Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Russell Westbrook chooses the Thunder (and money)
Good morning. We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
RU$$ELL: The Thunder have pulled off a major victory, convincing Russell Westbrook to sign an extension that will boost his 2016-17 salary and keep him under contract for one additional season. The renegotiated contract includes the salary adjustment for 2016-17 (achieved using OKC’s leftover cap space), a fully locked-in 2017-18 and a player option for 2018-19. Doing it this way allows Westbrook to make more money now and hit free agency in 2018, when he has 10 years of service under his belt and can sign a deal for 35 percent of the salary cap.
It’s a win for everyone but the Celtics and the hopes of any other 2016-17 MVP hopefuls. Even Kevin Durant benefits from this in a way because the OKC victory dampens the OKC defeat at his hands. Westbrook is going to be must watch TV next year.
THE COMPETITION: I ranked the other 11 teams in the men’s Olympic basketball tournament in order of the likelihood they can beat Team USA. Spoiler alert: no one can. The most frequent comments I’m getting: Brazil will be much better than I predict, and Serbia will medal. We shall see ...
REDEMPTION: Yaron Weitzman remembers the Redeem Team and explores what they meant to the modern USA Basketball program.
SKY HIGH: Elena Delle Donne, perhaps the best women’s basketball player in the world right now, comes out.
ALRIGHT, FISH: Derek Fisher may pursue a comeback ... as a player.
DENOUEMENT: Fantastic story from The Undefeated’s Michael A. Fletcher on why President Obama plays more golf than basketball these days. I’m like 20 years younger than POTUS and I feel this deeply.
THAT’S A STRETCH: The health benefits of stretching have been massively oversold. I am the opposite of limber, and I stretch with some frequency, and all it helps is to prevent back spasms. My muscles just laugh at me when I stretch them out. “LOL nice try, Ziller, we aren’t gonna be any less stiff today.”
SPEAKING OF LIMBER ... “Andrew Wiggins is either working on a 720 or becoming a video game glitch.“
CORD CUTTERS UNITE: Turner and Hulu cut a deal that will make TNT available on the streaming service. It’s not totally clear whether NBA games will remain unavailable. Crucially, NBA games on TNT (and especially NBA playoff games on TNT) are a major stumbling block for would-be cord cutters. (For the record, I am not a cord cutter because I can’t fall asleep without late-night HGTV.)
Happy Thursday. See you next time.
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