OKC Thunder Blog – Page 85 – NBA Blog

Rumors talk: KG mouthing off

Regarding Garnett being fined by the league for mouthing off, the entire Celtics team seemed angry at how many fouls Kevin Durant managed to draw. The next obvious step for NBA observers is to see how true that is. The next Thunder game you catch, see if Durant earns the fouls he gets or not. And report on it, on the InsideHoops.com message board.

Kobe Bryant signed a 3-year extension with the Lakers today. No one should be too shocked. It wasn’t out there that this was going to happen, but in general it’s assumed that Bryant would keep re-signing. And now he has.

In equally huge news, according to multiple media outlets the Knicks will sign center Earl Barron to a 10-day contract. There could be another 10-day deal or two signed in the next 48 hours.

The NBA regular season ends on Wednesday, April 14. The playoffs start three days later.

While it’s true that the Warriors are good at finding D-League talent, it’ll be more interesting to see which of those players stick around in the league and become rotation players on good teams. Because everyone who joins the Warriors usually scores 30 on some wild night, but the team loses by 19, and the player is gone a few weeks, months or a season later.

I think Darko Milicic bulked up too much, over the years. I’d like to see him drop 20 or 25 pounds and be handed the rock regularly down around the low post, and see what he can do.

The Wolves should draft 29 more point guards. And then urge Ricky Rubio to come over. Yeah.

Rooting for Tracy McGrady to become an All-Star type player again is fun and all, but there’s no reason to think it’ll happen.

ESPN has about 49 LeBron James stories today. Rather than give you my take on them, I’ll simply share the bottom line on LeBron in general. Here goes:

LeBron is great. The Cavs are a very good team. He’s very comfortable in Cleveland. Chances are he stays there. And if he did come to the Knicks I think it would only be if he convinces some other top superstar to come with him.

Everything went wrong for the Pistons this season. Pretty much every player other than a rookie and maybe one other were disappointing. Other than that, everything went great!

If Monta Ellis feels he still doesn’t get full respect, he needs to win more games. It’s probably that simple.

I’m back to updating this every day. Talk to you Saturday.

This feature is an editorialized take on the day’s hot NBA rumors stories.

NBA fines Kevin Garnett

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett has been fined $25,000 for publicly criticizing game officials and for using inappropriate language during a postgame interview, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Garnett was fined for comments he made following the Celtics’ 109-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, March 31.

The Boston Globe on April 3 reported:

After watching the Thunder go to the free throw line 34 times to 17 for the Celtics, and seeing Kevin Durant make more free throws by himself than the Celtics (15 to 13), Garnett told reporters, “I thought we were playing Michael [expletive] Jordan tonight the way he was getting the whistle. Durant damn near shot more free throws than our whole team. That’s game.’’ Asked if he thought it was fair that players are fined for speaking their minds, Celtics coach Doc Rivers joked, “I’m not going to give an opinion, because I want to keep my money.’’

Thunder assign Mustafa Shakur to D-League

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has assigned guard Mustafa Shakur to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.

Shakur, who was signed by the Thunder on March 31, has not appeared in a game for Oklahoma City. In 43 games (all starts) this season with the Tulsa 66ers, Shakur is averaging 20.4 points while shooting 49.8% from the field (312-626 FG) and 40.3% from beyond the arc (50-124 3FG), 7.1 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 2.33 blocks and 39.0 minutes while helping guide the 66ers to a 25-21 record. Tulsa currently owns a half game lead over Reno for the eighth and final D-League playoff spot.

He is expected to be in uniform tonight when the 66ers match-up with the Toros in Austin at 7:30 PM.

Thunder sign Mustafa Shakur

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced that the team has signed guard Mustafa Shakur. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Shakur, who was originally signed to a 10-day contract by the Thunder on March 16, is a free agent call-up from the Tulsa 66ers, NBA Development League affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder. During his first stint with Oklahoma City Shakur did not see action in five games.

Since his return to Tulsa, Shakur has appeared in three games and helped lead the 66ers to a 2-1 record. This season, the D-League Western Conference All-Star averaged 20.4 points while shooting 49.8% from the field (312-626 FG) and 40.3% from beyond the arc (50-124 3FG), 7.1 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 2.33 blocks and 39.0 minutes in 43 games (all starts).

With his signing, Shakur becomes the 31st Gatorade Call-Up from the D-League this season. He will wear uniform #11.

Thunder release Mustafa Shakur

The Oklahoma City Thunder released guard Mustafa Shakur, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Shakur, who was signed to a 10-day contract on March 16, did not appear in a game with Oklahoma City.

Thunder sign Mustafa Shakur to 10-day contract

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced that the team has signed guard Mustafa Shakur to a 10-day contract.

Shakur is a free agent call-up from the Tulsa 66ers, NBA Development League affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder. At the time of his call-up the 2010 D-League All-Star was averaging 20.7 points (9th in the D-League) while shooting 50.3% from the floor (295-587 FG), 7.2 assists (4th in D-League), 2.3 steals (3rd in D-League) and 39.4 minutes in 40 games (40 starts).

A 6-3, 190 pound guard who went undrafted out of the University of Arizona in 2007, Shakur spent the previous three seasons playing overseas with Prokom Trefl Sopot of the Polish League (2007-08), Tau Cerámica of ACB Spanish League (2008-09) and most recently with Panellinios BC of the Greek A1 League (2009).

With his signing, Shakur becomes the 24th Gatorade Call-Up from the D-League this season. He will wear uniform #11.

Thunder recall Kyle Weaver from D-League

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced today that the team has recalled guard Kyle Weaver from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.

Weaver appeared in five games (five starts) with Tulsa, averaging 12.4 points, 7.2 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks in 42.6 minutes per contest. This season, he has played in three games with Oklahoma City averaging 6.0 points, 1.7 assists, 1.0 rebound and 1.0 block in 10.0 minutes.

Jeff Green wants contract extension

Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman reports:

Jeff Green on Thursday expressed his desire to sign a contract extension this summer and continue his career with the Thunder.

“I’d love to,” Green told The Oklahoman. “It’s a great thing going here.”

The Thunder can re-sign Green to an extension of up to five years. Under NBA rules, teams can begin negotiations with free agents on July 1. Green, however, has become lost in the shadows of Kevin Durant, the team’s other third-year forward who also is eligible for an extension and recently voiced his feelings for wanting to remain in Oklahoma City.

Tulsa Shock (WNBA) sign former Olympian Marion Jones

The WNBA’s Tulsa Shock announced at a news conference Wednesday that it had signed former Olympian Marion Jones as a free agent. Jones, who announced last fall she was training for a comeback in the WNBA, attended the University of North Carolina on a basketball scholarship and helped lead the team to a 1994 NCAA Championship.

The 34-year-old Jones, a 5’10 guard, went through an individual workout with the Tulsa Shock Saturday in Tulsa, and accepted an offer to join the team in the days following.

“I’m extremely excited to join the team and the WNBA,” Jones said. “After a lot of thought, I realized this is a great fit for me because of Coach Richardson’s uptempo style of play. I can’t wait to start training camp and learn more about the city and team I’ll be representing.”

Thunder sign Antonio Anderson to second 10-day contract

Oklahoma City Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti announced that the team has signed Antonio Anderson to a second 10-day contract.

Anderson originally signed with Oklahoma City on February 22. He saw action in one game for the Thunder averaging 2.0 points and 1.0 rebound in 15.0 minutes.

Earlier this season Anderson appeared in 32 games (32 starts) with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League where he averaged 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 39.6 minutes per contest.