Top OKC Thunder news for May 8 focus is on OKC Thunder superstars Russell Westbrook and Paul George surgeries, Markieff Morris showing twin support and free agent hints for Sam Presti.
Paul George and Russell Westbrook undergo surgeries:
From the moment Paul George‘s shooting stroke dipped and the natural ease of his shot appeared less fluid Thunder Nation began to speculate something was wrong. George entered the All-Star break playing arguably the best ball of his career, but three games The injury occurred three games after the All-Star break in Denver. At the time George was playing arguably the best ball of his career and was among the key names being considered for Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year.
He missed three games after the Nuggets match and never quite looked the same. PG sported athletic KT tape (often on both shoulders) for the remainder of the season. Tracy McGrady stated on The Jump it looked to be a rotator cuff injury and as it turns out that was precisely the right diagnosis.
As Rylan Stiles detailed George had surgery on the right shoulder and is scheduled to for another surgery to repair a small tear in the labrum of his left shoulder. Rehabilitation of the injury will mean PG13 won’t be available for training camp or preseason play.
"We now have an answer. Paul George underwent rotator cuff surgery to repair a partially torn tendon in his right shoulder.George will miss at least the start of the preseason training camp, and one can assume he will not be doing much of any offseason work."
Stiles article also offers the details on two procedures Russell Westbrook had to repair a torn ligament in his finger and what has become an annual right knee clean up. Fortunately, these procedures won’t affect Westbrook’s ability to put in work this offseason presumably to work on his shooting stroke and efficiency.
Twin Support:
OKC Thunder power forward Markieff Morris showed up in Boston to support his twin brother Marcus as the Celtics took on and eventually succumbed to the Milwaukee Bucks in Games three and four of their Conference semi final series. On Monday, May 6, Kieff was in the crowd sporting his brother’s jersey and wearing dark sunglasses.
Markieff Morris is in the crowd watching his bro play, but he's already got a Celtics jersey on just in case pic.twitter.com/4HeNfiSuNB
— SB Nation (@SBNation) May 6, 2019
This isn’t an unusual event for the Morris twins who are extremely close and have been spotted at each other’s games previously. This season the twins’ teams coincidentally were both scheduled to play in Los Angeles in March.
Marcus attended the March 8 game when Markieff and the Thunder played the Clippers while Markieff attended the March 9 Celtics game versus the Lakers. Since both LA teams play in the Staples Center and the Thunder didn’t have another game until the 11 and the Celtics remained in LA to play the Clippers it made for easy planning.
The twins are vocally supportive as well. Shortly after the OKC Thunder were knocked out of the playoffs early, Marcus went on a bit of rant specifically calling out Billy Donovan for the lack of playing time Markieff received.
On twin Marcus comments on Markieff's playing time says his brother has his own opinion. I didn't play much, thought I could play more, help more, but that's not my job -that's coaches job. (not a ringing Donovan endorsement) #ThunderUp
— Thunderous Intentions (@thunderousint) April 25, 2019
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- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
In his exit interview, Markieff allowed that his brother was entitled to his own opinion. That said, Kieff seemingly emulated his brother Marcus’ statements albeit with less angst by stating he loves the team and city but if his role and minutes weren’t expanded he didn’t envision returning.
Playoff Free Agents:
Speaking of teams still playing in the postseason Tuesday night’s action witnessed the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets taking the 3-2 series edge over the Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers respectively.
Tonight the Milwaukee Bucks will seek to become the first team to stamp their Conference Finals ticket as they host the Boston Celtics. Golden State will host the Houston Rockets as each team seeks to get the series 3-2 edge.
To that end, I looked at the semi final teams and their impending free agents with a view to what tips and hints OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti could garner from them heading toward the moratorium.
That wraps up In the news for Wednesday, May 8. Enjoy your day and make sure to stay connected with Thunderous Intentions as we continue to serve up player reviews and offseason information.
Stay tuned for our annual draft prospects series.