NBA oklahoma city Thunder

The market for restricted free agent Paul Millsap was expected to be robust in theory, if not in actuality. This is to say Millsap is a highly desired fellow, given his proclivity to rebound like a champ, score efficiently, and defend his tail off at the power forward position. However, as always, a limited pool of clubs will head into July with cap space for next season.

The Thunder is one team with space to sign a free agent like Millsap. The team currently falls about $15 million under the cap, and Millsap has been pegged to pull a starting salary around $7-8 million. Oklahoma City can certainly afford to get into that ballpark, should Sam Presti desire to. Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune seems to believe OKC, in fact, desires Millsap.

The NBA Draft started with a no-brainer -- Blake Griffin going No. 1 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers. Then, the fun happened, with Memphis taking Hasheem Thabeet and the Timberwolves' vexing decision to horde as many point guards as they could. A few other teams lucked out when players dropped down the board and into their laps. Check out the grades for the Western Conference after the jump.

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It has been said of late the draft begins with Oklahoma City at No. 3. Well, Sam Presti didn't pull out a bag of tricks -- he took the somewhat expected pick, shooting guard James Harden of Arizona State. Harden figures to slide right into the Thunder line-up between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

Speaking of Westbrook, who earlier this week bristled at the idea OKC could select point guard Ricky Rubio: he's going to love feeding Harden the ball. Harden is an incredibly efficient scorer. He even finished higher than Stephen Curry in True Shooting percentage last season. While not a perfect shooter, Harden has good athleticism and he was a solid defender in college. We'll see how much of an upgrade on Damien Wilkins and Thabo Sefolosha he can become.

FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.

It's almost unfair to judge a draft after one year, but this is what we're going to do. The final edition of our Revisiting the Draft series examines the 2008 Draft and believe or not, there are teams already harboring regrets from their picks.

Despite the extensive scouting, workouts and interviews involved in the draft, teams still make major mistakes and these days, prospects don't get three years to develop. Of the 14 lottery picks in 2006, six have already changed teams and players such as Patrick O'Bryant and Mouhamed Sene are not guaranteed jobs next season.

The NBA waits for no one, especially if they are taking too long to make an impact. So while teams won't freely admit they made mistakes 12 months after draft night, they will privately admit they overestimated talent and heart, and sooner or later, that will cost front-office jobs.

Reports earlier this week had incumbent Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook offering some public friction to the idea the Thunder could draft Ricky Rubio at No. 3 and slide Westbrook over to shooting guard. In fact, Westbrook's quote (published by ESPN) to the idea was two impossible-to-misinterpret words: "You trippin'."

But in a draft day appearance on ESPN's Rome is Burning this afternoon, Westbrook stepped back from those comments, saying he trusts the franchise and will do whatever is asked of him. He did reiterate that he feels he is a point guard -- "I've been a point guard my whole life," he said -- while giving off the vibe he didn't want to cause drama for the Thunder. We'll see tonight whether OKC has any concerns with a Westbrook-Rubio backcourt.

FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.

Hard to believe that several NBA general managers can have regrets after two years, but it's true. The results of the 2007 NBA Draft are slowly reaping, which should teach a lesson to their 2009 brethren on Thursday about taking chances on raw college players, international prospects and even those who are allegedly "proven."

The biggest debate two years ago was whether the Portland Trail Blazers should take Greg Oden or Kevin Durant first overall. Oden was a franchise center out of Ohio State while Durant was the smooth scoring swingman from Texas. Durant had the better workout with the Blazers, apparently blowing the mind of coach Nate McMillan. Yet, the Blazers stuck with conventional thinking and took the big man.

Bloggers knee-jerking on the phone + roundtable style = RoundCast.

With the NBA Draft just a few days away, Matt Moore and Tom Ziller joined me to discuss some of the many ways that we might see things play out on the big night in NYC. And just about every scenario hinges on what the Memphis Grizzlies decide to do with the number two pick.

There's Ricky Rubio and Hasheem Thabeet to consider, or the team could try to trade down to get some more value, while still scooping up someone like Tyreke Evans. We know that the Clippers have the first pick, but for all intents and purposes, the Grizzlies are on the clock.

The Minnesota Timberwolves might not have had the best regular season in 2008-09, but they're sure going to be a factor come the NBA Draft on Thursday.

New president of basketball operations David Kahn has five picks to use, including three in the first round. Minnesota has the Nos. 6, 18, and 28 picks in Round 1, and two more in the second round.

Will Kahn use all of those picks to drastically remake the T-Wolves' roster, or might he package a couple of picks or three in order to land a veteran difference-maker? More on the Northwest Division after the jump.

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Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reported Sunday morning that Ricky Rubio, a projected high pick in Thursday's NBA draft, is on the precipice of finalizing a buy-out agreement with his Spanish club, DKV Joventut. No word on how much of the $6.6 million owed to Joventut will be cut from the deal, but Amick said the resulting amount will be something feasible for Rubio, who should be a top five pick.

Further news on the Rubio beat: he met with Thunder officials in L.A. this weekend, and he will reportedly re-visit Sacramento today, where he is expected to engage in a work-out.

Ricky Rubio, the Spanish sensation who has become something of a key domino at the top of the 2009 NBA Draft, will be visiting four NBA cities beginning next week, according to Spanish sports page Marca. Three of the stops make complete sense -- Memphis, Oklahoma City and Sacramento make up picks No. 2-4 in the draft, and Rubio isn't expected to fall further than that. But the fourth stop on Rubio's tour -- New York -- will just spur on rumors that the Knicks desperately want to move up to grab Ricky. The Knicks currently have the No. 8 pick.

Ricky will be traveling with his mom, and according to Marca's Quique Peinado will only interview with the teams -- not work out. We'll see if that stance holds up, as other picks in the Rubio range (Tyreke Evans, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan) are working out for top teams. Hasheem Thabeet is one top prospect with no work-outs announced. Further, Thabeet was the only prospect in attendance to refuse the athletic testing at the combine last week. Rubio did not attend the combine.