Training Camp Roster Almost Finalized
Former Tulsa standout Michael Ruffin is one of several free agents who have received an invitation to the Thunder’s training camp, which opens Tuesday.
NBA Fanhouse first reported that the Thunder will sign Ruffin and Ryan Bowen, two nine-year veteran power forwards, to non-guaranteed contracts. The Oklahoman has also learned that Tre Kelley and Mike Harris are among at least two other players who are expected to join Ruffin and Bowen in training camp.
Harris, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound forward, played at Rice and had a brief stint with Houston at the end of last season. Kelley is a 6-foot point guard who was a three-year starter at South Carolina.
Oklahoma City has 14 guaranteed contracts, and the quartet is expected to fight for the final roster spot throughout October’s preseason schedule.
Ruffin, Bowen and Harris are all known as hard workers who could add beef to the Thunder’s frontcourt in emergency situations and provide a high level of competition in practice. The Thunder is set to enter the season with a solid rotation of Jeff Green, Nick Collison, Nenad Krstic and Etan Thomas at the power forward and center positions.
But there is only young, inexperienced talent after that in D.J. White, Serge Ibaka and Byron Mullens. Those three have played a combined seven NBA games — all by White — and each is expected to see significant time in the D-League.
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Q&A With Kevin Ollie
It was long overdue but I finally got in touch with Kevin Ollie, the veteran point guard the Thunder signed on Aug. 1 to add stability and leadership to the lead guard position. Throughout our 18-minute conversation, Ollie talked about why he joined the Thunder, why he thinks something special is being built in Oklahoma City, his goals of a coaching future, the impact of assistant coach Maurice Cheeks’ addition and how he plans on mentoring Russell Westbrook while competing with Shaun Livingston for backup minutes.
Ollie, who turns 37 in late December, is regarded as one of the classiest guys in basketball and that characterization was evident in our brief chat. He was thankful for the opportunity to continue his career and eager to meet his new teammates and start training camp. He was insightful, introspective, eloquent, humble and gave the impression of being an extremely hard worker. Thunder fans definitely will take a liking to Ollie’s personality, and if he provides anything of value on the court this season that will just be icing on the cake.
DM: What attracted you to the Thunder?
KO: From Day One they gave me a call and expressed interest and had a strong belief in me and my talents and what I can bring as an asset to the team. So I really appreciate their involvement from Day One. And once I met Sam Presti and coach Brooks I just fell in love with the organization. They do everything in a classy way, and I just believe that they’re building a winning program there that I wanted to be a part of.
More On The Durant Free Agent Front
This time next year, Kevin Durant will be eligible to re-sign with the Thunder for up to five more seasons beyond the 2010-11 season.
In Monday’s paper I wrote about Durant’s contract situation and how he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, in large part because, no matter how hard it might be for some to believe, he really has grown fond of Oklahoma and the Thunder. But I wanted to post some additional information about Durant’s forthcoming decision and give you an even clearer idea of why Durant isn’t likely to leave after his rookie deal.
In short, players like Durant just don’t walk after their rookie contracts.
Whether we believe Durant will do what he’s repeatedly said he wants to do — remain with the Thunder for as long as possible — is up to us at this point. It’s certainly understandable how fans and media types have revoked the benefit of the doubt from athletes and coaches. There are far too many examples of a player or coach insisting his or her heart is somewhere only to jump ship weeks later.
But if Durant’s good old-fashioned word isn’t enough, let’s examine history.
Out of 70 top 10 picks from 1999-2005, 40 players went on to sign an extension with the team that drafted them or the club that traded for them.
(I chose this seven-year time frame because the second most recent CBA was instituted in 1999 and still contained rules with similar structuring of rookie contracts to today. I stopped at 2005 because the jury is still out on the class of 2006, which just became eligible to sign extensions this summer and so far has seen No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani become the lone top 10 pick from that class to re-up.)
Of the remaining 30 players from 1999-2005 who didn’t sign extensions, 15 were players who can be considered busts or simply didn’t live up to early expectations: Marcus Fizer, Rodney White, Nickoloz Tskitishvili, Dajuan Wagner, Jarvis Hayes, Stromile Swift, Keyon Dooling, Joel Przybilla, Channing Frye, DeSagana Diop, Michael Sweetney, Darko Milicic, Rafael Araujo, Ike Diogu and Luke Jackson.
Clarifying An Earlier Post
Wanted to make sure that a paragraph in my last post about the new salary cap doesn’t give off the wrong impression.
“For Oklahoma City it means that teams might not unload high-dollar contracts as quickly as many once thought they would with a lower tax line. The tax dropped only $1.23 million and might not scare off owners who feel their teams are championship contenders. Oklahoma City still could prey on mediocre teams pushing the tax line, but, by and large, a small dent in the new tax line could prevent the Thunder from landing a quality player simply because a team is looking to dump a bad contract.”
The Thunder still could greatly benefit from teams looking to shed salary for 2010-11. Opposing teams just might not unload players this summer. The main contenders — Boston, Denver, San Antonio, Cleveland, Orlando, the Lakers — surely won’t. But because the cap and luxury tax are expected to take another, perhaps even bigger, hit next summer, teams likely will be looking to get further under the cap and tax line before the summer of 2010.
That means the Thunder could unload expiring deals — Earl Watson, Damien Wilkins and, to a lesser extent because of his partially guaranteed deal, Chucky Atkins — in exchange for a player with a hefty contract that has two or even three years remaining. While OKC could reach a deal this summer, a more likely scenario is the Thunder waits until teams become a little more eager at the mid-February trading deadline or desperate next July.
As an example, Orlando already is in a world of trouble financially. The Magic have more than $68 million tied up in just eight players. The new tax threshold is $69.9 million, and the Magic, under league rules, must sign at least four more players. But 2010-11 is where things get interesting for Orlando. The Magic will have more than $66 million committed to just six players in 2010-11, with an even lower tax line. The Vince Carter trade essentially has severely limited what Orlando is able to do from here without paying a boatload of tax. It could lead to the Magic being forced to dump a talent like Mickael Pietrus and his $5.3 million contract for peanuts.
Similar examples of long-term issues also could play out with Boston, Charlotte, Denver, Dallas, Golden State, Indiana, the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Toronto, Utah and Washington, with some cases being dependent which of those teams re-sign their players to extensions.
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Paul Millsap: To Sign Or Not To Sign?
One name that constantly crops up around here as the start of free agency nears is Paul Millsap. The big man for the Utah Jazz will be a restricted free agent Wednesday, and fans have long wanted the Thunder to take a chance on the 6-foot-8 forward out of Louisiana Tech. A potential pairing of Millsap and the Thunder has made national headlines Monday morning because of mentions here and here, suggesting the Thunder might make a run at him.
It’s an easy connection to make. Millsap, with his rebounding and interior defense, fits the Thunder’s most pressing needs. Assistant general manager Troy Weaver is also a former director of player personnel with the Jazz and is more familiar with Millsap than most. Add to that, Millsap is one of the best up-and-coming big men in the league after a breakout season in 2008-09 as a result of Jazz starter Carlos Boozer’s injury woes. Millsap averaged 13.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals, all career-highs. He also connected on career-highs of 69.9 percent from the free throw line and 53.4 percent from the field in 30.1 minutes per game.
And so there are reasons to believe the Thunder will make a run and Millsap, but there are also some that suggest OKC won’t.
