The Corner 3 Game Recap: Spurs, Magic, Nuggets

So yes, I am going to mention that this far into the young season, the Thunder are undefeated having gone out and won their first 3 contests.  After the jump, you'll get my thoughts on where OKC is after their first 3 games.  Here's a brief hint...they are off to a pretty good start.

Goodbye Grantland, I'll miss you

Friday, ESPN announced that they were shutting down the sports and pop culture website Grantland, via tweet, and were reassigning the majority (but not all) of their team to other ventures within ESPN.  The World Wide Leader in sports apparently had had enough of the underground-bordering-on-popular website founded by the recently ousted Bill Simmons, and its takes on everything from college football and the NBA to trending movies and music.  The closure of Grantland removes a number of really good writers and podcasters from the limelight, and it is truly a loss for all of us.

[Feature] 3 thoughts on: Cameron Payne

In what I plan on making a special series over here at the Corner Three Blog, I'm going to do a deep dive and give you 3 thoughts on the Thunder players, pertinent to the upcoming 2015-2016 season.  Fun facts, stats, and general information on the players wearing Thunder blue this year.  Having said that, let's start with this years incoming rookie from the NBA Draft; the #14 overall pick, Cameron Payne.

Predictions for the 2015-2016 season

NBA TV recently had its prediction show for the Thunder...and Brent Barry and Vinny Del Negro both took the under for a line set at 57.5 wins.  While they had their own reasons for doing such a (foolish) thing, I thought it might be a good time to discuss what a reasonable prediction for the Thunder might be from someone who is a little less objective but a little more open minded about their chances.

Today's Media and the NBA

The last couple of days have had some very strange things happen.  Unless you're living under a rock, you've probably at least heard about the nonsense that is going on between Kevin Durant and Steven A. Smith of ESPN.  While this is an extreme case, there has been a change in the relationship between the media and the players in the National Basketball Association that's been going on for a while now.  The old days saw television, radio, and print journalists jockeying amongst each other at practices, shoot arounds, and post games looking for a quote or sound bite for their soon to be published article.  There was a safety net of fact checkers and editors around to act as the checks and balances of those printed or on-air articles to make sure nothing too outlandish made its way into the general publics consciousness.  The rise of the internet and its power has changed everything.

The year ahead (part 2)

So, without further ado, here are my thoughts for part 2 of the year ahead for the OKC Thunder...

*If KD does leave, what happens next? - Clearly, this is the doomsday scenario for the Thunder; a small market team that can't afford to be without (one of) its drafted superstars.

The year ahead (part 1)

Here are some things to think about for the OKC Thunder as we look at the season ahead...

Here are my thoughts so far...

• KD's health and impending free agency circus
• Thunder's team performance under new head coach Billy Donovan
• Is it really championship or bust?
• If KD does leave (even though he won't) - what happens next?
• Does OKC have enough talent and stuff to actually win it all?