Oklahoma City has signed guard Thabo Sefolosha to a contract extension to beat Saturday's deadline, his agent confirmed Wednesday to FanHouse.
The agent, Guy Zucker, had told FanHouse on Monday an agreement wouldn't be reached. But he said everything began to change by Tuesday when the Thunder stepped forward with an improved offer.
The deal is for four years, starting with next season. Zucker would not comment on dollars.
Saturday is Halloween, but don't expect many NBA owners and general managers in this shaky economy to dress up as Bill Gates and throw money around.
Oct. 31 is the annual deadline for one-time first-round picks entering their fourth seasons to be eligible to sign extensions that would kick in for their fifth seasons. For stars, it's a chance to land their first really big contract.
But much is silent as the deadline approaches, meaning the overwhelming number of eligible players from the 2006 first round will become restricted free agents next summer. Three players from that draft -- Andrea Bargnani of Toronto and LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy of Portland -- have inked extensions, but not a lot more activity is expected.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
During the ABC pregame and halftime shows Sunday, the panel somehow argued that Tony Parker is underrated and should be mentioned in the same breaths as Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Later, it was decided that Williams is wildly overrated. I guess this makes Paul overrated, or something. I don't know. I'm confused.
All I know is that D-Will went off against the Raptors, offering up 25 points and nine assists. Sure, Parker also went big with 30 points and nine assists. But Parker had six turnovers. Williams offered just one.
The 3 PM ET trade deadline in the NBA has come and gone, and while there were plenty of big names rumored to be on the move, few teams actually had the guts to pull the trigger. There were plenty of deals made, however, including one that might have one Eastern Conference team feeling like it's back in the title conversation. A wrap-up of today's events after the jump.
It appears All-Star Weekend will come and go without an official Amar'e Stoudemire trade. That's probably for the best; it'd just be weird to see an All-Star starter playing for the wrong conference in his own town.
But the apparent stay on Stoudemire's Phoenix career for a few more days hasn't limited the rumors. The big, flashing arrow this weekend points toward Chicago, with four independent reports mentioning the basic parts and another quoting a Chicago reporter as telling Amar'e he's heading to the Windy City.
Guessing NBA starting line-ups on a night-to-night basis is a fool's game, and today is no exception. At least two coaches have made surprise changes of heart heading into the season opening slate.
In Chicago, Kirk Hinrich has been slated as the backcourt mate for rookie PG Derrick Rose. Instead, Vinny Del Negro has named Thabo Sefolosha the starting two-guard. To be honest, I didn't expect Thabo to be among the top four guards in the Bulls' rotation this fall, with Rose, Hinrich, Larry Hughes and ... um ... err ... (oh yeah) Ben Gordon (!) filling the spots. Hughes is broken (surprise), Gordon is still persona non grata (bummer), and here comes the Swiss Mister.
B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.
Cup of Coffee Interestingly, Chris Quinn is not, to my immediate knowledge, injured. Yet he did not play last night against the Bulls. Why? Because Marcus Banks got 21 minutes of backup point guard time for Jason Williams. Marcus scored nine points and recorded four turnovers with four personal fouls. Auspicious at best, indeed. However, Banks is probably more talented and certainly better than anything his time in Phoenix showed and if he's going to get between 20 and 30 minutes a game, he's definitely worth at least taking a flier on.
Hot CakesThabo Sefolosha stayed hot heading into the All Star Break, scoring 17 points with 12 boards and four steals. In February, he's averaging 14 points, six boards, three and a half assists and a block and steal per game each. There's certainly some question as to whether or not he will keep starting/playing big minutes when everyone gets healthy, but Ben Gordon has been mentioned a lot in trade talks, and if he gets shipped, Thabo will have value for the rest of the season. I say take the gamble and "buy high".
Charlie Danoff has a great narrative piece on Bulls guard Thabo Sefolosha in the Chicago Sports Review, more or less an encyclopedia article which reads like a Danielle Steele novel. While many (most?) NBA players have a similar anecdote, Thabo's tale of the doubters around him is particularly amusing.
At 16, when asked that silly question by his high school guidance counselor - what do you want to do with your life? - Thabo replied that he planned on becoming a professional basketball player, and one day playing in America for an NBA team. ... "The guy laughed... He said, 'I'm coming back to talk to you in three days, so think about what you seriously want to do.'
Unfortunately, Thabo's had a rough sophomore season to follow up his rough rookie season. His offense is anemic; he's locked in fierce battle with Chris Duhon and Ben Wallace for 'worst shooter of the team' honors. Defense remains Thabo's calling card, but this team has several good wing defenders already and desperately needs offensive production from its inconsistent backcourt.
The next season-and-a-half could end his NBA career if things don't come together. He turns 24 in May, which is a bit old for a second-year player. (Fourth-year Ben Gordon's only a year older, and fourth-year Luol Deng is a year younger than Thabo.) The physical tools are there, but -- as is the case with many prospects -- the skills need to break through. Easy kid to root for, though.
New Jersey got destroyed in Sacramento last night, and as it was the team's sixth straight loss, you figure something's going to happen. As fans with thirsts for fireworks, we expect big changes, like a head coach getting axed or a superstar firesale. If a rumor from the Bergen Record's Al Iannazzone is to be believed, the "shake-up" will be relatively minor.
Iannazzone says Chicago and NJ are discussing a trade which would put Andres Nocioni and Thabo Sefolosha in Nets threads, in exchange for Marcus Williams and a triptych of smallish expiring contracts. It'd be a fine deal for NJ, who could certainly use some shooting prowess (no Net shoots better than .356 from three) and a reasonable starter for the power forward position (you don't win games with a raw-as-sushi shotblocker and 35% free throw shootin' Josh Boone as your best frontline options).
But Chicago? It's almost a white flag, right? It'd be a long-term cost-cutting measure, and you'd be offering Thabo basically for the opportunity to cut salary. (I think all'd agree Thabo is a better prospect than M. Williams.) Chicago's glaring deficiency is offense, and Nocioni has been a) the most efficient and b) the most frequent Bulls scorer. How do you justify this to the fans, especially considering the conference champion expectations heading into the campagin?
The alleged altercation between Joakim Noah and Ben Wallace following Tuesday's game has received more publicity than it ever actually deserved, especially in hindsight as we discover it was completely blown out of proportion. Steve Kyler of HOOPSWORLD was one of the first reporters to enter the Bulls' locker room, and in talking with several players, pieced together exactly what happened:
Here is basically what happened – as retold to me: Joakim and Thabo Sefolosha were talking to each other in French, when out of the blue Joakim started "talking" in English loudly, saying something about people laughing after being blown out by 30 points, and how he was punished for comments about a coach, but it seemed OK to lose by 30.
Ben Wallace simply told Noah that nothing he was going to say was going to change the loss and he had to let it go and get ready for the next one – and apparently Joakim wouldn't and the two continued jawing at each other in a loud, open way.
And that was that -- it ended long before things got physical or players had to be restrained. All in all, it was just a verbal spat between teammates after an embarrassing loss. I can understand why Noah takes losing so harshly -- he's already lost more games as a pro (22) than he did in three years at Florida (19). Wallace, on the other hand, is a seasoned pro who understands one loss in January, no matter how embarrassing, won't make or break a season. (It was the 3-13 start that did them in -- they've actually played .500 ball since the end of the November.)
It's always easier to have a clear-cut villain and hero, but neither player really seems to be in the wrong, although Noah obviously carries a bit more resentment about the team's veterans voting to suspend him than he's publicly let on.
Oklahoma City has signed guard Thabo Sefolosha to a contract extension to beat Saturday's deadline, his agent confirmed Wednesday to FanHouse.
Saturday is Halloween, but don't expect many NBA owners and general managers in this shaky economy to dress up as Bill Gates and throw money around.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
It appears All-Star Weekend will come and go without an official Amar'e Stoudemire trade. That's probably for the best; it'd just be weird to see an All-Star starter playing for the wrong conference in his own town.
Guessing NBA starting line-ups on a night-to-night basis is a fool's game, and today is no exception. At least two coaches have made surprise changes of heart heading into the season opening slate.
B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.
Charlie Danoff has a great narrative piece on Bulls guard Thabo Sefolosha in the Chicago Sports Review, more or less an encyclopedia article which reads like a 
New Jersey got destroyed in Sacramento last night, and as it was the team's sixth straight loss, you figure something's going to happen. As fans with thirsts for fireworks, we expect big changes, like a head coach getting axed or a superstar firesale. If a rumor from the Bergen Record's Al Iannazzone is to be believed, the "shake-up" will be relatively minor.
The alleged altercation between Joakim Noah and Ben Wallace following Tuesday's game has received more publicity than it ever actually deserved, especially in hindsight as we discover it was completely blown out of proportion. Steve Kyler of HOOPSWORLD was one of the first reporters to enter the Bulls' locker room, and in talking with several players, pieced together exactly what happened: 
