The Anatomy Of A Ridiculous Trade Rumor
Under league rules, there is no way a reported trade offer that would have had Rusell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo swap uniforms would have even legally been permitted.
Everyone seems to love a good trade rumor.
They can all be so enticing that many of us tend to ignore whether the rumors are even possible, let alone factual.
Such was the case Tuesday night, when ESPN’s Chris Broussard via Twitter reported that Boston recently offered Jeff Green and Rajon Rondo to the Thunder for Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins.
Boston offered Rondo & Jeff Green to OKC for Westbrook & KPerkins after last season’s playoffs. OKC was not interested, sources say.”
Sounds like a juicy one, right?
Two of the leagues elite teams. Two top five point guards (arguably). The game’s best low-post man defender (arguably). And, well, Jeff Green, who many Thunder fans still love and hope will someday return.
Here’s the problem.
Under league rules, this trade scenario is utterly impossible. It couldn’t happen, not even if the Thunder had interest in essentially erasing perhaps the best trade in the franchise’s short time in OKC.
Here’s why.
League rule prohibit teams from reacquiring a player they traded away during that season unless the player has been waived. The duration of a season is July 1 to June 30. For Boston to have made its pitch to OKC after the playoffs, the call would have had to have been made prior to July 1.Teams could not discuss players, trades or contract negotiations from July 1 until today. If the pitch was made prior to July 1, the trade couldn’t have gone through.
There’s more.
Because Green was set to be a restricted free agent on July 1, Boston could not have traded him without his consent. Had Green agreed, he would have lost his Bird rights and essentially forfeited millions by going back to a team that just shipped him out because it didn’t deem him worthy of the millions he wanted to begin with.
Interesting, eh?
With all that said, it doesn’t mean the trade wasn’t indeed offered. It very well could have been.
There was just no way it would have ever been granted approval.
-DM-
OKC To Play Dallas This Preseason?
The NBA preseason schedule will include two games for every team. Because of the mandatory accelerated pace the league needs to start the regular season on Dec. 25, it is believed that each team will play its closest neighboring franchise. For the Thunder, that would mean the Dallas Mavericks. ESPN Dallas has reported that last year’s Western Conference Finals matchup will indeed be the home-and-away for the Thunder this preseason.
The Dallas Mavericks will play two preseason games against Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The first will be at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 18 at American Airlines Center, and the second at 7 p.m. Dec. 20 at Oklahoma City.”
-DM-
NBA Gives Green Light To Open Its Doors For Business
The Oklahoma City Thunder's sparkling new practice facility is finally about to welcome the team's players.
The NBA has informed teams that players will be permitted to use team facilities on Thursday, while front office executives can resume communication with players’ agents on Wednesday.
Players haven’t had access to their teams’ facilities since the NBA lockout began on July 1. Front office executives have been prohibited from all contact with players and their agents during that time as well.
According to the Associated Press, owners, general managers and coaches also can resume commenting publicly about their players and other typical team-related matters.
What does it all mean for the Thunder?
First and foremost, starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, GM Sam Presti can roll up his sleeves and start negotiating Russell Westbrook’s ultra-important contract extension. But because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been ratified, teams cannot finalize contracts until the free-agent signing period begins on Dec. 9, which also is the start date for training camps.
Westbrook, a first-time All-Star and All-NBA Second Team selection last season, will become a restricted free agent next summer if the two sides are unable to reach a deal. The Thunder would then have the right to match any offer Westbrook might receive from another team. But it appears likely the Thunder will try to quickly lock up Westbrook, who has exploded onto the NBA landscape as one of the league’s elite point guards at only 23 years old.
The Thunder also can start the similar process of re-signing shooting guard Daequan Cook, who is a restricted free agent but has repeatedly expressed his desire to remain in OKC. (more…)
Kevin Durant Talking KD IVs
What we learn in the below video is that we should all be grateful. Grateful that Thunder star Kevin Durant chose to become a basketball player rather than the world’s tallest weatherman. Apparently, it’s the profession KD always admired. He has repeatedly listed Twister as his favorite movie. So there’s that. At any rate, KD’s strange love for natural disasters and unpredictable weather led to a colorway of his latest signature shoe, the KD IV. The folks at NiceKicks.com recently caught up with Durant to discuss the many designs and the future of the line, which Durant says likely will lose the strap in the next installment.
1 on 1 With Kevin Durant from Nice Kicks on Vimeo.
Two pictures of the Weatherman edition KD IV after the jump, courtesy of NiceKicks.com, which has much more on the shoes.
Odds On The 2012 NBA Championship
Courtesy of Bodog.com.
Odds to win 2012 NBA Championship
Miami 9/4
L.A. Lakers 5/1
Chicago 7/1
Oklahoma City 15/2
Dallas 17/2
Odds to win 2012 NBA Eastern Conference Championship
Miami 1/1
Chicago 5/2
New York 9/1
Orlando 10/1
Boston 15/1
Odds to win 2012 NBA Western Conference Championship
Lakers 2/1
Oklahoma City 13/4
Dallas 4/1
Portland 10/1
San Antonio 10/1
Season win totals
Miami 48.5
L.A. Lakers 48.5
Chicago 46.5
San Antonio 46.5
Oklahoma City 44.5
Dallas 44.5
NBA update for 11/28
The NBA’s revised 2011-12 schedule will not be released Thursday or Friday, contrary to rumor and some wishful thinking from anxious fans. Early next week is a more reasonable expectation because deciding when and where to play 990 regular-season games is a substantial task.
If the new collective bargaining agreement is ratified as expected, the NBA has targeted Dec. 25 as opening day. The league has determined the 66-game schedule will be structured with 48 conference games and 18 non-conference games.
The NBA announced three games originally scheduled for Christmas Day will be retained – Celtics at Knicks; Heat at Mavericks; Bulls at Lakers – but did not specify if more Christmas games potentially would be added.
The league’s goal is to start training camps on Dec. 9, which also will begin the free agency process and would be the first day to sign players such as rookies in the 2011 NBA Draft.
The number of exhibition games is not yet known, but it likely will consist of a home-and-home against a team of close proximity, perhaps resulting in the Thunder playing the world champion Dallas Mavericks in a matchup of last season’s Western Conference Finals.
PLAYERS CONFIDENT DEAL WILL GET DONE
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Not many of the NBA players who gathered Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles to play in a charity game hosted by Cleveland Cavaliers guard Baron Davis had gone over the details of the tentatively agreed to new collective bargaining agreement.
The league and the players association are still negotiating secondary “B-List” issues and the players union still needs to reform and put the new CBA to a vote among union members.
Unlike in the NFL, where there was a last minute panic amongst players over the finer print in the deal, no one seemed particularly concerned that this deal could fall apart.
Thunder guard James Harden (pictured) said he was surprised the deal got done so quickly but is relieved the lockout should end soon. “I feel like I just got drafted again,” Harden said. “I’m just excited. It’s a sigh of relief and now it’s time to get to work.”
Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Barnes: “I think for them to bring it to a vote, they definitely met some things we were asking for. For us to even to come to a vote, because last time we weren’t even close to having a vote. For us to come to a vote, it’s close to as good as it’s gonna get. So let’s just go out there and play.”
Toronto Raptors forward DeMar DeRozan: “I think it’s gonna get done. I think we went through a lot of ups and downs (to get) this far. I think everybody will accept this deal and we’ll get back to work. We didn’t necessarily get everything we want, but that’s how it was gonna end. We wasn’t get everything, they wasn’t gonna get everything. So everybody just had to come to a compromise.”
JUDGE ASKED TO HOLD PLAYERS’ CASE
MINNEAPOLIS – A group of NBA players that filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league is asking a Minnesota judge to hold off on any court proceedings while the two sides work on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The players sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz on Monday. The letter informs the judge the two sides have reached a tentative agreement to resolve their labor dispute, including lawsuits filed in Minnesota by the players and in New York by the owners.
It states that both sides are working to “reduce the tentative resolution to a comprehensive, written agreement.” The players ask Schiltz to stay all scheduled court proceedings until Dec. 9, by which time they plan to inform him on whether a settlement has been finished.
Contributing – ESPN.com; The Associated Press
Power Lunch Chat Recap: Darnell Mayberry
Byron Mullens Balling In The Big House
Forget the dangers of Kevin Durant playing flag football.
That’s child’s play compared to how Thunder center Byron Mullens has spent part of his time during the NBA lockout.
According to an ESPN.com story, Mullens has been mixing it up with felons, balling in the big house with convicts, playing hoops with hoods in the pen. After visiting juvenile detention centers in high school to help teach basketball clinics and talk to troubled teens, Mullens recently rediscovered his fondness for jailhouse hoops. He’s been playing occasionally at Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe, Ohio. The assistant warden is a friend of Mullens.
Something tells me that’s a little more risky than strapping up for charity games throughout the country. Take this gem, for example, from one of the inmates itching to go head-to-head with the former first-round pick:
One of the prison’s best point guards, Janes, was a teammate of Mullens in the inaugural game. But he was really looking forward to his first game against the NBA center. “I was excited and nervous because I wanted to see where I was at as far as skill level,” Janes said. “I wanted to rough him up, but not hurt him.”
The writer quickly explains how Mullens is being protected from bullies and bad boys. The prison’s recreation director has established leagues sorted by skill level and age. Only the lowest risk, highest level competitors have been picked to play with Mullens.
The guys are on their better behavior when Byron is here because they know everyone’s watching,” said Justin Patrick, a former Shawnee State basketball player and the prison’s recreation director. “I don’t pick the dirty guys to play against him, just the good-character guys.”
Forgive me if I come off as holier than thou here, but, hello? We aren’t talking about Boy Scouts. Mullens is dealing with some seriously dangerous dudes, most of whom are doing hard time for a real reason. One inmate who was incarcerated in August 2006 explained why he is currently paying his debt to society only by describing his actions as “a mistake after I got involved with the wrong people.” Not exactly the kind of cat I’d be looking to post up, you know what I’m saying? Of course, there’s all kinds of security protecting Mullens from the inmates and the inmates from themselves. But things happen. Imagine if Mullens dunks on the wrong guy and the peanut gallery, which is said to have been close to 300 inmates during one visit, jeers the joker on the wrong end of the posterization. Seems to me that’s all it would take for tempers to flare and fists to fly. More has happened because of less in far safer places for pickup games.
Thankfully, Mullens said in the piece that he doesn’t feel like anyone is trying to injure him, and he said he hasn’t sustained any injuries. Mullens said he wants to use the pickup games, which consist of three 20-minute periods, to work on his ball-handling and perimeter shooting. It’s certainly a unique way to improve your game.
“I know people have their own opinion that if they’re in prison, they shouldn’t really get that freedom,” Mullens said. “But they’re doing the time for what they did, so the way I see it, just coming in here and playing basketball with them … I could be anywhere else but I’ll be in here playing. Basketball is basketball.”
-DM-
NBA already blew it with 2011-12 schedule
Thunder All-Star forward Kevin Durant had 44 points on Christmas Day in a 114-106 victory last year over the Denver Nuggets inside the Ford Center. (Photo by Steve Sisney)
The 66-game regular-season schedule presumably is still on the drawing board, but already the NBA has made a huge mistake.
Opening day for the abbreviated 2011-12 season will be Dec. 25. The league got this part right. Christmas Day was a wise decision and an obvious choice. It’s important to get off on the right foot following a 149-day lockout which, based on the tentative agreement, appears as though it could have easily been settled in 49 days.
Where the league got it wrong was scheduling only three games on opening day — the Celtics at the Knicks; the Heat at the Mavericks; the Bulls at the Lakers.
Rather than cater solely to the major markets, the league should have included everybody. Why in the name of David Stern weren’t 15 games slated for Christmas Day? Schedule these games in the right arenas and there might have been nothing but sellouts on opening day.
Including all 30 teams would have been the proper sign of goodwill in celebration of the new collective bargaining agreement. Show fans every team is created equal (even though they aren’t). Allow every team to share the stage. Small-market teams like the Thunder certainly would have appreciated the gesture.
Stern and Co. are a sharp bunch, but they whiffed on this one.
I have no idea when the revised schedule will be determined. Maybe it’s already complete. If not, then make the change and schedule 15 games. Make it a Merry Christmas for every team and its fans, not just the Big Six.
Video: Kevin Durant Answering Questions
Jeff Goodman from CBS Sports caught up with Kevin Durant recently and picked his brain about a variety of topics. Durant is speaking in his customary soft tone, so you’ve got to really pump up the volume to hear him.
-DM-
