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Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has recalled center Byron Mullens from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.
During his two assignments this season with Tulsa, Mullens has appeared in six games (six starts) and averaged 16.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots in 31.7 minutes per game.
Mullens will join the Thunder for tonight’s 7:00 PM contest against the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center.
The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired center Nazr Mohammed from the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for forward D.J. White and guard Morris Peterson it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
“We would like to thank both D.J. and Morris for their many contributions here in Oklahoma City on and off the court,” said Presti. “For the past three seasons, D.J. has been the ultimate teammate and one of our hardest workers. Morris has been a consummate professional and I wish them both success. Nazr will bring veteran leadership and playoff experience to our roster and we are excited for him to join our team in Oklahoma City.”
A member of the 2004-05 San Antonio Spurs NBA championship team, Mohammed has made six trips to the postseason since being drafted out of the University of Kentucky in 1998. In 44 playoff games, Mohammed has posted averages of 6.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in 17.6 minutes.
In 747 career regular season games the 6’10’’, 250-pound center owns career averages of 6.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per game. This season he is averaging, 7.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game.
The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired center Kendrick Perkins and guard Nate Robinson from the Boston Celtics in exchange for forward Jeff Green, center Nenad Krstic and the Los Angeles Clippers 2012 first round pick it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
“It is never easy to make decisions such as these and I thank Jeff and Nenad for their contributions to the Thunder organization and to this community. They define professionalism and I wish them the very best in the future,” Presti said. “We had a unique opportunity to add a proven presence in our front court in acquiring Kendrick. He will help anchor our defense while Nate will add depth and athleticism to our backcourt. We are excited to welcome them both to the Thunder organization.”
Perkins (6-10, 280), an NBA champion currently in his 8th NBA season, owns career averages of 6.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.0 assist and 22.3 minutes in 454 NBA games. He has appeared in 12 games (7 starts) this season with the Celtics, averaging 7.3 points and 8.1 rebounds in 26.1 minutes. The center has appeared in 68 postseason games, averaging 6.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 25.7 minutes.
Robinson (5-9, 180), the only three-time Slam Dunk winner in NBA history currently in his 6th NBA season, owns career averages of 11.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists in 393 games. He has seen action in 55 games (11 starts) this season with the Celtics, averaging 7.1 points, 1.9 assists, 1.6 rebounds in 17.9 minutes. The guard has played in 17 postseason contests, averaging 4.2 points, 1.1 assists and 7.5 minutes.
I am in Los Angeles for 2011 NBA All-Star weekend, which begins Friday and runs through Sunday.
Wednesday night in a hotel near Staples Center I ran into Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant and several of his friends.
Of the bazillion invites I have received to various All-Star festivities, at least two of them mention that Durant will be one of the celebrity hosts.
I told this to Durant, and responded by telling me that he hasn’t agreed to host anything.
Parties can still be great even when the celeb hosts don’t show up, but remember, sometimes the celeb wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.
–Jeff
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Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden will replace injured Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans (plantar fasciitis, left foot) on the Sophomore Team in the 2011 NBA Rookie Challenge game, which pits the league’s best rookies against the best second-year players.
The NBA Rookie Challenge game will be televised live nationally on TNT at 9 p.m. ET.
Sacramento Kings rookie forward/center DeMarcus Cousins will not play in tonight’s game at Phoenix while the organization reviews the situation that occurred in the locker room following last night’s game versus Oklahoma City.
According to multiple reports, Cousins got into a heated exchange with teammate Donte Green and had to be restrained.
John Rohde of The Oklahoman reports:
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Thunder players stayed on the court an extra 30 minutes after Wednesday’s practice and set up a trial run for Kevin Durant, who will compete in the 3-point contest during All-Star Weekend.
Durant had 16 points in his first go-round after a slow start. Daequan Cook, the league’s 2009 3-point contest winner, was off the mark and got booed by teammates. All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook, who went 4 for 4 on 3-pointers at Utah last Saturday night, had 23 points before running out of time with two balls still left in the final rack and received a standing ovation. Westbrook is an All-Star reserve and potentially could participate in the Skills Challenge.
Teammates then helped forward Serge Ibaka prepare for the dunk contest, the details of which Thunder players have asked to remain privileged.
“Thunder U is in full force today,” Brooks said, shaking his head as dozen players continued with their post-practice recess.
At the start of the season, many in the basketball world figured that with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade playing on the same team, neither one would have a real shot at winning the 2010-11 NBA MVP award because their stats would be lowered. Chris Bosh being on the Heat as well factors into it as well, of course.
Yet now, in early February, LeBron is steadily emerging as the league favorite to capture the award again.
Chris Perkins of Fox Sports Florida reports:
Miami (38-14) is winning. That’s the biggest requirement for the MVP. The Heat is only a half-game behind Boston (38-13), which is almost the unanimous pick to win the Eastern Conference.
And James is producing. He’s averaging 26.4 points per game (second in the NBA), 7.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists. For his career he averages 27.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.0 assists. So there’s been no big statistical sacrifice by joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form Miami’s Big Three.
Plus, James has already won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award twice (actually, he shared it with Wade in January), and he has the NBA’s highest-scoring game of the season with his 51-point outburst at Orlando. James has made the Heat better and he’s made his teammates better.
The other MVP candidates? Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, the league’s leading scorer at 29 ppg, is probably the favorite. Durant also averages 7.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
If I had to vote today, I’d go with LeBron for sure, especially the way he’s on fire over his last 10 games.
By Jeff Lenchiner
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The participants for the 2011 NBA three-point shootout were announced today, and I was glad to see that Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant was included.
Currently the NBA’s leading scorer with a 29.0 points per game average, Durant is hitting just 34.7 percent of his threes. There are plenty of other players with a better percentage. But the vast majority of them are reserves who simply do not spark interest in the event. And many of them only hit threes at such a good rate because stars like Durant are drawing the defensive attention that clears space for them to get open outside looks.
If I have a choice of seeing Durant or a much lesser player who is in a supporting role on a team with a losing record, then give me Durant. I’m sure most fans around the world tuning in for the big weekend would agree.
Jeff Lenchiner is the editor of InsideHoops.com. Fans are discussing the participants in this forum topic.
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Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has assigned center Byron Mullens to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.
In his first stint in Tulsa, Mullens appeared in one game, recording 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 33 minutes.
This season, the center is averaging 1.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 4.7 minutes in 12 games for Oklahoma City.
Mullens will be in uniform tomorrow night when the 66ers take on the Utah Flash at the Tulsa Convention Center.