OKC Thunder in the news: Lakers under investigation for tampering with George
Welcome to OKC Thunder – In the news for Monday August 21 , featuring topical daily news on your favorite team.
To kick off the week OKC Thunder in the news looks at what’s turning heads about the squad and players. Obviously the big news Sunday for the entire NBA (not just the Thunder) was reports the Pacers have lodged a formal complaint regarding the Los Angeles Lakers tampering with Paul George. This narrative is sure to draw copious viewpoints in terms of what the long term effects will be. With that, let’s look at the top Thunder news to kick start the week.
OKC Thunder milestones to watch for in 2017-18:
Fred Katz of the Normal Transcript takes a peek at some milestones Russell Westbrook and some of his OKC teammates could reach this season. Katz outlines a few markers for Westbrook, one for Collison and another for Patterson.
Although all of these records are reachable Westbrook’s minutes played and overall points are the most likely to fall this year.
"It’s no guarantee, but Westbrook could become the Thunder’s all-time leader in points near the end of this season. He currently trails former OKC star Kevin Durant’s 17,566 points by 2,410. That means he would have to average 29.4 points if he plays all 82 games this season. He averaged a career-high 31.6 during his MVP 2016-17 season. ….He’s still years away from catching Nick Collison’s record of 895 games played with the Thunder, and Collison’s number will rise some this season. Westbrook is at 668 heading into this year, but he’s topped Collison in minutes already and has only Durant to pass.He’s 1,422 minutes behind Durant’s 24,208 as a member of the Thunder. If he plays this full season, that means he should pass Durant about halfway into this year."
Two major news stories arose in OKC to finish the week. Both have ties to Los Angeles two teams.
Winger offered Clippers GM position:
In the first of these two stories, Adrian Wojnarowski broke news the Clippers will offer OKC Thunder Assistant GM Michael Winger the role of GM. Tony Heim provides the full story.
"Winger has served under Sam Presti the last seven years, sharing the assistant role with Troy Weaver. At only 37 he’s one of the most respected young execs in the league – like Weaver it was only some time before he started being linked with other jobs.The immediate influence of Jerry West on the Clippers continues to show with this news. Since leaving the Warriors to consult for LA West has also outed Doc Rivers from his dual role as coach/front office head."
Magic Johnson and Lakers in hot water:
More from Thunderous Intentions
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- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
Unquestionably the major news in the NBA is the Pacers have requested a formal investigation into the Lakers. The allegations center around accusations of tampering by the Lakers. More specifically that Magic Johnson recruited Paul George while he was still under contract with Indiana. It’s highly unlikely the NBA will be able to prove tampering occurred. This because it would require evidence of either a paper trail or the parties involved admitting their guilt. Neither Johnson or Paul George are likely to freely admit to that.
The irony is in the LeBron James era, players commonly recruit desired teammates. Worse, they brag about it. In essence this battle feels lost before it begins. With the NBA allowing players to openly recruit it’s a catch 22. Players not only recruit openly and illegally, they brag about it. Yet, no punishment is levied on the players. Until this habit is fixed it’s unlikely things will change anytime soon. For the full story check out our TI article:
"That said, the burden of proof is on the NBA to find evidence. At stake for the Lakers is the loss of draft picks, fines, suspensions or worse they could be barred from signing or trading for Paul George altogether. Clearly the Lakers will deny any wrong doing, and short of a paper trail or someone confessing any wrong doing this case will be hard to prove."
That wraps up OKC Thunder In the News for August 21. Be sure to make OKC Thunder, In the News is part of your daily fix.