In the news: OKC Thunder owe Brewer hat tip, PatBev lists Westbrook as toughest trio to guard

In the news for May 2 features hat tips to Corey Brewer for his assistance in retaining Paul George, while Patrick Beverley cites Russell Westbrook among trio of toughest to guard.

Hat tip to Corey Brewer:

An article which surfaced on NBC writer Brian Witt detailed how Corey Brewer played an integral role in why Paul George elected to stay with the OKC Thunder. More accurately, Brewer’s comments may be the reason George didn’t afford the Lakers a free agent recruitment meeting.

"“George never gave the Lakers an opportunity to shoot their shot,” McMenamin recalls. “But he had a wealth of information available to him about the inner workings of the Lakers without ever hearing a word from Magic Johnson. For example, George played in Oklahoma City with Corey Brewer in the second half of the 2017-18 season, after Brewer was waived by L.A. in February. Brewer divulged his Lakers experience to George, sources said.”"

As the article stats this reason alone was unlikely to have been the deciding factor, but when your peers are telling you things aren’t good – well, you listen. Couple that with George loving Oklahoma City and his relationship with Russell Westbrook. Adding all those items up suddenly makes his decision to stay logical – and in truth probably a no-brainer.

Woj bomb – Troy Weaver in the mix for Wizards GM Position:

While the OKC Thunder lick their wounds of three consecutive first round ousts the fan base in Washington has reason to be even more upset. They have two superstars on the Wizards (John Wall, Bradley Beal)  but failed to make the playoffs. Even worse, John Wall who was already out due to an injured heel will miss at least a season after tearing his Achilles Tendon. Like Westbrook, Wall inked his super max deal last summer and is in line to earn $38,150,000 next season while he rides the bench.

Adrian Wojnarowski linked OKC Thunder Vice President of Basketball Operations, Troy Weaver as among those being interviewed to fill the vacant spot left by Ernie Grunfeld. Weaver does have natural ties to the community given he hails from D.C and he has experience with current Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks from when he was with the Thunder. That said, whoever gets the job will have a true challenge given the Wizards salary sheet.

Patrick Beverley lists Westbrook in his top 3 toughest to guard:

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In a recent interview pest Patrick Beverley discussed why Stephen Curry is one guard who doesn’t earn the same bulldog, pesky behavior from him. More interesting was the trio of guards he listed as the most difficult to guard. NBC writer Drew Shiller offered up Beverley’s response to the toughest three point guards to defend:

"“Dame (Damian Lillard), he’s up there. He’s tough,” Beverley said. “He’s cold within the offense they run, too. He’s got the ball but everything ain’t for him. You put Dame in Golden State or put Dame in a Houston Rockets type of offense … I think we’re only getting a little bit of a taste.“Kemba (Walker). Gotta put Russ (Russell Westbrook) up there because you don’t know what you’re gonna get from Russ. He can go cold for five games and then you play him and he hit five threes."

Thunder Nation shouldn’t be surprised as Westbrook has drawn the most ire from Beverley both clean and dirty. Perhaps the way Damian and Kemba elect to ignore PatBev is why it doesn’t seem like they are on his radar. While the Brodie as we know gives as good as he takes.

That’s it for in the news for Thursday, May 2. Enjoy the playoff action tonight and stay connected with Thunderous Intentions for our annual season ending player reviews.