Hooped Up

The Oklahoma City Thunder signed 7-foot center Steven Hill on Tuesday to fill out the roster.

Hill played in three preseason games for Portland and was among the Trail Blazers’ final cuts. His signing comes a day after the Thunder waived guard John Lucas III.

Hill averaged 4.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots as a senior at Arkansas last year. As a junior, he was chosen the Southeastern Conference’s defensive player of the year.

Herald Tribune

Over the weekend, Chris Paul and fellow NBA stars like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Rudy Gay and Kevin Durant teamed up with some of the PBA’s best in support of the CP3 Foundation participating in the Chris Paul Charity Bowling Tournament, on ESPN.

Bowling has never looked so fun!

Via Ball Don’t Lie

A kinda new city, sorta new players, the New York Liberty logo and now a new dance team.  

Enjoy!

The logo of the Oklahoma City Thunder is like the gift of a crappy sweater on Christmas day, that would make even Bill Cosby spew pudding pops.  Let’s hope the uniforms salvage things.

“Thunder officials are expected to unveil team uniforms next Monday at Media Day. Insiders say the road uniforms will be sky blue, the color of the state flag. Home uniforms will be white. If Thunder is inscribed on home, white uniforms and road “Oklahoma City” uniforms are dark sky blue, like the state flag, the team logo becomes a minor topic. The uniforms Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Nick Collison and their teammates wear on ESPN highlights are what the nation will see most, not the logo.”

Oklahoman

Well it’s official, the Sonics are dead and this is their new zombie logo.  Some day I hope the Sonics will ride majestically once more.

If the The Last Ogle is right, and this is indeed the logo of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The OKC “secret” name and “secret” logo was guarded like a Kim Kardashian sex tape. Actually, I’ll bet the mini basketballs are the “secret gift” the first 500 people receive entering the Ford Center for the home opener. 

At this point I can’t really decide if this logo looks terrible or awful, I’m kinda on the fence with that one. 

What do you think?

The Cleveland Cavaliers landed some offensive help for LeBron James in the backcourt on Wednesday, as they picked up point guard Mo Williams in a three-team trade with the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City.

The Cavs acquired Williams while parting ways with guard Damon Jones and forward Joe Smith.

Jones will land in Milwaukee, along with former Oklahoma City point guard Luke Ridnour and swingman Adrian Griffin. Oklahoma City will receive Smith and Bucks forward Desmond Mason.

A five-year veteran, Williams averaged 17.2 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game for the Bucks last season. A second-round pick by the Utah Jazz out of Alabama in 2003, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Williams has five years and $43 million left on a contract he signed last summer with Milwaukee after posting similar numbers in the 2006-07 season — 17.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Seattle Post Intelligencer

According to KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City, the Seattle Supersonics ownership have officially ripped the heart out of the once proud Seattle Supersonics franchise by renaming the team The Oklahoma City Thunder.  Thunder?  Really?? The Thunder sounds like one of the selections you have in a video game when making a custom expansion team.  

The Oklahoman conducted a 64-team NCAA Tournament-like bracket contest. Thunder defeated Outlaws in the finals. My guess was the Vipers finished 3rd if it was on the list. Now if they would have named the team the Oklahoma Thundercats…that would have been worth the move in jersey sales alone.  

I wonder what player #35 thinks about the new name?

SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett could end up paying $75 million to move the NBA franchise to Oklahoma City this year, and he won’t be taking the team’s name or colors with him.

Bennett agreed to settle a lawsuit with the city of Seattle, bringing an end to a contentious relationship that resulted in a trial in which the judge was due to issue her ruling Wednesday.

“We believe this is a fair and appropriate resolution to the litigation involving the Sonics and the City of Seattle,” Bennett said. “We are pleased that the uncertainty is lifted for our players, staff and Oklahoma City fans who can now make plans for the immediate future.”

Bennett announced that the settlement calls for a payment of $45 million immediately, and would include another $30 million paid to Seattle in 2013 unless the state Legislature in Washington authorizes at least $75 million in public funding to renovate KeyArena by the end of 2009 or Seattle obtains an NBA franchise of its own within the next five years.

Press Release