Anyone else read the papers yesterday in which Kevin Durant states "I'm not a savior or anything"? Got to wonder if he read that article here.
With the airwaves buzzing about Sonics basketball and the fan base suddenly re-energized momentum is certainly going to swing for SOS&S. We've been waiting for a long, long time to get any type of positive momentum. We're hoping to have an open meeting and invite some new energy in the next couple of weeks and have a couple of fairly large announcements in the next couple of weeks. If anyone knows anything about public initiatives drop me a line at brian@saveoursonics.org
Gary Washburn again scores a big interview. Last week he scored David Sabey and this week it's Portland GM Kevin Prichard who was quite candid in talking about the whole Durant/Oden decision that the Blazers are facing.
Also indications from Frank Hughes that the team has interviewed John Gabriel for the GM position. While this name didn't do much for me early it does get my attention a little bit as I think it through. Gabriel put together an intensly tough and gritty team in 1998 after he convinced Chuck Daly to come out of retirement to coach the Magic. Once he got that team together he was not afraid to stick to his plan and dismantle it to get some stars. While Grant Hill did not work out I admire that he had a program and stuck with it. He was not afraid to trade Horace Grant not once but twice despite the fact that Grant had simply imbedded himself into the Orlando community. If there is a guy who could come in here and say "We are going to build around Kevin Durant and I'm not veering from that course" it could be Gabriel. If we'd had him in charge after the 52 win season I think there's a chance you would have seen Ray Allen, Vladi Radmonovic, and Reggie Evans all gone in S&T deals despite pressure to keep that core together.
Hughes also mentions that Kevin Durant's agency is the Goodwin Brothers and speculates whether their poor relationship with the Sonics may impact any relationship with Durant. My .02 on that is that almost every poor relationship with Seattle seems very personal against Wally Walker, Schultz, and to a lesser extent Rick Sund. We should keep in mind that the Goodwins maintain an office in the Seattle area and have established quite a niche in soliciting local area talent. While theycurrently only represent Nate Robinson from the area they are also investors in SPORT Restaurant with Nate McMillan and have a number of close business and personal ties to the region. I do not believe that they are anything but supportive of basketball in this region.
Rumor Mill is heating up. Jermaine O'Neil and Antawn Jamison are concievably on the block and some idiot from Chicago goes so far as to suggest that Portland and Atlanta should look into a trade based around Zach Randolph and Mike Conley Jr. I normally don't think Sam Smith knows what he's talking about but he spelled all the names right so I think there's something to it...