Posts tagged KevinDurant at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

The news blurb that stated P.J. Carlesimo would return as head coach of the, um, Sonics was kind of sad. Not that P.J. was coming back -- you could argue either way whether he deserved to be in charge of a team that has little or no direction except East for the immediate moment. It was sad because the term "Seattle" did not get thrown around once.

Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo will return next season, the team said Thursday, ending speculation he would be fired after the team won just 20 games in his first year with the Sonics.

General manager Sam Presti said at a news conference that Carlesimo would be back. Two weeks ago, Presti gave only a vague answer when asked if there would be any coaching staff changes, Carlesimo included.

See? Crafty newspapers. Point being that Carlesimo will be back to coach Kevin Durant in 2009. We might not know where he will be coaching KD at this particular moment, but he will be back.

I find it hard to envision that Carlesimo is the coach of the long term future plans for Seattle, but his quasi-disciplinarian attitude that focuses on defense is a good fit for a young team that is still establishing it's identity. 20 wins isn't "great" or even "good", but the Sonics put up some fights this season, and given that they were basically punting this year anyway, props to P.J. for sticking around.

In news that should shock approximately no one, Kevin Durant will win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, the Seattle Times reported early Wednesday.

Durant averaged 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists this season with the Sonics, in what may end up being their last in Seattle. Some argued that Atlanta Hawks rookie Al Horford was more deserving, considering his better overall stat line and the fact that the Atlanta Hawks are, you know, still playing basketball and didn't suffer another completely abysmal season. Still others questioned Durant's legitimacy based on his poor shooting percentage, but a late surge helped to quell that tide.

Durant is certainly going to be a dynamic offensive staple for this team, wherever it goes, and whatever it's called. However, to see such a phenomenal talent on a team wrapped in such bitter affairs only seems to make it that much more tragic.

The award is little more than a formality, and has been since Portland Trailblazers' rookie Greg Oden went down with knee surgery before the start of the season. And while there have been other rookies that made an impact for their team, Rockets' forward Luis Scola being one, Durant was simply too much of an offensive focal point to be denied.

Durant will accept the award later today at a team function in downtown Seattle. Where I come from, we call that "rubbing it in."

As half the league starts preparing for the NBA draft in June, it's worth noting that despite all the talent we'll see wear bad suits and ballcaps, none have near the commercial potential as last year's crop led by Kevin Durant and Greg Oden. A few weeks ago, on occasion of the WNBA draft, Seattle Times scribe Percy Allen offered the hypothesis new L.A. Sparks star Candace Parker might be more profitable away from the hardwood than any NBA prospects coming out this season.

"She'll add value to the endemic sponsors who want to leverage her professional career for the sale of sport-inspired shoes and apparel," said Paul Swangard, managing director of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. "She's a potential once-in-a-generation type of player.

"This is a gal who beat men in a slam-dunk contest when she was in high school," he continued. "She's got an urban-legend appeal ... and she may have the ability to transcend her sport. She has the opportunity to be relevant to people whether they are WNBA fans or not."

Allen also notes NBA uber-agent Aaron Goodwin (the champion of last year's Durant battle royale) might skip courting any NBA prospects this year in order to focus on Parker, whom is his client.

Parker may well be the LeBron of the WNBA. But her bigger starring role could come in doing for women's sports (not just basketball) what Tiger Woods has done for golf: legitimizing it for the everyman. It's a near-impossible project, but Parker's the best candidate we'll ever have.

Previously on Fanhouse:
Candace Parker to Bolt Early for the WNBA

We've handed out almost all of the hardware, and we're now down to our final end of the year award, the Rookie of the Year. This one was a two-man race, with one of the candidates finishing as the clear cut winner. Here's how our experts' vote turned out:

1. Kevin Durant
2. Al Horford
3. Luis Scola

Durant took home three of the four first lace votes, while Al Horford picked up one himself. The argument for Horford over Durant goes something like this: hey, Durant had a nice season, but the Sonics weren't going anywhere (um, at least in the standings) so what does it matter? Without Horford, the Hawks might not have made the playoffs. I get that, but it's not like the Hawks had a great season or anything; at 37-44 they just barely got in over the woeful Pacers.

Luis Scola was named on three of the four ballots, and the Clippers' Al Thornton was the final player that made the conversation. While Scola has been a stud this season, the fact that he's like 40 years old (okay, 27) makes it hard for me to consider him for this award, even though it is his rookie season in the NBA. But enough of this talk of second and third place: this award is clearly Kevin Durant's. With 20+ points per game and fearless, clutch shooting when the game's on the line, Durant made it clear that he's the real deal, and did so in just his first season.

Previously at FanHouse:

Who Is the NBA's Coach of the Year?
Who Is the NBA's Best Defensive Player?
Who Is the NBA's MVP?
Who Is the NBA's Best Sixth Man?
Who Is the NBA's Most Improved Player?

Forget LeBron, Kobe and C.P. III -- YouTube is the NBA MVP this year. Al Horford's the latest to use web video to lobby for something or other (in this case, the Rookie of the Year award).



Subtle, and brilliant! (I swear though, if Luis Scola does one of these, it's just going to be bad for everyone.) The original Kevin Durant commercial after the jump.

The estimation of $10 million is, of course, just that. But Derrick Rose should probably give David Stern a huge hug when his name gets called during the first 30 or so minutes of the NBA draft in June. Rose, even if Memphis wins, seems like a one-and-done player, and with his ridiculous NCAA tournament (can you have negative turnovers, like in a positive fashion?) he has not only vaulted Memphis to the title game, but jacked up his draft status as well. And Darren Rovell is estimating that his superb play has made him roughly ten mil.

It's hard to say where Rose might have went had the rule not have existed--each guru has his own site -- but let's say, for argument sake, a pre-college Rose would have gone third. Where does he go after tonight's Championship Game? Possibly first. Possibly second. Maybe third. But the fact is that this tournament has given him a great marketing platform that the likes of O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley obviously won't realize.

So before we even start with projecting how far Rose rose and how his rookie scale might have jumped up, I'm saying his shoe deal over a six year contract is up $10 million from the tourney alone. Tonight is a great opportunity for a kid like Rose as a guy like Carmelo Anthony has proven in years past.

TZ points out, and I agree, that Rovell may actually be underselling the loss that Mr. Mayo is going to take as result of this year's college basketball season. Prior to his year at USC, Mayo would have likely been top five in the draft (although not a lock, certainly a high probability), but his relatively under the radar season with Tim Floyd has him dropping a few slots and a potential pay scale.

A few weeks ago, Denver embarrassed the Hades out of the young Sonics with a 168-116 win. I'm not saying Kevin Durant and Jeff Green had that floating in the backs of their heads... wait, yes I am. KD and Green combined for 72 points as the Sonics dropped 151 points in a double-overtime win against the flustered Nuggets.

Both Durant and Green were insanely efficient -- KD had 8 rebounds and 9 assists to go with his 37 points on 24 shots, Green had 10 rebounds with his 35 points on 21 shots. Green was murder during the overtimes, but as you'll see below, Durant got the Sonics there (via Odenized).



There's only one home game left for the Sonics this season, and it's against Dallas a week from today. If that's the last win Seattle sees from this collection of kids ... well, it sure was a good one. (More on Denver later today.)

There will be a press conference tomorrow which NCAA and NBA will announce a change to the NBA's draft eligibility policy. NBA commish David Stern and NCAA president Myles Brand will conduct the news conference.

Brand hinted Thursday the NCAA and NBA had worked out a deal to create a 20-year-old age limit, which would keep the best players in college for a minimum of two years.

The NBA adopted a 19-year-old age limit in its collective bargaining agreement with the players' association in 2006, which prevented high school players from jumping directly to the NBA.

This would essentially eliminate those "one-and-done" guys like Greg Oden, Kevin Durant and Brandan Wright from last year.

I love the rule because I think it is in the best interest of both the NBA and NCAA. The NBA will get a more experienced and skilled player (for every Kevin Durant, there are dozens of Brandan Wright's not playing) and the NCAA gets to keep its stars a bit longer. Imagine if Texas still had Durant or Ohio State had Oden? Would UNC been exposed by Kansas like that if Wright had still been around?

Three NBA owner representatives visited Oklahoma City today to cast judgment. Unsurprisingly, Clay Bennett's hometown got two thumbs way up. But there was actually some good news for Seattle (really!) tucked in there, in the form of comments from Nets executive David Katz, as transcribed by the Associated Press:

"My hope is that we'll find a settlement with Seattle that will give them the opportunity to have a replacement team. Seattle should have an NBA team, and I think David [Stern] expressed that in the meetings. We all feel that way. My guess is you haven't heard the end of the Seattle story."

Based on this as well as the news earlier today that Bennett has offered the Sonics name/brand to Seattle in previous settlement offers, it looks like we could end up with a "Cleveland Browns 2.0" solution (though I sincerely doubt it will satisfy Seattle's hardcore fans).

And of course, Kevin Durant's not going to be on that replacement team ... which makes this season (and probably next) so so very weird for Sonics fans.

Donyell Marshall wasn't exactly excited about leaving the playoff-bound Cavaliers for the basement-dwelling Sonics, but in the weeks since being traded he's warmed up to his new team.

In the latest entry on his blog, Marshall explains how he found out about the trade (from a reporter calling his cell phone), his blown-out-of-proportion flap with P.J. Carlesimo (it was over by halftime) and what he sees his role being with his new teammates, since he's not, you know, actually playing:

It was difficult, but I believe one reason that they brought a guy like me here was to mentor the young guys. And just like I was close to LeBron – within the first week me and Kevin Durant and Jeff Green talked a lot. Kevin said he really liked having me here and a lot of the players really don't talk to him. I sit down and have conversations with the young guys, and I guess it really wasn't like that before.

I don't know about you, but reading that kind of depressed me. I can imagine that some veterans might resent Durant for being hailed as the franchise's cornerstone even though he's the league's youngest player, but it also shouldn't have taken until the trading deadline for an older player to get into his corner. I know the salary cap dictated most of the team's deadline deals, but hearing this makes me wonder to what degree Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and Kurt Thomas showed the rookie a cold shoulder.

After Raja Bell hit his sixth three-point attempt in as many tries Wednesday night against the Sonics, he came down on Kevin Durant's foot, and left the game with a nasty ankle sprain. Bell was understandably upset, because the injury was a direct result of Durant sticking his foot right where Bell was going to land. If you listen closely, you can hear just how upset Bell was, as he uses some NSFW language to tell the trainer what happened.

It didn't look intentional to me, but when a guy is killing you from the outside like Bell was, who knows what's in a player's subconscious. Either way, it's expected to keep him out at least for the Suns' next game, which is on Saturday against the suddenly vulnerable Rockets.

[via Odenized]

If we don't care about the scourge of the NBA, who will? The Bleaker Rankings will assess the grotesque each Tuesday.

1. The Knicks. Even awful in green! What can they not ruin? One win in nine games in March ... over the Heat. Playoff push, indeed.

2. Seattle basketball. The losses never end: On the court, in the board room... and Kevin Durant's about to be eclipsed in the R.O.Y. race by Luis Scola.

3. The Bucks. How long until Andrew Bogut shows up to the arena with a paper bag on his head? The sad thing: Michael Redd hasn't been awful, but his contract will get him run out of town this summer. Blame Larry Krystowiak, says I. He has the talent on this team to have better than the worst defense in the league.

4. The Bulls. No one seems to want the 8th seed in the East. You'd think Chicago -- who won 49 games last season with a young team -- might be able to pull it off. And under Jim Boylan, the entire roster has (we repeat) regressed.

5. The brain stems of those who would deny LeBron 31-8-7 James consideration (at the very least) for the MVP award. Jeff Van Gundy left LBJ off his MVP candidate list during Sunday's Rockets-Lakers game because Cleveland is in 4th place in the East. LeBron is not only having the best 2008 of all players; this might be the best individual season of the decade.

Others receiving votes: Smush Parker's sense of chivalry; my frickin' head this morning.

The Rotation is a weekly study on the NBA by one of our All-Star voices. In rotation this week is Tom Ziller.

The NBA is in tremendous shape. Ask anyone. Ask Chuck Klosterman. Ask David Stern himself: "People are feeling good about the state of the game and the way it is being played, coached and reffed." Revenues are high. Ratings are improving. These playoffs should be some of the best in history. Sunshine, snow cones, and sarsaparilla. Except ... the model in which NBA teams acquire venues is completely broken, and as such the 15th largest metro area in the United States is losing a team it has loyally hosted for 40 years. Yep. Everything's great, boss.

If you have been a fan of a local team for six minutes or 40 years, Stern does not think you are important. No matter the coin you've dropped in the commissioner's purse or the devotion you've shown, you are not a priority.

This time last year, it was all but official Memphis and Boston would finish as the worst two teams in the league ... and the two franchises in line to get Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. (How'd that work out? Oh.) In 2008, we have four teams clearly worse than the rest in Miami, Minnesota, Memphis and Seattle. Who has the lower upper hand in the ping pong bonanza?

Miami. The Heat made major strides this weekend, going 0-2 on Saturday and reaching the 50-loss plateau before Boston hit 50 wins. (Highly impressive.) Dwyane Wade could get shut down any week now, which could lead to another double-digit losing streak and cinch the first seat in the May lottery.

Minnesota. Wolves, Wolves, what are you thinking? Minny went back-to-back over the Kings and Clips, placing them 2-1/2 games better than Miami. The Wolves have looked decent of late, going 3-7 in their last 10. Depending on the continued efficacy of Al Jefferson and Rashad McCants, they could finish the worst or #4 in the derby.

Memphis. If anyone can catch the Heat, it's these awful Grizzlies. They are 2-12 since trading Pau Gasol, and 12 of the final 20 games come on the road. If Miami cannot be caught, 29th place in the league is certainly attainable. Memphis is one game better than Minnesota currently.

Seattle. The Sonics are a half-game better than Memphis, but have 10 of 19 remaining games at home. Not to disparage Jefferson, Shawn Marion or Rudy Gay -- they aren't tanking -- but you get the sense Kevin Durant desperately wants to win as much as possible. Despite P.J. Carlesimo's best efforts, KD has not been broken by repeated losing yet.

My guess: Miami #1, Memphis #2, Minnesota #3, Seattle #4.

ESPN is doing yet another 'Greatest' countdown, the newest one counting the greatest college basketball players in history. Although the No. 1 name hasn't been announced, it's going to be UCLA center Lew Alcindor. ESPN.com has a listing of Nos. 25 through 3, and Alcindor's name isn't on that list. On ESPN Radio this morning Mike Greenberg said that No. 2 is Oscar Robertson, so Alcindor is obviously No. 1.

Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, is a fine choice, having been an All-American and Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament all three years of his college career. But looking at the Top 25 as a whole, one big problem stands out: ESPN and the corporate sponsor of this exercise, IBM, clearly wanted to pack the list with big-name stars, so it inflated the college greatness of players who eventually went on to have NBA success.

To echo something Matt Norlander has written, ESPN is calling this a list of the greatest college players, even though it's clear that the players' post-collegiate careers played a major part in where they were ranked. Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, for instance, are all ahead of Ralph Sampson.

'Revisionist history' is the nicest term for that kind of emphasis.