Via the Official Thunder Website:

We now have our official roster! Among them you can see this years draft picks, James Harden, B.J. Mullens, and Robert Vaden. For a detailed explanation of who they are, see my article entitled, "So, Who Did We Get?"

In any case, here's a break down of what to expect from each guy in the Summer League and going forward.

De'Angelo Alexander-

Ah, the former OU player is back. Still, don't expect much from the undrafted swingman. He played a little bit for CSU Acesoft (a Romanian Euroleague club) in 07-08, averaging a paltry 4.1 points and 3 rebounds in 8 games. And trust me, if you're barely scrounging up 4 points in Romania, you're not cut out for the NBA. I can't find anything on him since then. Expect him to do a lot of bench sitting.

Marcus Dove-

I don't follow college basketball, so I didn't know this guy until I looked him up, and he's a former Cowboy! Apparently, he's a stud defensively, but he wasn't drafted. After some searching, I found out that in 2008-2009, he signed with Verviers-Pepinster, a Belgian Euroleague team! If you're a die hard Thunder fan, you know that's where our old friend Saer Sene played ball before he was drafted by the SuperSonics. And hey, if Saer Sene can get drafted 10th averaging 3.1 Points and 4 Rebounds for that team, then if Marcus Dove averages 10.8 Points, 1.8 Steals, and 6 Rebounds playing for him, then he must be #1 pick material? Am I right? Well, back in reality land, he's probably good enough for the D-League, but certainly not good enough for the NBA. I'd expect him to play sparingly.

Moses Ehambe-

And completing our round of Oklahoma college guys is Moses Ehambe from Oral Roberts! Last year, he appeared regularly as a key reserve for the 66ers, averaging 10.1 Points and not much else. I'd expect some sparing play off the bench, but the management already knows what he's made of, so I wouldn't expect too much burn. Still, he easily has the best name on the roster.

Devon Hardin-

The man who has no relation to James Harden left us last year to go play for ESTIA Egalio, a Greek team. Here's my writeup of him from last year, when our blog was in it's infancy:

Was selected 50th in the second round of the NBA Draft this year. Had rather unimpressive numbers at Cal. Longar Longar is clearly much better than him, and would have brought some great hometown cheers (he played for the University of Oklahoma). But, quite frankly, even if Longar Longar was in his place, he would still be dead last on the roster. Devon Hardin was on the Summer League roster, but he didn't play. Maybe he was injured, maybe the coach hated him, or maybe he just didn't want to play. Fact is, it doesn't matter. With this packed roster, no one will be surprised to see DeVon go. I do like how he pronounces his name "De Von" instead of "Devin", though.

So, what has changed since then? Well, he's averaged 6.3 Points, 6.3 Rebounds, and 1.5 Blocked Shots while playing in Greece. These numbers aren't overwhelming, but nonetheless solid when they regularly play against teams like Panathinaikos. (For those of you who don't know, Greece is a strong basketball country.) Does this translate to success in the NBA? Not necessarily (See: Sarunas Jasikevicus and Arvydas Macijauskas). Still, I'd expect him to get some burn here, because we still haven't seen him play in an NBA environment since college.

Kyle Hines-

A Shooing Guard who was a Local Legend at the University of North Carolina....Greensboro. He has an impressive college resume, being one of only six players in NCAA history to score 2,000 points, grab 1,000 rebounds and block 300 shots in his career. Nevertheless, since he played at such a minor university, he went undrafted and signed with the Italian Club Prima Veroli. And, blow me down, his stats are pretty darned impressive. 16.9 Points, 8.6 Rebounds, 1.8 Blocks, and 3.0 Steals are pretty amazing stats. But, it should be noted that this is playing for a team in the second division....essentially, the D-League of Italy. I'd expect Hines to get some significant playing time, so it can be seen whether he's for real or not.

Serge Ibaka-

Okay, we've all seen the YouTube dunk mixes of this man, but how does he hold up as a player? Well, his stats are only so-so, but remember this guy plays in the big leagues of Euroleague basketball....not minor club teams like most of these other prospects. Playing for Ricoh Manresa, he averages 7.1 Points and 4.5 Rebounds. In essence, he's a 7th or 8th man. But, since we have invested a lot in this guy (22nd Pick), I'd expect him to see significant playing time, and have a good chance at the roster should he choose to cross the pond this year.

Shaun Livingston-

Okay, you know who he is. He'll get his minutes, he'll have fun dishing out assists and going on insane drives.

Keith McLeod-

Easily the oldest player on our team, this guy is a Journeyman Point Guard who couldn't find a team to take him last year, so he fled to Europe. He has nothing to prove, since we already know what he is: a quick point guard who makes a living scoring on inside drives and the occasional assist. The only way I'd expect to see him on the Thunder roster is if Shaun Livingston loses a leg. Still, he should be fun to watch, and will get his playing time in the Summer League.

Richard Roby-

A former Colorado standout who went undrafted, he now plays alongside former NBA journeyman Ira Newble for Bnei HaSharon in Israel. During the season, he averaged 9.8 Points and 2.6 Rebounds, which is pretty good for a regular Euroleague contender. Still, I don't know if this guy is good enough for the NBA. I'd expect him to see time, but I wouldn't expect him to make our roster as it is. I do expect him to have a long career in Europe, though.

Doug Thomas-

Only three letters away from being the founder of Wendy's, Doug Thomas is an undrafted forward out of Iowa. He played for the Iowa Energy in 07-08, averaging 10.4 Points and 6.3 Rebounds. Last year, he played for the Sundsvall Dragons of Sweden, a team that Scottie Pippen also played for recently when he was trying to make his comeback to the NBA. I can't find his stats (I probably could if I could read Swedish), but here's a video of him from last season nonetheless. His athleticism looks exiting, so if we can get him and Ibaka going, it should make the usual drudge of the Summer League more fun to watch. I'd expect him to get some sizable time.

Kyle Weaver-

He'll get his time, and he'll wipe the floor with his excellent defense.

Russell Westbrook-

And he's playing....why? This is about as ridiculous as Ron Artest playing a few years ago.

D.J. White-

I'd expect a lot of playing time for him, since we haven't gotten to see much of him last season. He'll probably make the roster next year, but I think he'll spend some time in the D-League before we promote him to real roster status, unless we're short on big men. What is for sure is that he's going to beat out B.J. Mullens, at least for this season.

The Orlando Summer League starts Monday, July 6th, and the Vegas Summer League starts Sunday, July 12th. Ready to get your basketball fix? I am!

Via NewsOK:

Yep, Damien Wilkins has opted to stay in Oklahoma City for another season, collecting a cool $3.3 Million next season.

What does this mean?

A. For Damien Wilkins, money talks. If he went into free agency, I doubt he'd make more than the league minimum, which is around 500k....so even if he got playing time (unlikely), he'd be losing 2.5 Million dollars of money. While that may not seem like a lot to a guy like Shaq, it's a lot to a small time guy like Wilkins.

B. This is good for the Thunder. Damien Wilkins is a nice expiring contract to use as trade bait for other teams who want to get rid of a player for money reasons (See: Tyson Chandler Trade that almost happened). Also, we could just keep him on the IR for this season, and let that 3 million come off the cap in next years all important Free Agency.

C. This is bad for the Thunder. This means that we have to let 3 Million Dollars of crap sit on our bench for the upcoming season. Nothing against Wilkins personally, but the guy is not a good NBA player. So many missed jump shots....Also his staying might be seen as an excuse by management to get rid of someone actually worthwhile like Sefolosha, Weaver, or Watson and actually open up playing tim for this guy. I shudder at the thought.

Bottom Line: If the Thunder really want to, he can easily be cut. We're not too badly hurt either way, but I really hope I don't see this guy playing for the Thunder again next season unless he's made some serious improvements.

That's right, Thunder fans! Blue Blitz is finally back in action.

The NBA Season is over, and NBATV is cursed with re runs of the NBA Finals for a few weeks. The Summer League isn't for a couple of weeks, and the NBA world is, essentially, dead. So, what are you supposed to do until then? Here's a few options for you to consider....

10 Things to do During the NBA Off-Season

1. Watch NASCAR.

Why not? While the sport has been tweaked to the extreme to allow for exciting finishes, fans are dwindling and the cars that sponsor the sport are going belly up. Prime drivers are struggling to find teams while about 5 cars each day can't even complete the race, because they don't have enough money for tires and fuel. I mean, most of it is watching cars turn left for 200 laps for about 4 hours, but hey, you're bored, and that's a slight chance it will come down to the wire! (don't bet on it, though).

2. Watch Baseball.

I'll never watch baseball myself, but I figured that you might want to. I mean, only 100 games until the playoffs!

(Pictured above is the only good baseball moment ever as I actually predicted it.)

3. Play NBA 2K9/NBA Live 09

It will be the last time that you'll get to play as the Thunder before we get James Harden! Go ahead, set up a dynasty, or just go in to the roster and pump up Kevin Durant's ratings so he can assume his "true" rating of 98. Am I right? We all know that Robert Swift, a rising star, is a bit worse, so you can go ahead and put him at 90. It's what Brian Davis would do!

(Props to Tony.psd for the image.)

4. Watch the WNBA!

No, just kidding. We all know that the public doesn't care about women's sports unless they win the US some gold medals!

Now, when is Holdsclaw entering the NBA?

5. Play Basketball.

Fulfill your childhood dreams and imagine that you're playing in the NBA. As I always liked to imagine, Zeb drives down the court, Zeb passes it to Sprewell, there's 10 seconds left on the clock, Sprewell is covered, he passes it to an open Zebulun Benbrook for the game winning shot.....oops, he missed. There was actually a second left! Marshall inbounds it to Zeb, he goes up for the game winning shot....oh, he missed again! But he called a time out before the play even happened! So Marshall inbounds it, Zeb throws up the shot....and it's in! The Golden State Warriors have beaten the Chicago Bulls in Game 7 of the NBA Finals!!!!

6. Follow All of your Favourite NBA Players on Twitter!

Because who doesn't want to hear Nick Collison talk about his bad golfing skills and hitting a house while a guy mugs him?

7. Yard Dawgz!

Feel the intensity of 1,000 mildly amused fans in a ancient arena while you watch a dieing sport played by teams full of amateurs who couldn't make it in the NFL! (Right Click and Select View Image to get a better view.)

8. Watch my parody of Star Trek: The Next Generation

On second thought....no, you really shouldn't.

9. Watch Slamball!

Because you love tuning in to Cartoon Network!

10. Continue reading Blue Blitz!

We'll be sure to bring as much entertainment as possible to the table. Keep watching this space for excellent posts to keep you entertained!

Well, the Draft has come and gone, and the Thunder now have 3 new players on their roster. Who are they? Here's a detailed breakdown their style of play, and what to expect from them going forward.

Picked #3-

James Harden

As predicted by our very own Okluschen, James Harden went to Oklahoma City at #3. If there was a safe pick to make, this was it. If Thabeet was available, I might have argued for him to be picked, but at three, the choice was generally between this guy, Stephen Curry, and Ricky Rubio. Rubio had a bunch of baggage, such as whether he would whine about playing in a small market (as Yi Jianlian did) and just how much it would take to buy him out from his club in Spain. Curry was a solid option, but he would be pretty small for a shooting guard, and it's questionable how well he could distribute the ball. So, the Thunder went with James Harden, the safe pick. Personally, I thought the Thunder might have taken a shot at Rubio, seeing as how they hired a Spanish law firm to deal with his contract.

Reguardless, Harden is regarded as the most "NBA Ready" member of the early picks, which is exactly what the Thunder want. Someone to eventually replace Sefolosha, and somebody who won't threaten Russell Westbrook at the point.

Here's James going off for 40 against UTEP, and it's a spectacle to watch. He's regularly hitting down NBA threes (which is what we need, given that we have virtually no 3 point shooters), and he isn't afraid to take it to the hole when he has to.

Another video of James, this time just doing it from all over the floor against good teams. His 3 Point Accuracy will translate to the NBA for sure, but it remains to be seen if his quickness and explosiveness to the hole will translate. Even in these videos, you can see that he's not that much quicker than everybody else, and usually only got past them by sheer force of will or length of body. You can also see that he has not taken a single midrange jumper in either of these videos, which has to be a bit of a concern.

Here's his stats. As you can see, he played virtually the same for both years, and the only reason he had varying stats for his second year is because he had more weight on his shoulders and handled the ball more. Still, you can see that he is an ample defender and shooter, and he's not a guy who's going to take time to "develop". Half a season in, he should be pretty close to his prime.

What to expect:

I'd expect James Harden to start off by backing up Sefolosha, with Weaver either buried on the bench or on another team. Then, it would be a matter of time before a slight injury or a couple bad performances would slide Harden into a starting role mid to late season. He'll be on the All-Rookie team, but I wouldn't expect him to be Rookie of the Year. He'll probably slide in as a fourth piece on a very good team, and while he might not be as good as Curry, Rubio, or Griffin, he could help us out here and now, and that's what's important.

Picked #24-

B.J. Mullens

The Mavericks are sly ones, oh yes they are. They knew that the Thunder wanted B.J. Mullens, so they picked him at #24 and forced the Thunder to pony up a future 2nd Rounder, Cash, and the pick of Rodrigue Beaubois in order to get him. So, the Thunder obliged. So, who, exactly, did we give up a 2nd rounder and cash for?

Here's some silent highlights of B.J. You can see that he has ample low post moves, but he doesn't have much of a range and will get mostly garbage buckets, ala Nick Collison or Robert Swift.

Here, you can't see much of how he could play in the real NBA (as he's playing against a bunch of streetballers) but here you can see what he's got that makes him special - excellent athleticism as a 7 footer. If anyone remembers how Young Shaq would jump above and then proceed to bulldoze 3 defenders before dunking the ball with no remorse....well, B.J. Mullens can't do that. But he can sky for rebounds, be set up for some Alley-oops not normal for that type of center, and possibly tire out old Centers really quick.

As you can see from his stats, he didn't get tons of minutes at Ohio State like Harden did at Arizona State, but he did try to make the most out of 20 minutes. The issue here isn't his scoring necessarily, it's he rebounding. If he could only get a rebound every 4 minute on the College Level, it's pretty doubtful that he'll be a skilled rebounder on the pro level.

What to Expect:

This guy brings a completely different skill set than Krstic (mostly shooting and rebounding) and a somewhat different skill set than Collison (mostly rebounding, defense, and tough baskets). But, if B.J. Mullens gets time, we should be able to see him whip out Birdman-like dunks and bring a whole new shotblocking element to the Thunders' game that has not been see before. But, he will probably really hurt our rebounding totals (which is killer when Kevin Durant is playing Power Foward), and it remains to be seen whether his scoring ability will translate to the NBA. I'd say he'll get Malik Rose type minutes behind Krstic and Collison for most of this season. Next season might be a different story, depending on how well his rookie season goes.

Picked #54-

Robert Vaden

This pick was, literally, purchased from the Charlotte Bobcats for cash. This guy is one of those big fish in small pond colleges, hoping to make the pros on merit from destroying small-time competition. Before we go to the video analysis, lets take a quick look at this graphic that I found:

Any of those other names ring bells? This should tell you what type of player Robert Vaden is: Streaky Shooter. Now, on to the footage.

This video shows him when he's on the opposite end of the spectrum and is shooting properly. And when he's there, he's HOT. Sizzling HOT.

Here he is in all of his highlight video glory. And you can see what he does. A couple layups, and a thousands threes. Even when he gets on the fast break, he just can't resist pulling up and knocking down the jumper (or, as seen above, bricking it). Very Rarely woudl you ever see him drive for the dunk or the layup, or even the midrange jumper. He's gonna hang around the perimeter all day long. But this still raises questions about whether his game can translate to the NBA level. All of his jumpers were made in small gyms, against bad teams, and players that didn't look like they cared. His speed and athleticism don't look like anything special, either.

He has a long and storied college career, as can be seen. He has decent defensive stats, but these are decent against bad players in bad gyms, and, to me, that translates to defensive liability in the NBA. But, an upside to this long college career is that Vaden is going to be ready to play right away. He's 24, after all.

What to Expect:

In all reality, this guy is still a tail-end draft pick. It's very unlikely he'll make the roster, and will most likely either be cut or sit on the tail end of our roster and play in the D-League. If he shows his stuff there, then he could be called up and utilized as a specialist 3 point shooter at the end of the bench. But, in the end, he's got his work cut out for him, and 66ers fans can look forward to seeing him soon.

The day is here, and the time has come. It's time to liveblog the NBA Draft with the rest of Bloguin!

We will be doing it via cover it live below. A Stern Warning, Bust a Bucket, With Malice, and other are expected to contribute. Make sure to keep checking here for the latest updates on how the draft and Thunder Draft Party are going! (Hopefully they have internet.)

Going to watch the draft party with a few friends, and you don't know what to say?

Need a quick update on what's gone on in the NBA since the Fakers won another title?

Bored and need something to read?

Well then, look know further! Here's what you need to know about the trades have gone down since the curtain has fallen on the 2008-2009 Season. (Trades are in no particular order.)

Trade 1:

Cleveland Cavaliers - Phoenix Suns

Cavaliers Give: Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, Pick #46, Cash

Suns Give: Shaquille O'Neal

Cavaliers Perspective: During the Eastern conference finals, all that the announcers could say is that Big Z and Ben Wallace looked very old when facing off against the youthful exuberance of Dwight Howard. So, what is the Cavaliers solution to this predicament if they want to win next year? Get an even older big man, of course! Obviously, people will say that Shaq is different because he was always better than those two, and that he has the dominant years left in him that Ben Wallace and Zyundras Ilgauskas didn't. But I'm still skeptical. Sure, Shaq will probably translate to more wins, and better performance against worse teams, but, if the Magic can keep it together, I don't see any reason as to why he'd bring the Cavaliers to victory. He'll look just as old as the other two did against Dwight Howard. All of that said, I still love Shaq, and hope he dominates Dwight Howard.

Suns Perspective: The Shaq experiment is over, and this is probably the first move in rebuilding. Nobody but the Cavaliers wanted a piece of Shaq's contract, so a expired Ben Wallace, a streaky shooter, and a long shot draft pick is all they could get. Better than nothing, I suppose, and who knows? Both of them could fit into the Suns current system well, if they want to keep it going.

Final Verdict: Both teams got what they wanted, but since the Cavaliers have the much brighter future and it's doubtful anything the Suns gave will turn into anything, I say the Cavaliers win.

Trade 2:

San Antonio Spurs - Milwaukee Bucks

Spurs Give: Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, Fabricio Oberto

Bucks Give: Richard Jefferson

Spurs Perspective: Congratulations San Antonio! You've successfully found a way to keep your dominance going. Basically, the Spurs traded away two guys who are ancient and very close to retirement and an average center for a borderline All-Star Small Forward to amplify their lineup. If they can convince Tiago Splitter to come from Brazil and a few veterans to come from Free Agency to fill their bench, then San Antonio could very well be Title Town again in 2010.

Bucks Perspective: It looks like the Bucks small experiment at semi greatness is crashing down, and now they're just rebuilding. Oberto was just trade bait for the Pistons so they could obtain Amir Johnson (see Trade 3 below). Bowen and Thomas could theoretically help out it backup roles, but given that they may not want to play in Milwaukee and the fact that their stats have declined recently, it's doubtful you'll see either suit up for serious minutes on the Bucks next season, if they're on the roster at all.

Final Verdict: Spurs by a mile.

Trade 3:

Detroit Pistons - Milwaukee Bucks

Pistons Give: Amir Johnson

Bucks Give: Fabricio Oberto

Pistons Perspective: Just clearing more cap room for the 2010 Free Agency class, and completely giving up any hope of winning in 2009-2010. Expect a dismal record, folks. Oh, and if you didn't already know, the old Pistons are gone forever now, and they're never coming back. This deal is just a further example of that.

Bucks Perspective: Amir Johnson is certainly a solid player....but, he's on a bad contract. He'll help the Bucks off of the bench, but will it really make any difference without Richard Jefferson? I guess it's a solid aim at the future....

Final Verdict: It's hard to say here. Either way, this deal doesn't set the world on fire, but Ill give the credit to the Pistons for clearing even more cap space. I just don't think Amir Johnson and his bad contract will help out the Bucks very much.

Trade 4:

Washington Wizards - Minnesota Timberwolves

Wizards Give: Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov, Darius Songaila, #5 Pick

Timberwolves Give: Randy Foye, Mike Miller

Wizards Perspective: These players, for the Wizards, are nothing but contracts. They're all nameless centers in the wizards mush, and the only one I really know anything about is Etan Thomas, simply because he collaborates with Adonal Foyle to make poetry, and because he has dreadlocks. I'm sure the Wizards fans will be glad to see the nameless men gone. As for giving away the pick for Foye and Miller, two very solid Shooting Guards, it's a case of giving up a gamble in the draft for a sure commodity in these two guards. Personally, I think it was the right decision, as Miller is still regarded as one of the best three point shooters in the league and Randy Foye is a good starter for any team. Nevertheless, this leaves the Wizards with many questions. How will they make their lineup? They have Mike James, Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Randy Foye, and Mike Miller. None of them are big men. We could either be seeing the dawn of a new small ball team (with Blatche at center) or the Wizards could be nowhere done trading. Either is a good possibility at this point.

Timberwolves Perspective: As Okluschen pointed out in an earlier article, the Timberwolves are rumoured to be trying to aggressively trade up to get Rubio. He would certainly be a good Point Guard to anchor the team, and, if Rubio turns out who everyone expects him to be, then its a good trade. If Rubio holds out, doesn't turn out to be good, or, worst of all ,don't get him at all....the deal will be a total failure. I mean, imagine having given up Randy Foye and Mike Miller to get a bunch of nobody centers and Stephen Curry. Not trying to take anything away from Curry, because he'll probably turn out similar in skill level to Mike Miller. But, in the end, it's like trading two apples for an apple and a bunch of brussel sprouts. And trust me, no one wants those.

Final Verdict: Wizards for now, but if Rubio is obtained and turns out to be the player he's all cracked up to be, then the Timberwolves win. Either way, I think the Wizards made a good move here if they are to salvage this team from the depths of the NBA for a few more runs in the playoffs.

Trade 5 (Highly Rumoured, But Not Official):

Golden State Warriors - Atlanta Hawks

Warriors Give: Jamal Crawford

Hawks Give: Speedy Claxton, Acie Law IV

Warriors Perspective: Crawford has been wanting out of Golden State for a long time, but is this the right trade involving him? Moving up or out of the draft would have been nice. I mean, now they get Speedy Claxton back, and he can be a decent backup point guard. And Acie Law could be okay, though I doubt he'll be any good. Long story short, they get two backup Point guards, but no one to truly solve their woes. On the other hand it is a gamble in that they are hoping that Speedy Claxton is still too injured to play, and that 80% of his salary will be covered by insurance. Hopefully they can make something out of that cap space.

Hawks Perspective: They give up the guys who play behind Bibby for a very nice upgrade at backup Shooting Guard. He will be very nice backing up Joe Johnson and possibly Marvin Williams, making this team even better than they already were. But, I wouldn't put it past them to continue trading and getting better.

Final Verdict: The Hawks win this one, easily. I don't see how the Warriors get much better by this other than removing a guy who wanted out. They still need another Point Guard. The only wasy I could see the Warriors winning this trade down the line is if they did something really good with that cap space. The Hawks, however, are ready to take another shot at the East next season.

Good God, the draft is tomorrow and we've yet to cover it. That's about to change. Welcome to the Blue Blitz Draft Extravaganza special. This is your one stop shop for all your Thunder draft day needs. I'll start out with my list of 5 things Thunder fans should watch on draft day and then its mock draft madness...

Teams are going mad in order to have a chance to draft this man...or boy...or girl...

1. TIMBERWOLVES MOVES - The sudden unforseen aggressiveness by Minnesota has thrown a monkey wrench into many of the Thunder's trade plans on draft day. If the T-Wolves move up to take Rubio, Sam Presti doesn't have much leverage to work with, because it's unlikely that anyone will want to trade up for Thabeet
2. STEPH CURRY - The only hope the Thunder will have for trading their pick is if Charlotte or New York wants to trade for a chance to draft Curry. This isn't likely, but it depends on how desperate D'Antonni or Brown are for the leading scorer in college last season. Of course, the Thunder could always use the pick to draft Curry themselves, as many fans would advise.
3. RUBIO DRAMA - If the Wolves don't get ahead of the Thunder, its quite possible that the Thunder would end up with El Maravich himself, Ricky Rubio. Many people would like this pick, as Ricky has the promise of being one of the best passing guards in the league. There is a problem though, Ricky doesn't want to be here. As my compadre Zorgon would say "SPAAAAIN!!!" That leaves the Thunder with a couple of options. First, trade him to a place he does want to be, i.e. Sacramento, Minnesota, New York. The Thunder could get a vet and later draft pick in return. Second, they could force him to suck it up and learn to play here. I think if Rubio realized that there was no way for him to get out of OKC, he would have to man up.
4. HASHEEM THABEET - If Rubio is off the board, the Thunder may end up with Dikembe, er, Hasheem Thabeet. On one hand, he's a great young defensive presence who happens to be over 7 feet tall. You can't teach height. On the other hand, its this same logic that resulted in the organization drafting studs like Swift and Sene. Will the Thunder be leary of picking a big with "potential" this time around? If not, in my opinion, they should be. Thabeet was a good shot blocker...in college. Yeah, he changes shots, but when you have a top three pick do you want to use it on a player who lacks any versatility?
5. FORGET ABOUT BLAKE - He won't be wearing a Thunder uniform, period. End of story. I don't want to hear your crazy trade packages involving current and future draft picks, Jeff Green, Kevin Durant, and his mother. Unfortunately, the local hero is getting drafted into basketball hell, and this is the last we'll ever hear of him.

The 2009 Blue Blitz Mock Draft

James Harden, the projected first pick of the Oklahoma City Thunder, chillin' in the stands...all alone.

1) Los Angeles Clippers - Blake Griffin, PF, Oklahoma

2) *Minnesota Timberwolves - Ricky Rubio, PG, JKV Joventut

3) Oklahoma City Thunder - James Harden, SG, Arizona State

4) Sacramento Kings - Jrue Holliday, PG, UCLA

5) *Memphis Grizzlies - Hasheem Thabeet, C, Connecticut

6) Minnesota Timberwolves - Jordan Hill, PF, Arizona

7) Golden State Warriors - Stephen Curry, PG, Davidson

8) New York Knicks - Jonny Flynn, PG, Syracuse

9) Toronto Raptors - DeMarr DeRozan, SG, USC

10) Milwaukee Bucks - Tyreke Evans, PG, Memphis  

11) New Jersey Nets - Gerald Henderson, SF, Duke

12) Charlotte Bobcats - Tyler Hansborough, PF, North Carolina

13) Indiana Pacers - Earl Clark, SF, Louisville

14) Phoenix Suns - Brandon Jennings, PG, Lottomatica

15) Detroit Pistons - B.J. Mullens, C, Ohio State

16) Chicago Bulls - Terrence Williams, SF, Louisville

17) Philadelphia 76ers - Ty Lawson, PG, North Carolina

18) *Memphis Grizzlies - DeJuan Blair, PF, Pittsburgh

19) Atlanta Hawks - Jeff Teague, PG, Wake Forest

20) Utah Jazz - James Johnson, SF, Wake Forest

21) New Orleans Hornets - Eric Maynor, PG, Virginia Commonwealth

22) Dallas Mavericks - Josh Heytvelt, C, Gonzaga

23) Sacramento Kings - Omri Casspi, SF, Maccabi Tel Aviv

24) Portland Trailblazers - Sam Young, SF, Pittsburgh

25) Oklahoma City Thunder - Chase Budinger, SG, Arizona

26) Chicago Bulls - Darren Collison, PG, UCLA

27) Memphis Grizzlies - Nick Calathes, PG, Florida

28) Minnesota Timberwolves - Jonas Jerebko, SF, Angelico Biella

29) Los Angeles Lakers - Austin Daye, SF, Gonzaga

30) Cleveland Cavaliers - Derrick Brown, SF, Xavier

You can never draft enough blonde leprechauns

 * A trade is projected in which Minnesota trades picks 5 and 18 with Memphis for the Grizzlies 2nd overall pick.

The Nats Blog recently did a piece on who the worst franchise ever was, and apparently the Thunder could have a case made for them that they are the worst franchise in all of sports. Not in the slightest. I defend ourselves, and go attack on the hapless Clippers.

Go Look, I consider it to be some of my best writing in a long time.

Here's a quick update on some blog collaberation pieces that I've contributed to over the past few weeks wile on hiatus:

First of all, I did a piece about why the Thunder should win the lottery with Chip at 3 Shades of Blue. It's short, but it's funny, and I like the cynical take on how the NBA is run. After all, you never know....

Second of all, I contributed to the Blogger MVP and Rookie Rankings, which were posted over at Sactown Royalty. I bet you can guess who put Russell Westbrook first on their ballot, and Kyle Weaver fifth.

Third of all, I contributed to the "Best of the Worst" NBA Awards over at Hoop Heads North. I had a lot of fun putting this one together, too bad that my rants on Monta Ellis and Michael Redd got shafted.

Be sure to check them all out, great pieces in their own right.

Anyway, Onward to May 19th!

Hiatus be damned, some interesting stuff has been going on Blue Blitz related in the blog land that is known as the internet.

First of all, I contributed to With-Malices playoff predictions, which actually turned out to be very boring to look at unless you look at the number of games it was predicted for each team to take to win their respective series, and even then, it's pretty boring.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

I'll have a full playoff preview going on Friday. Be prepared, because I usually have some wacky predictions!

Also, Jason at Ballhype did a retrospective on the NBA Blogger Previews this year.

As it turns out, ours was the only Blog to predict their teams wins in the teens....and aside from 3 Shades of Blue, the only blog to predict their teams wins below 30. In fact, we predicted the lowest win total for our team in he entire history of NBA Blogger Previews, with the only blog ever to come close being TWolves Blog in 07-08, who predicted 20 wins (given that KG had just left, I don't blame them.)

If P.J. was still coaching and the Thunder roster never changed, I'm confident our number would have stuck.