 2009-10 season, the Jazz will be in a bind if both Carlos Boozer ($12.7 million) and Mehmet Okur ($9 million) play out the final year of their contracts rather than opting out before the 2009-10 season. Utah likely also will want to retain low-post bruiser Paul Millsap, who will be a free agent next summer and could command a salary starting at $5 million if he builds on a solid first two seasons with another strong season this year.
Having said that, the Hart-for-Knight deal has no bearing on Utah’s cap figure for the 2009-10 season since both players are entering the final year of their contracts. If Utah is indeed trying to clear up cap space to retain Miles, it would seem they would also want to trade second-year shooting guard Morris Almond. If not, Utah would have four shooting guards on the roster in Miles, Almond, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer.
Almond also has two more team option years on his original rookie contract for 2009-10 and 2010-11 totaling about $3.2 million. Utah could simply decline his option and let him walk after next season, but the Jazz likely would want to get something in exchange for him such as a future draft pick at a minimum even if it’s a second rounder.
Stay tuned.
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News and Notes
Oklahoma City still hasn’t signed second-round pick DeVon Hardin. Second-round picks aren’t guaranteed to make the team, but Hardin’s case is unusual because GM Sam Presti has raved about his potential since the team drafted him last month. Here’s what Presti had to say when I asked him why Hardin still hasn’t signed:
“He’s a second-round guy, and we’re still evaluating what we’re going to do with him. He has the opportunity to come to camp and make the team. We’ll see what happens with him. But we’re excited by him. We think he could be somebody that is a part of what we’re trying to do because of his athleticism and his size. We didn’t think he’d be there at the 50th pick, but if you kind of look at second-round picks in general a lot of them aren’t signed before camp.”
Utah still is deciding whether it will match OKC’s offer for C.J. Miles. The Deseret News reports the Jazz will wait until the end of the seven days to announce their decision. What makes this stalemate interesting is Utah didn’t wait the full seven days to make a decision on Dee Brown when Washington signed him to an offer sheet.
Miles clearly is a better prospect than Brown, who is at best a third-string point guard. But what makes the two situations similar is Utah is loaded at both players’ positions. The Jazz have Deron Williams, Ronnie Price and Jason Hart at point guard and didn’t need Brown. They also have Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer and Morris Almond at shooting guard, and you’d think this would be an easy decision on Miles, especially considering OKC’s four-year, $15 million offer is a hefty price tag for a suddenly cash-strapped Jazz franchise. The Jazz have until Friday morning.
Recently, I’ve been asked whether Presti made the wrong call by passing on Jerryd Bayless and selecting Russell Westbrook with the fourth overall pick. My answer: it’s too early to say. I’m assuming this question is gaining steam because of the way Bayless tore up the Vegas Summer League, averaging 29.8 points on 48.5 percent shooting with 4.8 rebounds in four games. How quickly we forget, though, how Westbrook did the same in Orlando a week earlier and had NBA types calling him “the best player in the (Orlando) league not named Kevin Durant.” That includes fellow high-profile rookies Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose and Brook Lopez.
I thought the then-Sonics should have drafted Bayless, but I’m not ready to say they made a mistake by taking Westbrook. After all, summer league is just that. We’ll see how both players do when the lights come on in November.
A couple of Thunder-related items…
- The Trenton Thunder, the Double-A affiliate of the Yankees, is trying to “ease the pain of Sonics fans worldwide” by offering any Sonics fans a free ticket to a Thunder game. Trenton Thunder GM Brad Taylor says, “We can’t blame Oklahoma City for choosing the best nickname in all of sports and certainly wish them well.”
- The Wichita Eagle has a poll on its Web site asking readers what will be their interest in Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise. Leading all categories so far with 200 of the 563 votes, “It’s the NBA. I’m only interested in college ball.” Wichita is home of the Central Hockey League’s Wichita Thunder, which plays the Oklahoma City Blazers. If OKC’s team name really is Thunder, things can get confusing around here if the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers are in town the same night Wichita brings its Thunder to face off against OKC’s Blazers.
- With the name Thunder, people seem to love it or hate it. Personally, each time I hear someone grumbling about it I think back to this city’s love of the Hornets, which without a doubt is one of the worst five nicknames in the NBA. Nobody cared then and, in time, nobody will mind whatever the name ends up being with this franchise.
Speaking of the Hornets, ESPN.com has a nice little article on former fan favorite Speedy Claxton on the comeback trail. Claxton is looking to bounce back with the Hawks after signing a four-year, $25 million deal following the 2005-06 season. He missed all of last season with knee problems and played in only 42 games in 2006-07.
Also, Tulsa could be interested in getting a WNBA franchise. Read all about it here.
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Temporary Practice Site Selected
Oklahoma City’s NBA team has reached an agreement to purchase the Performance Sports Center in Edmond to serve as its temporary practice facility for next season.
A permanent training location has yet to be determined.
Team officials began exploring temporary options two weeks ago, touring the campuses of Oklahoma City University, Southern Nazarene University and Oklahoma Christian University. Team chairman Clay Bennett, general manager Sam Presti, coach P.J. Carlesimo and director of basketball technology Paul Rivers were among the team executives that took the 30-minute tours.
“We were quite impressed with what Performance Sports Center was able to offer for our temporary needs,” said Presti. “The NBA size court and weight and training facilities are efficient for us in the interim. It’s an excellent location and we feel our players, coaches and staff will fit in well there. The Oklahoma City area offered several good facilities, but we decided this best met our needs.”
The team will use the Performance Sports Center as its full-time training site for the 2008-09 season, conducting all non game day practices at the facility and using the location as the center for the basketball operations offices.
According to its Web site, the 30,000 square foot Performance Sports Center has two full size basketball courts, volleyball courts, a state-of-the-art weight room a 65-yard indoor sprint track and full locker rooms showers and dressing areas.
Team officials said the facility will require some improvements to the locker rooms, training area, office space and meeting rooms to bring it up to NBA standards. The team won’t move into the facility until the upgrades are completed, which is expected to be around late September.
“This is a very important piece of our basketball operations,” Presti said. “It’s the players’ office, where they spend a great deal of time practicing, conditioning and continuing to develop as a team.”
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Durant scores 62 at Berry Farms
When you have 20 minutes to spare I’d recommend watching this video of Kevin Durant playing at the legendary Goodman League in D.C. last Friday. Durant scores 62 and hits a league record 10 3-pointers. Unfortunately, the video only captures the game’s final 21 minutes. But trust me, it’s worth a look. (Beware of a little graphic language in the video).
You might not be a fan of streetball, and it’s obvious on the video that defense is not high on the priority list, but you clearly can see how pure Durant’s shot is. He effortlessly hoists 3s from a good five feet behind the line before watching them hit nothing but net.
This from the league’s official Web site: “So effortless is his stroke, so good is his ball-handling ability, combined with that inner fire to be a leader is a recipe for a true superstar. Forget everything you see on T.V., he’s better than that. He’s quicker than you think, shoots farther out that you can believe and handles the ball unbelievably well for someone 6-10. It’s hard to imagine he’s only (two years) removed from the 12th grade.”
Before you ask why is the Rookie of the Year and Oklahoma City’s franchise player playing on the playground, look at it as a positive. Durant can’t stay away from basketball. That’s a good thing.
This from GM Sam Presti at the Orlando Summer League: “If he wasn’t playing here, he’d be playing somewhere else. It’s not like we’re forcing him. With Kevin, if there’s a ball bouncing, it’s a good bet he’ll find his way into the game.”
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OKC signs C.J. Miles to offer sheet
Oklahoma City has signed Utah guard C.J. Miles to an offer sheet, according to a league source with knowledge of the team’s negotiations.
The terms of the deal remain unclear, but the offer is expected to start at more than the $1.2 million Miles was set to earn with Utah next season. Because Miles is a restricted free agent, the Jazz will have seven days to match the offer sheet for the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder.
Miles, 21, is entering his fourth season after declaring for the draft out of high school in 2005. The former 34th overall pick has career averages of 4.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 120 games, 29 as a starter.
Known as a perimeter shooting threat, Miles is a career 32.6-percent shooter from behind the 3-point line and holds a career high of 29 points.
If the Jazz decline to match Oklahoma City’s offer for Miles, he would join Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook as the team’s building blocks for the future.
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