Desmond Mason, Thunder Part Ways
Desmond Mason’s days in a Thunder uniform have come to an end.
For now.
Oklahoma City has decided to go in a different direction and will not re-sign the former Oklahoma State standout and fan favorite, The Oklahoman has learned.
Mason, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, became a casualty of the Thunder’s commitment to developing its young talent and was the odd man out on a roster that is one player below the NBA maximum of 15 allowed.
The Thunder remained open to the possibility of re-signing the 31-year-old Mason throughout the summer and had ongoing discussions with his agent since the start of free agency on July 1. Mason made $5.3 million in the final year of his contract last season and is believed to have been seeking a deal in the same neighborhood this summer.
Contract negotiations were believed to have been more exploratory in nature, comprised of more casual discussion rather than concrete proposals. Mason’s camp is believed to have been seeking a multi-year contract of at least two seasons while the Thunder was willing to agree to nothing longer than a one-year deal.
But it appeared less likely Mason would return with each transaction the Thunder made since February.
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.
Kevin Ollie signs with the Thunder
The Thunder has signed veteran point guard Kevin Ollie.
Terms of the deal are unclear, but the contract likely is a one-year deal for the 36-year-old journeyman.
Ollie is entering his 13th NBA season and has career averages of 3.8 points, 2.3 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game. He spent last season in Minnesota, where he played 50 games for the Timberwolves and averaged 4.0 points, 2.3 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.
Ollie’s best season came in 2002-03 in Milwaukee and Seattle. While playing all 82 games, he averaged 6.5 points, 3.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 23.1 minutes.
Ollie has also played for Dallas, Orlando, Sacramento, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Chicago, Indiana, and Cleveland. With the Thunder he likely will serve as a third string guard behind Russell Westbrook and Shaun Livingston and add another experienced veteran to help mentor one of the youngest rosters in the NBA.
-DM-
Breaking Down The Etan Thomas Trade
It’s official.
The Thunder has acquired Etan Thomas and two 2010 second-round picks from Minnesota in exchange for Damien Wilkins and Chucky Atkins.
On one hand, the deal could be viewed simply as three aging reserves and two second-round picks swapping places. But this trade holds much more significance for the Thunder in both the short and long term.
Just last week I touched on how the Thunder’s post play remains the weakest link. Young guns D.J. White, Serge Ibaka and Byron Mullens aren’t ready to contribute consistent minutes next season and the addition of Thomas now means they don’t have to.
Oklahoma City is now looking at a steady power forward/center rotation of Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic as the starters and Nick Collison and Etan Thomas as their backups. Roles should be clearly defined in 2009-10 as opposed to the uncertain responsibilities surrounding Thunder bigs Collison, Green, Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, Robert Swift and Johan Petro at the start of last season.
But more than that, the Thunder has brought in the type of player it lacked — a tough-minded, physical presence who rebounds, defends and blocks shots like his career depends on it. Collison is as close as it gets on the Thunder, but he lacks Thomas’ athletic gifts, shot-blocking skills and physical prowess in the post. Not only does Thomas fill that void, but he can now serve as a mentor to players like Mullens, Ibaka and White. If the Thunder stood pat and you looked around the locker room come October there wouldn’t have been any name plates above cubicles that you honestly could have said would make the young bigs better. They needed someone to challenge them every day by punishing them on the practice court and demonstrating healthy habits on game days.
The Thunder also landed two more second-round picks from Minnesota in next year’s draft. One is Minnesota’s and the other will be the lesser of the eventual second-round slotting between Houston, Portland and Chicago. It bumps Oklahoma City’s total number of draft picks to five in 2010. The Thunder has its own first-rounder as well as Phoenix’s unprotected first-round selection. And OKC likely will retain its own second-round pick rather than having to send the conditional pick to Dallas as agreed to in the draft-night deal for Mullens.
Watson Released, Thunder Falls To 0-4
LAS VEGAS — Sort of a crazy day out here. The Thunder made its first transaction of the off-season, and it’s one fans have long craved, seemingly by any means necessary. Oklahoma City released veteran point guard Earl Watson, making the man a free agent and finally ending his unhappy stay in Oklahoma City.
Watson has agreed to sign with Indiana but can’t until he clears waivers after seven days.
I’ll try to sum up this move quickly by providing clarity on what seems to be the biggest question of the day. Why did OKC waive Watson instead of trading him?
The answer: the Thunder couldn’t trade Earl Watson for two reasons, 1) his trade value likely wasn’t high and 2) you have to get something of value in return when you trade a player. GMs don’t just trade a player to satisfy his desires without getting something in return, even if that’s peanuts that turns into money off the books (read, expiring contracts).
Oklahoma City would have had to take back a salary if they did last season. And it’s now clear whatever offers were out there clearly didn’t appease the front office. And the Thunder is way under the cap this summer. That means two things, 1) OKC doesn’t have to match salaries in a trade for Watson and 2) any trade would mean OKC would again be seeking something of value in return. It wasn’t there.
A trade would have brought somebody that the team clearly doesn’t want, either because of his skills or because of his contract. There was no way the Thunder was going to trade Watson and take somebody with another two, three or even four years on his contract. It would have messed up the cap flexibility that’s been built. The only logical instance would have been if it were a darn good player, which Watson alone doesn’t warrant.
So the Thunder saved some money, added an additional roster spot and got rid of a potential locker room cancer. All in all, it’s not a bad day at the office. I don’t know how much the Thunder saved, but teams generally don’t do things like this unless a player makes it worth their while. And the Thunder had the upper hand because Watson was desperate to get out of OKC. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave up half of his $6.6 million to get out of his deal. His agreement with the Pacers might be a good indicator of how much he forfeited. For example, if he signs a one-year deal worth $3.3 million, it likely means he gave up $3.3 million with the Thunder but is coming out even with his new contract with the Pacers.
As for the actual guys who are still members of the Thunder and are down here busting their tails in Vegas…..
Thunder Enjoys Off Day, Griffin Enjoys Dazzling Debut
LAS VEGAS — The Thunder was not one of the 12 teams in action Monday in the NBA Summer League. Oklahoma City got a much needed day off after playing five games in seven days dating back to last Monday’s opening day of the Orlando Pro Summer league.
The Thunder did go through a practice at a local high school in preparation for Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30 p.m. Central Time. As for the game, Oklahoma City is simply looking for continued development out of the roster, individually and collectively, and for players to continue focusing on playing as a team.
It should be an interesting match up from the standpoint that the Lakers have a vagabond bunch with the two most familiar names being Adam Morrison and former OSU forward David Monds. Former Arizona standout Mustafa Shakur once was a big name, and some of you might remember Michigan State product Alan Anderson from his successful college days with the Spartans. But the Lakers roster is awfully sketchy after that, so the fact that L.A. has only one NBA player on its summer league roster should bode well for the Thunder executing its game plan. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin torched that Lakers squad in his debut Monday night. A buzz began building in Cox Pavilion for Griffin’s debut about 30 minutes prior to the Los Angeles Clippers tip-off. Before the final horn even sounded on Phoenix and Dallas’ game, media and league personnel began making their way across the hall to the Thomas & Mack Center to get a good seat. And Griffin didn’t disappoint, scoring 27 points with 12 rebounds in 30 minutes.
Orlando Observations: Day 3
So the Thunder beat Boston, 94-82, on Wednesday in what had to be one of the most boring summer league games of all time.
Russell Westbrook did his best to turn up the entertainment value with a few nice dunks en route to his third straight 20-plus-point game. Aside from that, Shaun Livingston is the only other player that stood out to me.
But it was much more than Livingston’s modest production of 10 points, six rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes.
The first thing I noticed about Livingston — because I didn’t catch Monday’s first game and he didn’t play Tuesday — is he is no longer wearing the bulky brace that once covered most of his left leg. Now, Livingston is wearing only a sleeve over his rehabilitated left knee. I’m not sure whether this is just something he’s doing for summer league or if he will bring back the brace during the season. But if he’s shed the protective gear, it’s a good sign that his knee is closer to full strength and bodes well for his prospects of regaining some of the explosion that many believe he’s forever lost.
I caught the first glimpse of Livingston’s surprising explosion early in the second quarter, when he froze his defender with a backdoor cut from the right corner and finished with a wide open layup. It’s plays like that that I rarely saw out of him during his eight-game stint with the Thunder at the end of last season.
