The Thunder fell into one of the classic draft situations last night. A young and talented player (Perry Jones III, hereby known forever as PJ3 because I ain't writing it out every time) drops precipitously due to medical concerns. A good team (Thunder) snatches him up, and the player arrives in possibly the best situation. He is given the perfect situation to learn the game and the culture from a team that is hell-bent on winning a title, he has lowered expectations, and he has a fanbase that will always be behind him.
Let's see how the draft shook out.
The book on Perry Jones | NewsOK
The knee issue was the cause for his fall, but Perry was all smiles by the time he walked off the stage. Even though he never worked out for OKC, he was super-excited to have been picked and talked profusely at his good fortune. Enjoy it now kid, because once the off-season workouts kick in, KD and Westbrook are gonna run you ragged.
How does Jones Impact the Thunder? | Daily Thunder
Most importantly, PJ3 appears to have the proper attitude and mindset, which means that he's going to work hard to earn the trust of his teammates.
It is an annual tradition. Read Simmons as he waxes poetic on all of the shenanigans that went down last night. Simmons is super pumped because now that he has his own web site he can say "bulging dicks" without having to use ***'s.
Draft Night Observations | Sports Illustrated
Amick calls PJ3 a loser, but I think it's only from a salary standpoint, and rookie scale contracts aren't much to write home about anyway.
Winners and Losers | CBS Sports
BlazersEdge's very own Ben Golliver hammers out his thoughts about last night. As an aside, I almost ran over Golliver as I was leaving the Prudential last night. Hey, it was a very, very long night.
Draft Report Card | CBS Sports
Moore offers up his draft grades. High grade for the Thunder, who may have found their ideal backup for Kevin Durant.
Wages of Wins Draft Grades | Wages of Wins
Not loving PJ3 on this board. A D+ for the Thunder.
Draft Night Observations Part I | Behind the Basket
High marks for the Orlando Magic, who look like they're in preparations for when Dwight Howard finally jumps ship.
Can you imagine what it must feel like for an 18 year old kid to get drafted and then run into Craig Sager?
Rookie Life? No Sweat | NBA.com
Bernard James was selected in the early 2nd round and in a most impressive moment, the entire crowd at the Prudential erupted in a U-S-A! U-S-A! Chant. Why? Because this guy has done tours of duty in Kuwait, Qatar, and Iraq, all before playing a single moment in the league. Suddenly defending Andrew Bynum isn't such a big deal.
A Stupendous Superlative Supercut | SB Nation
The studio announcers always latch onto buzzwords during their broadcast, and the word of last night was "wingspan."
Cavs Draft Waiters, Fans Go Through 7 Stages of Grief | SB Nation
I wonder how many of those comments are aliases of Dan Gilbert.
Draft Spectators Spent Nearly 5 Minutes Booing Stern | Deadspin
This is a pure calculation, but the assessment really isn't fair. When David Stern walks out onto that stage, he's playing a role, and the fans who boo him are responding with their own role. You could actually tell that Stern was enjoying holding the emotions of the fans in his hands. In particular when he was announcing the Heat's pick, he actually slowed down and stuck a "world champion" phrasing before saying "Miami Heat" and he just about caused the roof to blow off the place in rancor. It was pretty brilliant, actually; Vince McMahon could not have done better. And then the situation was topped off by deputy commissioner Adam Silver walking out to crazed cheers, assuming HIS role while the fans resumed theirs. By the end of the 2nd round, Silver was walking around with a smirk on his face and a swagger in his step as if he was hung like Dirk Diggler.
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