WTLC Daily Loud Links for Friday, October 18th, 2013

The Thunder dropped a close one in Tulsa last night to the New Orleans Pelicans. While there were definite aspects of the game where OKC struggled such as perimeter defense and turnovers, there were still a number of positives. We round up the fall-out and more in today's Links.

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Darnell Mayberry writes in his post game comments that before we go bananas talking about Steven Adams' performance, it is important to remember that it is a) 1 game and b) against a weak Pelicans front line. That said, yowza's:

The last time a Thunder center had a double-double was Nov. 26, 2012. It was the only one last season.

Aaaaand...back to irrational exuberance!

I am pretty sure about one thing already: This should be the last night [Adams] spends in Tulsa this year.

In 34 minutes, Adams did something Kendrick Perkins didn’t accomplish once last season in 78 games.

(No knock against Royce. I feel the same way; start him now, let veterans fill in when he struggles.)

As Deadspin reports, this is just awful ad placement (i.e. NOT awful). Not as great as this, but still, awful (i.e. NOT awful).

Corey Magette retired this week, so Gothic Ginobili takes a look back at some of the most notable journeymen in the NBA. It's weird to think of Jason Kidd that way, but he did change teams 6 times in his career.

We got to see Anthony Davis first hand last night. While Serge Ibaka did a good job defending him, it's obvious that Davis is a young star preparing to break out and become a force on both ends of the court.  Zach Harper breaks down his unusual offensive game:

There was only one player in the NBA last season that had a Player Efficiency Rating over 21 with a usage rate under 22 percent. That was Anthony Davis.

Sole Collector reports on the story that Andrew Wiggins, the Kansas freshman phenom who had previously been reported to be in talks with Adidas to sign a record $180 million endorsement deal, may be a bit off. Color me shocked, but perhaps handing an 18 year old $180 million is not such a great and well thought out idea.

Eric Freeman writes on Jason Kidd's jersey retirement ceremony in Brooklyn. If you're new to the NBA, you may not remember that there was a time when Kidd was arguably the most valuable player in the league, taking mediocre Nets teams to the Finals.

Lastly, Michael Jordan is putting up his Chicago mansion for sale. It stinks for you if you wore a number different than '23' during your own playing years. All it costs is a cool quarter million deposit to enter the bidding game. In the words of The Dude, "I'm just gonna go find a cash machine."