We have a little bit more draft fall-out and CBA news today, but mostly everyone is settling in with the great conundrum of what we're going to do for the next six months if the NBA ceases. I would imagine it's going to be like attending a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese and inadvertently arriving an hour before the place opens.
Thunder Make Cook a Restricted Free Agent | NewsOK
Mayberry gives a little bit more detail to the Daequan Cook qualifying offer. It is good to see that Cook's treatment is consistent with everybody else on the team - he understands his role, he wants to fill it, and the team is giving him a fair offer to do so.
Thunder in a New Look Division | Daily Thunder
Young breaks down how the Northwest Division got a major overhaul on draft night. I really like what both Denver and Portland did, and I think those two teams will be the Thunder's biggest competition for the subsequent season.
Old Coach/New Coach Connection Goes Way Back | NewsOK
Tramel examines the relationship between OKC coach Scott Brooks and the coach of the now defunct previous pro basketball team in Oklahoma.
Here is an excellent read by Jonah Lehrer (editor of Wired) on the seduction of math and how an over-abundance of it has actually reduced peoples' abilities to make the right decisions. Says Lehrer:
"Here is my problem with sabermetrics - it's a useful tool that feels like the answer."
Draft Puts Players on Notice | Sports Illustrated
With the influx of new talent, despite its lack of flair, it does put a necessary amount of pressure on the incumbent NBA players. While no Thunder players are mentioned, there are plenty of big names that are.
More links after the jump.
The Greatest Wins Produced Seasons and the Wins Produced All NBA Teams | Wages of Wins
When you think of winners in the NBA, you probably think of most of the guys on this list that the WoW guys have compiled. Here is one surprising thing - can you believe that in Michael Jordan's last year with the Bulls, Hersey Hawkins had more wins produced than he?
NBA Lockout and Revenue Sharing: In Pictures | SB Nation
Ziller puts forth his best xkcd impression to give us a visualization of the dynamic dilemma that the league, teams, and players are trying to sort out in the next three days.
Labor Talks Continue | Sports Illustrated
Thomsen has a very telling chart at the end of this post. Twenty-three of the NBA's 30 franchises currently operate above the salary cap. What that means, essentially, is that teams haven't really treated it like a salary cap at all.
Bucks Owner's Congressional Filings Shed Light on NBA Finances | Brewhoop
SB Nation's Bucks site grabs and analyzes some pertinent information regarding the finances of the Bucks' owner. While the numbers themselves are not off the charts or anything, what is most interesting is the context to which he gives the Bucks - they are not particularly over-leveraged, they have a lot of cheap debt, and their valuation is considerably lower than what was estimated earlier this season.
Thunder-Grizzlies Triple OT Nominated for 2011 ESPY | NBA.com
The epic Game Four that saw the Thunder and Grizzlies battle for close to four hours through three overtimes has been nominated for "Game of the Year" at this year's 2011 ESPY Awards. I'm getting winded just thinking about that game again.
NBA Sites Could Get Boring | Ball Don't Lie
I'm not yet sure if the lockout will have any substantial effect on WTLC here in terms of operation (other than the horror of having nothing to write about) but for NBA-owned web sites, they're also looking at a lockout of sorts because after June 30, all basketball related operations will cease if no deal is reached.
NBA Could Go Back to Stone Ages | ESPN
Abbott gives some greater detail on the threat the lockout poses to the secondary market of information for the NBA. I think I'd be most sad that the slow motion videos would be gone.
Overseas Scouting Report: Bismack Biyombo | NBA Playbook
Pruiti takes a look at new draftee Bismack Biyombo and likes a lot of what he sees. Biyombo was drafted as a defensive natural, but has also shown some promise in running pick and rolls as well. His natural athletic ability does remind us quite a bit of Serge Ibaka, although Ibaka's offensive game is much more mature at this point than Biyombo's. Regardless, it looks like the kid is a keeper.
Jason Richardson Unimpressed With Stat-Heads | Twitter
Seriously, who is that Pelton guy? (kidding; Pelton and his crew are awesome)
Mark Cuban Signs Machine-like Center | Ball Don't Lie
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban seeks talent from all ends of the earth, and even on Cybertron.
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