The Thunder have signed Brooks to a 4-year deal worth a little over $4 million per year.

The two sides were working on a deal ever since the NBA Finals ended a few weeks ago. At first, the Thunder wanted to sign Brooks for three years while Brooks wanted four.

The Thunder offered Brooks a 4-year, $16 million contract that Brooks turned down a few days ago.

It was only a matter of time before the two sides came to an agreement.

Thunder GM Sam Presti said all along that Brooks was very important to the team and the culture they have established in Oklahoma City.

Brooks made around $2 million per season the last two years. For perspective, Erik Spoelstra makes around $3 million per year, Tom Thibodeau makes around $2 million, Rick Carlisle makes $4.5 million and Gregg Popovich is closer to $6 million.

There were rumors a week or so ago that the Thunder and Brooks were not close on a deal and that OKC would pursue a candidate like Phil Jackson or Jeff Van Gundy if they could not work it out with Brooks.

Presti dispelled those rumors as “rubbish” when asked about them.

Brooks has been great for the Thunder so far but he hasn’t been perfect. Brooks was outcoached in the NBA Finals and failed to make necessary, obvious adjustments to give his guys a better chance of beating the Heat.

Like the Thunder, Brooks will learn from that series and expect the Thunder to come back next season much stronger, led by Brooks.

Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Durant leads the way with 21 first half points as the Oklahoma City Thunder lead the Dallas Mavericks 50-41 at halftime of Game 3.

Durant came out hot scoring 15 in the first and making three 3-pointers.

Russell Westbrook has reversed roles with Durant tonight struggling from the field going 3-for-11 with eight points.

The Thunder got out to a great start and an again frustrated Mavericks team picked up two technical fouls on Dirk Nowitzki and then head coach Rick Carlisle arguing calls.

Oklahoma City led 32-26 after one and would lead 48-33 with 3:51 to go in the second quarter.

Dallas has played a matchup zone with some decent success so far in this game. It’s not really a traditional zone as they do a lot of switching and matching up but it gave the Thunder some trouble early in the second as Oklahoma City settled for too many 3-pointers early in the shot clock.

The Thunder settled down and figured it out some and were able to increase their lead.

Dirk and Jason Kidd lead Dallas with 10 points apiece.

Dallas is shooting 36.8 percent from the field and has attempted four more free throws than the Thunder so far. The Thunder didn’t attempt a free throw in the second quarter.

The Thunder will need to get back to the line some more in the second half to make sure they win. This would obviously be a huge win and probably mean that the series is over. The Thunder have come out strong and really shouldn’t waste what’s already been a good shooting night from Durant.

Dirk received an incidental elbow from Serge Ibaka after making a jump shot and then gave Ibaka a bump running back down the court. A few plays later, Dirk was shoved around some by Kendrick Perkins underneath the rim and then lost his cool throwing an elbow at Perkins after the play.

The Thunder have gotten under Dirk’s skin and they got the Mavericks and head coach Rick Carlisle complaining about the officiating.

But have the Thunder been too physical with Dirk? Have they been dirty?

Absolutely not.

Carlisle doesn’t seem to think so but I see nothing wrong with how Oklahoma City has played Dirk. You have to get physical with him and it’s not like they’re getting away with much. Dirk has gone 20-for-21 from the free throw line in two games so far against the Thunder. The officials really tightened things up last night especially in the second half as the teams combined for 71 free throw attempts in Game 2.

“That was a physical, intense, hard-fought playoff basketball game,” Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said after the game. “I’m proud of our guys the way they battled at first there at the start and we finished up playing tough, hard, defensive-minded basketball.”

If you’re Dirk, the defending champion and Finals MVP, you can’t expect to not be played so physically. That’s how he’s been defended his whole career and that’s how people have had success defending him.

It’s not like Kendrick Perkins is a rookie or something either. He’s been around and people know what he does. He uses his elbows a little more than most, sets moving screens and gives you that extra nudge when it’s not entirely necessary. It doesn’t feel good but it’s not dirty. It’s just how he earns a paycheck and it is also extremely important for this Thunder team.

The series is going to go back to Dallas now and expect Dirk to get a few more calls than he did in Games 1 and 2. That will be a tough thing for Oklahoma City to overcome for sure. Remember last year in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Dirk went 24-for-24 from the free throw line.

Things will change some when the series shifts to Dallas, hopefully it’s not too drastic though.