The Oklahoma City Thunder aren't just getting a backup center in Etan Thomas, they are getting a much-needed bodyguard for rising star Kevin Durant. And that's a good thing.
According to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman, the Thunder are close to acquiring Thomas from Minnesota in a trade for reserve guards Damien Wilkins and Chucky Atkins, neither of whom were expected to help Durant very much. The Thunder also will be getting a second-round pick in 2010.
Thomas went to Minnesota earlier this summer from Washington, along with the No 5 pick in the draft, as part of the deal that sent Mike Miller and Randy Foye to the Wizards.
There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.
Here's a quick look at the trades that went down and what they mean:
The Thinking: The Cavaliers get an aging O'Neal, with the hope that he can have a productive year playing alongside LeBron James. The only way this trade is a success is if the Cavaliers are the 2009-10 NBA champions. For the Suns, trading O'Neal means that they are beyond tinkering and are leaning toward turning over the personnel of a team that missed the playoffs last season.
For those of us hoping that the draft would bring some exciting developments, it has at least started with a relative bang. And for Minnesota fans, it has brought with it the "good" exciting, rather than the "oh, what's that funny feeling in my stomach, oh, it's vomit" exciting. You know, their usual kind.
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Many people consider the NCAA Tournament to be the biggest sporting event of the year, and that includes NBA players. In this hilarious video we catch up with Wizards star Caron Butler (UConn) as he has a very funny exchange with teammate Nick Young (USC) over their alma maters' chances. But just because you are a basketball player does not mean you are into the tournament, as Andray Blatche admits he is not into "Match Mardness." Also in this video we find out which Wizards player looks like President Obama and which one does not.
The Wizards are off to an 0-3 start, their worst since they were the Bullets back in 1992. A big reason for this slow start is their terrible team shooting, especially that of their superstar Gilbert Arenas. The team set a single-game record for futility in three-point shooting against Boston, and through three games, Gilbert is shooting just six percent (1-17) from behind the arc.
It appears that Gilbert is still being bothered by the knee injury that cut his season short last year. After last night's loss to Orlando, Gilbert was limping around and said the knee wasn't feeling right:
Gilbert Arenas winced while he walked across the locker room with a bit of a hitch in his step.
"It's stiff," Arenas said after the knee slowed him on a 10-point night. "It feels like a 5-pound weight is on it."
He said there's a buildup of fluid in the knee, and he might get it drained before the Wizards play next, at New Jersey on Thursday night.
This obviously does not bode well for the Wizards' hopes this season. The team is already without Etan Thomas, the one player they had that attempted to play interior defense, and now they're looking at their top scorer being at less than a hundred percent. If Gilbert's knee continues to be an issue, it's going to be a very long season in D.C., and one that results in nothing more than a trip to the NBA's draft lottery.
You don't always hear about an athlete in the prime of his career needing open-heart surgery, but that's what Etan Thomasunderwent last week. Fortunately, everything went well. From Dave Zirin, one of Thomas' friends as well as a writer for Sports Illustrated:
The post-surgery news is very good. Despite a 4½-hour operation that required his sternum to be cracked open, Thomas is in good health and better spirits. A return to the court by season's end is a possibility.
A return by the end of the season? That's just amazing. Fred Hoiberg underwent heart surgery as a 32-year-old in June 2005 to receive a pacemaker, but after briefly flirting with the idea of returning, he eventually left his playing career to join the Timberwolves front office. To think that Thomas could have his chest cracked open and then actually return to the court months later is as mind-boggling as it is fantastic.
If you're not overly familiar with the kind of person Thomas is, Zirin's article is worth reading in it's entirety. Thomas is one of the rare professional athletes who is very comfortable using his fame as a platform for his personal beliefs, and his creativity and intelligence shine through in just about all that he touches. (via TrueHoop)
Sadly, there's now a new reason: Thomas is sidelined indefinitely with a heart condition. According to the Washington Times, two league sources with knowledge of the situations admit that it could be a career-threatening ailment:
"It was a tough thing," said Haywood, with whom Thomas has scuffled at least three times in the last two seasons. "You hate to see someone at that age with a heart problem. It seems unreal. But at the same time, we wish him the best. Right now, he should just forget about basketball. Right now, it's about his health and trying to live a regular and healthy life."
By default, Haywood moves into the starting lineup, though it's certainly not the way he wanted it to happen. The team has precious little depth behind him, namely the green (and undersized) Andray Blatche and 40-year-old Tony Massenburg. Here's to hoping Thomas, one of the NBA's most thoughtful and interesting players, makes a complete recovery.
"I told somebody that Ali and Frazier only fought three times so that has to be the end of it for me and Etan. At the end of the day, we both have a mutual respect for each other and we realize that we embarrass ourselves, our team and our families every time we go out there and act silly. You can always talk things out before you fight. Besides, he's a peace activist so he can't do that anyway."
I've always wondered if, at some point, the absurdity of this situation wouldn't be what resolved it. Here's a team with uncommon chemistry and a locker room that deserves its own sitcom. The three stars--Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison--are all down-to-earth and forthcoming. And then you have these two underachieving centers glaring and gnashing at each other like their rivalry actually meant something.
Plus, as Haywood notes, Thomas is basketball's foremost athlete-activist. He can't really preach an end to war and violence when his own work life often involves mixing it up with a teammate.
The Grizzlies moved a seven-footer yesterday, but the "Jake Tsakalidis for Scott Padgett" deal with the Rockets was hardly the trade everyone was waiting for. Considering the combined scoring average of Tsakalidis and Padgett is a yawn-inducing 4.1 this year, it's easy to write this trade off as completely inconsequential, right?
Well, in addition to the fact that the Rockets have now cornered the market on Greek players, there is a twist worth considering. Tsakalidis was making $2.9 million this year, while Padgett was making just under a million. But the Rockets gave up their $3 million trade exception to make the deal work. Not only does that save Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley a few extra bucks over the balance of the year, it also gives GM Jerry West that much more flexibility to make the highly-anticipated Pau Gasol trade.
Will the Bulls step up to the plate and make a move? While Chicago GM John Paxson has been dragging his feet thus far, his options for improving his team's interior offense on the cheap are starting to dwindle since the Spurs plucked Chicago-native Melvin Ely from the Bobcats yesterday, as well. The Daily Southtown suggests the Bulls should inquire about Washington's Etan Thomas for Chris Duhon, who'd give the Wizards some much needed defense.
But although a guy like Thomas would be cheaper, he's nowhere near the same caliber of Gasol. Count me among those who believe Paxson will make some kind of deal by this time next week. He'll be able to have face-to-face conversations with all of the other GMs when they meet in Las Vegas for the All-Star break, and I doubt he'll let the deadline come and go without dealing P.J. Brown's or Michael Sweetney's expiring contracts. But will he make a deal for Gasol? I'm guessing the odds are about 50-50 -- and in a town like Vegas, that's actually a solid bet.
The Oklahoma City Thunder aren't just getting a backup center in Etan Thomas, they are getting a much-needed bodyguard for rising star Kevin Durant. And that's a good thing.
There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.
For those of us hoping that the draft would bring some exciting developments, it has at least started with a relative bang. And for Minnesota fans, it has brought with it the "good" exciting, rather than the "oh, what's that funny feeling in my stomach, oh, it's vomit" exciting. You know, their usual kind. 
Many people consider the NCAA Tournament to be the biggest sporting event of the year, and that includes NBA players. In this hilarious video we catch up with Wizards star 
The Wizards are off to an 0-3 start, their worst since they were the Bullets back in 1992. A big reason for this slow start is their terrible team shooting, especially that of their superstar 
You don't always hear about an athlete in the prime of his career needing open-heart surgery, but that's what 
Earlier this week, 
How do I know the NBA season is close? Because the Washington Wizards, the league's most entertaining team, have already generated three posts today.
The Grizzlies moved a seven-footer yesterday, but the "
