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 Derek Fisher makes his Thunder debut Mar. 21 at home against the Los Angeles Clippers. - Getty Images
Thursday, March 22, 2012 By Carson Williams
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Despite the shortened NBA season, there is still plenty of news and updates surrounding the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Derek Fisher:
After clearing waivers Mar. 21, former Lakers guard Derek Fisher agrees with the Thunder. Fisher, a 16-year veteran, limited his choices to Miami and Oklahoma City after being traded to the Houston Rockets before the trade deadline Mar. 15. Fisher then secured a buyout from the Rockets, allowing him to sign with any team of his choice.
"Derek is a consummate professional, an unbelievable leader. And he played with arguably one of the greatest players to ever play in Kobe (Bryant) and Kobe really respected him as a player and wanted him on his team, so that speaks volumes," Thunder forward Kevin Durant told The Oklahoman at shootaround Mar. 20 before their game in Utah. "We have a great corps of point guards leading off with Russell Westbrook and then Reggie Jackson and Royal Ivey. But adding another guy that can come in and give us some good minutes here and there and bring his leadership and winning plays here would be cool. But it's one of those things that you really don't know too much about. We got to just see what happens. Fisher is a Thunder guy as far as character and off the court is concerned. But we'll see what happens."
Fisher averages 26.3 minutes over his 16-year span in the league, but will see those nearly cut in half taking a backseat to Westbrook. If Fisher had signed with Miami, one could almost pencil them in to win the championship. As it is, Fisher leaned toward Oklahoma City for three reasons in particular: the Thunder can pay him more by offering the mid-level exception, the team needs an experienced point to back up Westbrook with Eric Maynor out for the season with a torn ACL, and Fisher’s agent, Rob Pelinka, was recently hired by Durant and is also James Harden’s agent.
USA Today’s Kelly Carter did an interview with Fisher in 2009 asking Fisher what the most surprising and unexpected place Fisher had ever visited. His response: OKC.
“Being in the NBA, you are on the road and in a different city every few days. We have traveled to Oklahoma City, and I was very surprised to find such a sense of community, kind people and was extremely touched by the Oklahoma City National Memorial honoring those who were lost in the bombing of the Federal Building,” Fisher said in the interview.
In order to add Fisher to the roster, the Thunder will need to remove one from the current roster. Forward Ryan Reid has been waived by the team. Reid appeared in only five games this season and is now in search for a new job.
As far as the playoff race goes, the Thunder may have found that one, final piece needed to win it all. Fisher brings experience and leadership to a team that is young with limited experience. Fisher has been apart of five title-winning teams and will look to make it six now that the deal is finalized.
In Fisher’s debut with the Thunder, he saw 19 minutes and added five points including a three from the corner en route to a 114-91 Thunder victory.
“The team itself, which I’ve always had a lot of respect for, plays hard, plays with energy every night and even with a relatively young basketball team is only focused on one thing and that’s winning and to be successful,” Fisher said. “It was very difficult to not see myself as a person that could come in and help add to a situation that was already special.”
MVP Race:
As the regular season begins it’s downhill slide, with only 19 games to play, the MVP race heats up and there are plenty of players that deserve the prestigious award. However, only one can take home the coveted award.
Realistically, it’s a two-man race: LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Statistically, James is having his best year since entering the league seven years ago. James is shooting a career high 40 percent from beyond the arc this season, nearly seven percent more than his career average at 33.1. James has lead the Heat to a 33-11 record which puts them second in the West; three games back of Chicago.
Speaking of Chicago, reigning MVP Derrick Rose’s MVP campaign has taken a hit due to all of the injuries that have plagued the four-year guard out of Memphis. Rose has been battling an ankle injury this season and most recently a groin problem that has kept him out of the team’s last three games.
The other MVP contender, Durant, has been the catalyst of this franchise since being drafted in 2007 and is the main reason why the Thunder went from winning a mere 23 games in 2008 to advancing to the Conference Finals just a year ago. Durant’s numbers are not what James’ are, but his contributions are equally the same. What separates Durant from James is his amazing versatility. A 6’9” forward should not be able to shoot the way Durant does. His FG% stands at 50% on the season while he is shooting nearly 37% from deep.
However, look at James and Durant’s season numbers side-by-side. James has the upper hand on a few stats, but so does Durant. Ultimately, I think it will come down to how their two teams finish respectively. Oklahoma City currently holds a slim lead over the Heat in overall record but the Thunder have a tough final 19 games. 12 of those final 19 are against opponents with at least a .500 record and six of those are on the road.
Miami’s final stretch is virtually mirrors that of the Thunder’s. 12 of their final 21 are against teams above .500 and six of those are away from American Airlines Arena.
With that said, whatever team comes out on top will determine who wins the Maurice Podoloff Trophy. James is a two-time recipient of the award while Durant is still searching for his first. However, Durant does have two scoring titles and an All-Star MVP on his resume.
The sharp shooter from the 405 deserves the MVP the most though. James was a part of gathering the Super Team together and promising “not five, not six, not seven” championships and fans are still waiting on one. Durant on the other hand, cruises by under the radar due to the smaller Oklahoma City market and his personality. Without him, the Thunder rely on Russell Westbrook to deliver a majority of their points and frankly, that’s not an ideal situation for head coach Scott Brooks and the Thunder. In crunch time, the offense revolves around Durant. For Miami, their game plan revolves around Wade come crunch time. Therefore, Durant is more valuable to his team than James is and ultimately, that is what the award is about. Most Valuable Player. Kevin Durant. Oklahoma City Thunder.
ESPN.com ranked their MVP Top 10 and you can check it out here.
Playoff Outlook:
19 games remain in this shortened NBA season and some teams are already looking ahead to the playoffs. For Oklahoma City, the playoffs are a lock. ESPN’s John Hollinger’s Playoff Odds have the Thunder with a 100 percent chance of making the playoffs. If the season ended today, the Thunder would earn the one seed and face off against Utah, who defeated the Thunder Mar. 20 in Salt Lake City. With the addition of Derek Fisher, the Thunder now have many years of playoff experience and will look to make a deep run in the playoffs.
However, there could be some teams that cause havoc for the Thunder. A matchup with the Clippers or Grizzlies could be a nightmare. Los Angeles handed the Thunder one of their worst losses of the season earlier in the year and have a very talented team with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and D’Andre Jordan.
Memphis is another team that could potentially be a speed bump in the Thunder’s journey to the Finals. Last season in the Conference Semifinals, the Grizzlies took the Thunder to seven games which included a thrilling triple-overtime Game 4. With guys like Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay, Tony Allen and more, head coach Lionell Collins has a versatile group of guys that could be a threat come playoff time.
The Thunder, though, are the still the team to beat in the West and have a 32 percent chance of making the Finals, according to Hollinger’s Playoff Odds. The second best odds to advance to the Finals in the West belong to San Antonio at 22.9 percent. The Spurs would hold the two seed had the season ended today. As it is, those two teams will likely meet in the Conference Finals provided no upsets occur and in the NBA, anything can happen on any given night.
Whatever team comes out of the West will likely match up against the Miami Heat despite trailing Chicago by 2.5 games in the East. Reigning MVP Derrick Rose has missed extended time recently due to a groin injury and if the Bulls are without him for the playoffs, it could be tough for them to deny Miami their second straight Finals appearance.
For now, Oklahoma City’s path looks bright. A tough final stretch daunts the team, but adding Fisher may diminish that some as well as add experience for the postseason. The pieces are all there, now it is all up to the team to bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
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