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Kevin Durant Hopes Jeff Green Joins Him in Landing Contract Extension

October 19, 2010   Chris Tomasson   No comments

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Jeff Green - Kevin DurantDENVER — Kevin Durant is locked up in Oklahoma City through the 2015-16 season. The star forward would like some company on the Thunder front line also sticking around.

Durant, who last July signed a five-year extension worth about $85 million that kicks in for next season, said he hopes Thunder forward Jeff Green also signs a contract extension by the Nov. 1 deadline.

“I hope they do,” Durant said in an interview with FanHouse about Thunder officials working out a contract agreement with Green. “I think he’s worked so hard. He deserves it. He’s going to do a great job of bringing it every day and not worrying about it. Hopefully, it gets done.”

If no deal can be reached to extend Green this fall, he would become a restricted free agent next summer. Green is one of a Thunder trio called by Durant the “OKC Boys.”

Durant and Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook both won gold medals last summer for Team USA in the FIBA World Championship in Turkey. Green was one of the team’s final cuts.

“Yeah, definitely,” Westbrook, who is not up for a possible extension until next summer, said of hoping Green gets signed by Nov. 1. “I’d love to keep Jeff. He’s always a big asset to our team. A real big part of our success.”

 

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Kevin Durant Shows Why He Is Ultimate Teammate on SI Cover

October 19, 2010   Chris Tomasson   No comments

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DENVER — No, Sports Illustrated isn’t trying to sell more copies in Switzerland and Serbia by putting Thabo Sefolosha and Nenad Krstic on the cover with Oklahoma City star teammate Kevin Durant.

The magazine wanted Durant to pose for the cover of the Oct. 25 basketball preview issue, which hits newsstands Wednesday. The high-scoring forward said that was fine as long as he was joined on the cover by Sefolosha, a Swiss guard, and Krstic, a Serbian center.

“Yeah, basically I had to say it like that,” Durant said before the Thunder‘s preseason game Tuesday at Denver.

Durant, regarded by many as the ultimate team player despite having led the NBA in scoring last season, didn’t want to pose by himself. But why didn’t he want to be joined by fellow Thunder top players Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green?

“Everybody knows about Jeff and Russell,” Durant said.

 

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Scott Brooks on Kevin Durant’s Gold Medal Play at FIBA World Championship

September 12, 2010   Sam Amick   No comments

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For once, Oklahoma City head coach Scott Brooks was just like the rest of us.

He watched Team USA in action from a distance, checking the local programming before plopping on the couch and enjoying so many outings that led to Sunday’s win in the FIBA World Championship game over host Turkey. It was the first time since 1994 that the Americans won the gold, and they likely wouldn’t have done it without the Thunder‘s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Durant — who used a six-game, first-round loss to the Lakers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs as his personal postseason coming-out party — took his already-rising profile to a new level in the tournament. He scored 28 points in the finale (an 81-64 win), finishing the tournament with a U.S. Worlds record scoring average of 22.8 points per game.

Westbrook made an impact off the bench as well, providing defensive pressure throughout while using his attacking offensive game to have the same effect on the other end. He wasn’t the last of Brooks’ boys to be representing their country either, as Thunder center and Serbian Nenad Krstic joined his national team. The Serbians suffered close losses to Turkey and Lithuania in their final two games to finish fourth in the tournament.

Krstic was the most productive member of his team when he actually took part, averaging 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in six games. He was, however, suspended for the first three games after throwing a chair during a melee between Serbia and Greece in a warm-up game before the tournament game. Thunder forward Jeff Green also tried out for Team USA but was among the last players cut.

Even still, Brooks took pride in all of his players’ accomplishments. And with Thunder training camp just a few weeks away and the next decade looking brighter for his team than any other, the reigning NBA Coach of the Year talked with FanHouse about the value of his players’ international experience and what it means for the the upcoming season.

 

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The Works: Tracy McGrady in Exile

August 11, 2010   Bethlehem Shoals & Tom Ziller   No comments

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In The Works today: the Positional Revolution rages on; a good, young ref is hard to find; and we introduce the inaugural League Pass Cup.

But first, some thoughts on the return of Tracy McGrady.

So Selfless It Hurts: Even before this Miami Heat team came together, fans of the NBA have had a deep-seated bias against ring-chasing. This not-so-nice term refers to a veteran, well past his prime, who joins a contender to fill the void in his legacy. Post-Heat, it can be any player, at any point in his career, putting himself in a remarkable position to win. But I digress. Tracy McGrady is going to join the Pistons.

If anyone still thinks about the Pistons, it’s generally to bemoan the Ben Gordon or Charlie Villanueva contracts. This team has so thoroughly fallen off the map that no one’s bothered to strip Joe Dumars of his genius belt. Head coach John Kuester was an early example of the LeBron James Effect — the one where James makes everyone he comes into contact with about a thousand times better.

And this, my friends, is where McGrady has chosen to play out whatever career he has left in him.

 

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Kevin Durant Announces Extension With Thunder on Twitter

July 07, 2010   Matt Moore   No comments

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It’s a new era we live in.

Instead of press conferences or even leaked reports, the first official word of major sports signings are happening on Twitter. On Wednesday, Kevin Durant announced his five-year extension with the Thunder on his Twitter account — a 140-words-or-less burst that has to send joy throughout the Sooner state.

Durant wrote:

“Exstension for 5 more years wit the #thunder….God Is Great, me and my family came a long way…I love yall man forreal, this a blessing!”


Okay, so it’s not exactly poetry, but it still reveals the class act that Durant has shown himself to be during his rise to superstardom. The move by the Thunder means they avoid the circus that a half-dozen teams have faced this season with every day another a question about when and if Durant will re-sign. He’s the franchise, and they’ve built a young, talented core around him without sacrificing an inch of flexibility to be able to improve their roster as their young guys develop and evolve.

 

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House Call: Thunder Pay Visit to Durant to Discuss Extension

June 30, 2010   Sam Amick   No comments

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Sam Presti stayed true to his word.

While the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and friends were being recruited by so many teams at the start of free agency Thursday, the Oklahoma City Thunder general manager was focused on retaining his star before he ever reaches that point.

A source close to the situation told FanHouse Thunder officials were at the Oklahoma City house of small forward Kevin Durant at 11:01 p.m. local time (12:01 a.m. ET), making their intentions known at the earliest time allowed by league rules that they intend to offer an extension. ESPN.com first reported the visit.

 

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Anticipation of Free Agency Looms Over NBA Draft

June 24, 2010   Rob Peterson   No comments

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NEW YORK — John Wall, we hope you enjoyed the night of your life.

“I was emotional,” Wall said after he was picked at No. 1 by the Washington Wizards. “Almost brought tears to my eyes.”

As it should. Celebrate this night. Live it up with your family and fellow draftees such as Al-Farouq Aminu and his MC Hammer glasses. Tell him, “best of luck with the Clippers.” And you, Wesley Johnson, your plaid pants and double-breasted suit truly stood out. Let’s hope your game is as slick as your threads.

Your night was a smashing success as Draft night usually is for you and your families. The possibilities for you — personally, professionally, fiscally — are endless.

The future is yours.

But as soon as the last table in the MSG Theater has been folded and the last hi-def TV is packed and sent back to Secaucus, N.J., the present will belong to another group.

 

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Eric Bledsoe Goes to Clippers in Trade

June 24, 2010   Tom Ziller   No comments

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Earlier this week, the Thunder picked up Miami’s 18th pick just for sending the Heat back the 32nd pick and taking on Daequan Cook‘s $2.1 million salary. Apparently, Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti wasn’t taken with anyone left on the board, because the Thunder have spun off that 18th pick, which turned into Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe, to the Clippers in exchange for a future first-round pick.

No details have been revealed on what, if any, conditions are attached to the Clippers’ pick.

Bledsoe starred with lottery picks John Wall (No. 1, Washington), DeMarcus Cousins (No. 5, Sacramento) and Patrick Patterson (No. 14, Houston) at the University of Kentucky under John Calipari. Touted as a point guard out of high school, Bledsoe was forced to play primarily off the ball in Lexington, owing to the greatness of Wall.

Bledsoe will now back up Baron Davis in Los Angeles, where quite a roster is being assembled. The Clippers have Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon on board, and picked explosive small forward Al-Farouq Aminu with 2010′s No. 8 pick. For the Thunder, based on history, owning a Clippers draft pick typically works out all right.

 

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NBA Draft Chatter: New Jersey to Pick Favors, Kings Not Hinrich’s Plan B, More

June 24, 2010   Sam Amick   No comments

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Derrick FavorsThe mystery might never have been a mystery at all.

A source with direct knowledge of New Jersey’s thinking insists former Syracuse small forward Wesley Johnson was never the No. 3 pick, that it was Ohio State’s Evan Turner, Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors and Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins all along.

And so as tonight’s draft approaches, FanHouse is being told to expect Favors to be taken third overall. As is the case with so many teams at the moment, there are free agent implications right around the corner.

With Brook Lopez in place as the Nets‘ center of the future, they simply can’t afford to pass the chance to put a power forward talent like Favors next to him. They may have been able to sign Amar’e Stoudemire in July, and they might have had a good shot at Carlos Boozer. With that being the case, the source said it would be “almost shocking” if the Nets chose Johnson.

Yet late this afternoon, Yahoo! columnist Adrian Wojnarowski reported discussions to move the pick, with the possible deal sending Indiana’s Danny Granger and the 10th pick to the Nets for for Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian and the No. 3. A source in contact with the Pacers said they are very motivated to do that deal, and continue to look at ways to perhaps sweeten the pot and make it happen.

 

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Despite Loss to Lakers, Durant’s Thunder Make Noise With Defense

April 21, 2010   Sam Amick   No comments

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Kevin Durant and Kobe BryantLOS ANGELES — No one was talking. Not even the talking heads.

Jeff Green slowly put his bright blue tie in place on top of his matching shirt at his locker. Thabo Sefolosha softly slapped cologne on his neck nearby. In the corner of the dispirited Oklahoma City locker room late Tuesday night at the Staples Center — where the Lakers outlasted the Thunder 95-92 — veteran Kevin Ollie consoled James Harden in hushed tones.

When a walkie-talkie inadvertently blared, the guilty staff member lunged for the off button so quickly you’d have thought he had the right answer on Jeopardy! When a media member’s cell phone inexcusably rang, it went quiet so quick the ditty never had a chance.

Everyone in the room knew this series may have just ended, that these young Thunder had missed two reachable chances to win on the defending champions’ home floor and now face the tall task of winning four out of five. But rest assured, the buzz surrounding these boys will resume in full force soon enough.

For years to come.

 

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