KD Shines at All-Star Weekend, NBA Trade Deadline and the Thunder Unveil a Mascot

Kevin Durant set the record for most points in any All-Star event with 46 on Friday in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge. He proved why he was the most glaring omission from the big boys roster and made everyone outside of the Thunder fan base jealous. He also took away MVP honors.

He wasn't finished. He then went on to win the H-O-R-S-E (dba G-E-I-C-O) contest. He defeated Joe Johnson and O.J. Mayo en route to capturing the worst looking trophy of all time.

The NBA All-Star Weekend is ultimately a convention for front-office types to meet face-to-face in advance of the Trade Deadline. The Thunder are looking to be active and the juiciest rumor to come out of the weekend is the Thunder's interest in Tyson Chandler.

ESPN's Chad Ford lists the possible trade as one of his "five trades that need to happen". He speculates that the Thunder would receive Tyson Chandler and give up Joe Smith, Chris Wilcox, Mo Sene and a first round pick the Thunder received from the Spurs.

This seems like a lot to give up on the surface but it really would be a good deal for the Thunder. Joe Smith has been on the trading block all season long and will most likely be gone by Thursday as part of this deal or some other. Chris Wilcox, by virtue of his sporadic playing time, is clearly not part of the long term plan. Mo Sene has never been part of the plan. He's played 23 minutes this season and he was last spotted on the court November 26th. Plus, the Thunder have DeVon Hardin playing overseas who represents the next Center project. The draft pick is not nearly as big as the Phoenix Suns unprotected draft choice that the Thunder still possess.

It makes less sense for the Hornets from a basketball perspective. A quality big man is always helpful come playoff time. However, Andrew Bynum is out for the season for the Lakers which leaves Yao and Shaq as the best true centers in the West that the Hornets could face in the playoffs. It's a salary dump for the Hornets.

The Big Unveil

It's a big night at the Ford Center tonight. OKC's favorite non-Thunder basketball team, the Hornets, are in town. But even bigger, if possible, is the unveil of the new mascot. A teaser is available on thunder.nba.com.

I'm a little more excited for this than I think I should be.

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

I swear that last night as I was walking up to the ThunderDome I saw PJ's loafers and khaki's sticking out from underneath the building and then, as I got closer, the loafers disappeared and the khaki's shriveled up. Two and a half hours later 19,000 plus munchkins were still in the stands and on their feet cheering a one point loss (99-98 and Steve Nash proved he is still one of the best in the game).

This was a new chapter in Oklahoma City Thunder basketball.

Look, PJ isn't the wicked witch. I've only met one person associated with this team and it was PJ. He was, dare I say, delightful and it's foolish to say that everything is his fault. But the contrast between the Hornets game last Friday and the game against the Suns last night was staggering and the only difference was no PJ at the end of the bench.

Some "beyond the box score" examples:

On Friday night when Jeff Green was introduced to the crowd he walked out like he was meeting a Jehova's Witness at his front door. Against the Suns it looked like all the players were on trampolines.

People were smiling everywhere. During one timeout, with the crowd on its' feet, the coaches huddled up on the court like they always do and Mark Bryant had to bite his lip to keep from smiling and the coaches all just looked at each other and shook their heads like, "Can you believe how much fun this is?"

The players were clearly having fun also. The bench was on its' feet at the end of the first half and most of the second. Players raced to pick each other up off the court. They were more demonstrative than any game that I can remember. They were being creative and it showed with 28 assists (they average 17 on the season).

The energy was palpable throughout the arena and the entire game. There was that synergy between team and fans that had defined the Hornets era. The fans for their part learned that these guys can be likeable and good and a hell of a lot of fun to watch. The players got to see the infectious energy and enthusiasm this crowd can provide. Until now it was only the stuff of legend.

One moment though will stay with me. At the end of the game, after having lost by one point, Kevin Durant stood under the basket by himself and he was just looking around, soaking everything in. He looked like he was trying to capture the pain of the loss and the feeling of how creative and fun basketball can be. I don't know if that's what he was doing but if so it was a neat thing to see.

At the end of the day the standings will say 1-14 but in my mind the Thunder are a competitive 0-2 and the future is looking brighter. Close losses to the Hornets and Suns are nothing to be ashamed of and with the way the team is playing the wins will come soon enough.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Change We Can Believe In? We'll Find Out in a Hurry

Scotty Brooks is wasting no time making changes to the Thunder lineup. Johan Petro is riding the pine. Damien Wilkens is in at Shooting Guard. Kevin Durant is moving to Small Forward, Jeff Green slides to Power Forward and Nick Collison completes the circle by sliding to Center.

By all accounts, KD has been playing out of position his entire (if not short) career and so has Jeff Green. I cannot do the X's and O's anymore justice than what Chris Silva from Thunder.NBA.com has already done so you can read it about it here.

I do know that the game tonight against the Phoenix Suns represents a fresh
start what with a new coach, a new lineup and a second chance to make a first impression on
the fans. That said, few teams could provide a better litmus test for the
effectiveness of these changes than the Suns.

Tonight we'll see KD mixing it up with Amare and Shaq, Westbrook against Steve Nash, Shaq against all comers. Not to mention Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, Grant Hill and the goofier looking Lopez twin, Robin (the real life inspiration for Sideshow Bob and pictured, at left).

Moving KD to the PF is something that's been talked about since last year.
The reason it's never happened is because he's built like Bambi and these are grown men he'd be thrown in against on a nightly basis. But if you're the Thunder you're staring 1-14 in the face. Is there a better time to start getting on with it than right now? While we're at it, if Scotty is going to be open to lineup tweaks, I doubt it's long before Westbrook is inserted into the starting lineup. He had 11 assists off the bench the other night and if he keeps that up how can you not make the move.

PS- Scroll down for my breakdown of the OU-Tech game. Looks like I forgot to drink my Sooner Kool-Aid when I made my score prediction eh? The Bedlam preview is forthcoming. Hint: You should be worried Cowboys fans.

Sheik Yerbouti Over to nba.com and Vote!

http://www.nba.com/FanNight/

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