Camby To OKC? Presti Meets Rubio. Thabeet To Memphis?
I just got back in town from a weekend away and was out of touch, but I wanted to make sure I posted everything that’s been going on while I was away. And there was quite a bit of news over the past two days.
The Thunder had a workout Friday morning with six prospects, all of them power forwards. The session included Oklahoma’s Taylor Griffin, USC’s Taj Gibson, Michigan State’s Goran Suton, Villanova’s Dante Cunningham, Texas’ Connor Atchley and Pittsburgh’s Tyrell Biggs.
The biggest news of the weekend, however, involved Ricky Rubio, the most puzzling player in this year’s draft. The Sacramento Bee first reported that Thunder officials traveled to Los Angeles to meet with Rubio on Saturday. Rubio has confirmed the report on his Twitter page. The Bee also reported over the weekend that Rubio’s buyout situation is close to being resolved, perhaps providing closure to the biggest question hovering over the 18-year-old point guard’s draft status.
In other news, ESPN.com’s Ric Bucher posted on his Twitter page that a deal between the Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers that would send Marcus Camby to the OKC is “out there.” Camby is one of the NBA’s class acts, but I’m not real sure why Presti would be willing to take on Camby in any deal that didn’t include a little something extra. Camby, although he can still get it done, is 35 and Presti to this point has only made deals that help the Thunder now and in the future. Camby clearly doesn’t fit that pattern. Camby does have an expiring $7.65 million contract, but it’s not like the Thunder needs salary cap relief or a veteran like Camby to push the team into the playoffs. One thing that would make a sliver of sense is getting Camby now for, say, Earl Watson and holding onto him until the trading deadline before trading him to the highest bidding contender. A move like that could land OKC a future first-round pick, cash or another team’s dirty laundry that Presti sees potential in. L.A. would create some space for Blake Griffin, while adding a steady point guard who has L.A. ties and a friendship with Baron Davis. But the Clippers seemingly would have to compensate the Thunder with a little something more for helping them clear space for Griffin. That’s what I keep coming back to.
Meanwhile, Hasheem Thabeet, who along with Rubio and Griffin could be the top three picks Thursday, reportedly canceled a workout with Memphis on Saturday because of a shoulder injury. But the Grizzlies, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, flew to L.A. on Saturday and met with the 7-foot-2 center from UConn…for the third time! That level of interest could be a sign that the Grizzlies will take Thabeet with the second overall pick and leave Rubio for the Thunder, which could spark all kinds of scenarios. A good profile of Thabeet also in the Commercial Appeal.
All of these workouts and clandestine meetings got me to thinking about who hasn’t worked out for the Thunder. (Or at least haven’t been announced by the team as workout participants). It’s a potentially telling list that includes Thabeet, Jordan Hill, Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Stephen Curry, Jonny Flynn and Brandon Jennings. Not suggesting anyone read too much into that last. Just saying that we’re days away from the draft and some of the biggest names have yet to come to town, and that might suggest which direction the Thunder is leaning and which way the team is not. But some of the no-shows could be because agents might think the Thunder is picking too high and they don’t want their clients to waste their time. Some because the Thunder has done all the research, scouting and evaluating it needed to do on a particular player or simply has no interest in a prospect. And some could be scheduled for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. We’ll see who on this list hasn’t shown by Wednesday.
Lastly, two things worth checking out. Jenni Carlson wrote a really good Father’s Day piece on coach Scott Brooks. And there is a cool new draft analysis tool on NewsOK.com that gives you video and stats to some of the projected top picks.
-DM-
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