After reviewing the controversial "goaltending" call against LaMarcus Aldridge (block of Durant layup with 6 seconds in the game) the NBA admitted today that the call was wrong, LA legitimately blocked KD and the Blazers should have won the game by 2 points during regulation.

Here's a link to the NBA officiating website with the explanation: http://www.nba.com/official/

Unfortunately, the NBA does not allow review of goaltending calls and consequently the bad call was allowed to stand. The official record books will show that OKC beat Portland last night, but anyone who saw the play knows the win comes with a huge asterisk.

I'm a Rockets fan, so I have no dog in this fight. I'm just curious as to what Thunder fans would think about this trade:

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=6tmqsgl

The Magic will need to do something about Howard, who is most likely gone after the season. Westbrook would be an incredibly attractive asset for the Magic to rebuild the team around (maybe even a better than the oft-injured Andrew Bynum). Throw in Harden and Perkins, and I'm pretty sure the Magic go for it. Does a starting five of Howard, Ibaka, Durant, Sefolosha, Jackson persuade the Thunder?

I apologize if this has been brought up before. I'm new to the site.

First off, I just want to let you know this is not a hate post directed at fans of the Thunder. I did a little research before posting and this community seems to have a general respect to what happened and is still happening to the Sonics. Which, honestly, is a big breath of fresh air in contrast to the other Thunder fans I have come across. I came here to share my story and my teams history with you guys.

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Here is how I see the minutes being divided up this year. Scott Brooks is a conservative coach that does not like to mess up his rotation. This can be a weakness against tougher opponents/playoffs because he would rather stick to what has been working then try something new. That's how he got out-coached by Rick Carlisle last year in the Western Conference finals as he manipulated our lineups to nuetralize Thabo's defense and make him a liability on offense. That being said, I still think Thabo will continue to start but Harden will see way more minutes and will be on the floor in crunch time.

Westbrook:

34 minutes

Westbrook became a much better finisher last year. He ranked 6th in the league with points inside 3 feet. Although his pull-up jumper was better there was still much more room for improvement. I no longer cringe when he takes 3 pointers and wow does that boy know how to get to the free throw line.

This year I see improvements across the board for Westbrook including fg%, rebounds, assists/to ratio, and steals. This is the year westbrook puts up better stats then D-Rose and starts on the all-star team.

Durant:

38 minutes

The biggest area Durant will improve on here is his post-up skills and 3 point percentage. I see somewhere around 30 points with more rebounds and more assists. People make such a big deal about him not being able to use the rip move, 1st of all, he did not use it all that much last year and although it is not automatically a shooting foul it can still be effective. Anybody notice his one-foot fall-away he's been working on. This guy will be unstoppable. MVP.

Thabo Sefelosha:

18 minutes

You gotta love Thabo and what he brings to this team. I've heard a lot about him working on his offensive game but I do not buy it too much. Thabo will never be a lights out shooter but will be most effective when he is slashing to the basket. He can finish pretty good for a guy with relatively little hops.

Ibaka

29 minutes

This guy is a stud. Expect increase across the board. Expect no less then 10/9/3 blocks per game. He will be in the running for defensive player of the year.

Perkins:

26 minutes

I have a love hate relationship with Perkins. He has looked great in the pre-season, lighter on his feet, better endurance, and even threw down a reverse slam which is good to see considering he was one of the leaders of the league in dunks while in Boston. People are quick to talk crap about him forgetting that the Thunder had a stellar record down the stretch last year with Perkins. Last year I will admit he did drive me crazy at times. I hated the careless fouls, and cringed every time he put the ball on the floor, took a jumpshot, shot a free-throw, or tried to pass. I see a ton of improvement for Perkins this year: I am thinking 8/8/1.5 blocks

Harden

30 minutes

What is not to love about this guy. He's a great playmaker/shooter and an absolute pest on defense. He has the strength and skill to guard people bigger then him and is extremely aggressive on offense and can get to the free throw line. Harden is the master of kicking his legs out and letting people run into him so with the new rule in place he will have to get even more crafty. I am thinking 18/4/4 with huge increases in 3pt%. Harden will win 6th man of the year.

Maynor

14 minutes

What you see is what you get with Maynor. I see his stats staying pretty flat although I would be shocked if his fg% did not spike up at least a little bit.

Collison

20 minutes

Collison is a beast. Every time he comes in the game he makes an instant impact. Whether its a charge taken or a huge putback he knows his role and plays it very well. His defense in the playoffs last year was incredible. I see his stats staying flat.

Cook

10 minutes

I like Cook, great shooter, spreads the floor, and is a better re-bounder than people give him credit for.

Nazr Mohammed

11 minutes

Aldrich

8 minutes

Jackson/Hayward

4 minutes

GO THUNDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out this link from deadspin: click on this. Kendrick Perkins lost SO much weight. He almost doesn't even look like the same player.

"Perk lost 31 pounds during the offseason."

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Little background on me: I am from Moore, OK and have lived between there and Midwest City my whole life. Never really cared about either of OU or OSU (even though I got accepted to both) so I defected and went to Bama (Roll Tide Role). So the Thunder are really my first hometown team that I can really be proud of. Brandon Roy used to be my favorite player and since his story has risen to the top of the "saddest NBA stories EVER" list, it has been hard to follow the Blazers. I have officially been an all out thunderhead for two years now. I live in Dallas now and STILL bought Thunder season Tickets. That’s right, I did it!

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Hey y'all, The Basketball Jones is on their cross-country "No Season Required" Tour, and OKC is their 5th stop on the road.  Below is a link for the Facebook event page which has details as far as time and location, I just wanted to get the word out on WTLC. Come out, hang out, talk ball, talk nonsense...should be a fun time.

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=251914564855832

I haven't really seen a detailed examination of what the impact of such a completed action would be. Perhaps A WLC writer can pursue it further, perhaps with industry contacts for expert opinion (Larry Coon or others).

Here are my guesses & questions on the topic:

If the union is de-certified, the lockout would end. The league would probably have to pay on exisitng contracts (they have argued that all contracts would be null and void but I just don't see the court agreeing with them).The league wouldn't have to play but they probably would try to.Any attempt to enforce league rules (old or new) on max salaries, restricted free agency, team caps, luxury taxes, contract lengths, raise limits would be immediately challenged by players in court seeking an injunction for anti-competitive (monopoly) behavior. I don't know how or when the court would rule. It would seem like players would also challenge in court the draft (in the future and even the validity of the last one and for all players still affected by past ones), minimum age, draft salaries and maybe trade rules. it is possible that a renegade owner could challenge the league on things like minimum salary expenditure. they could try to set-up a revenue sharing plan but the players could challenge that if they wanted to. It is not clear if the league could enforce things like charity work, the dress code, drug testing and conduct penalties. They might be able to since these are not economic factors but there would a chance some player could challenge something.

The players would not have any guarantee of how much they would get of BRI. They would probably sue for collusion and seek triple damages however if the legue offered less or much less  in salaries in future years compared to the past but they would have to prove collusion to the court. League attempts to set a spending limit would seem to invite anti-trust action and a verdict in the player's favor but maybe there is some way they can try to finesse it and gain the court's protection. Awfully risky though for them. Really both of them. The rank 'n file players might lose as the free market gave more money to the best players.

Decertification is mainly spoken of as a negotiating threat now or as a weapon to get a new round of negotiations in the future on different terms more favorable to the players but it could simply mean the end of such party to party negotiations if the league decide to roll that way. A new union could be formed at some point but I am not sure the league could be compelled to recognize it.

Things probably won't go this far, but I wanted to put this much out and see if maybe somebody wanted to look into it further.

Hello Thunders Community, This is My 1st Fanpost

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I have no idea how many of the OKC Thunder faithful are going to pack the Cox Center, flip your TV dial or watch the online livestream of tonight's charity invitational, but I'm live from press row - and ready to thread! Share your observations of the game or whatever else you deem important in the comments below!

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