Oklahoma City took Virginia guard Devon Hall with the 53rd overall selection in the NBA Draft on Thursday night and Texas-Arlington forward Kevin Hervey four
picks later.The Thunder got contributions last season from 2015 second-round pick Dakari Johnson and 2013 second-round pick Alex Abrines Authentic John Ross Jersey , and they hope Hall and Hervey can develop and eventually produce. Thunder general manager Sam Presti liked the fact that both
were four-year college players.”Hall and Hervey are guys that, any time you’re picking in the 50s, the main objective is to try to shift the odds and try to pick a player who can play in
the NBA,” Presti said.The 6-foot-5 Hall averaged 11.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season for the Cavaliers, who entered the NCAA Tournament as the nation’s
No. 1-ranked team. The stout defensive player shot 43.2 percent from 3-point
range last season. He was an All-ACC second team selection.The Thunder said they watched Hall at the Portsmouth Invitational and had him work out in Oklahoma City.”When you get guys who have been through it with top teams in the country, playing high-level ACC basketball, you’re happy to add those guys into the
program.” Thunder vice president Will Dawkins said.Hervey, a 6-foot-9 forward with a 7-3 wingspan, averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season and was a first-team All-Sun Belt selection. As a
senior, he scored 24 points against Alabama and 24 points against Creighton. He
fell two points short of the school’s single-season scoring record.As a junior, Hervey was the Sun Belt Player of the Year. He finished as the program’s all-time rebounding leader and second in total points scored, field
goals and field goal attempts. He set a program record for most career
double-doubles.”With Hervey Ronnie Harrison Jersey Elite , he’s somebody that was asked to carry a lot of load,” Dawkins said. ”Offensively, he’s somebody who has some upside.”Hervey missed 19 games as a sophomore due to a knee injury. Presti believes he’s better than his draft position would indicate.They will join a team that has an uncertain future. The Thunder had high hopes last season after adding Paul George and Carmelo Anthony in trades to join
Russell Westbrook, but the Thunder stumbled early, went 48-34 and lost in the
first round of the playoffs. George has a player option on his deal and could
leave this summer.ESPN reported that the Thunder traded for the No. 45 pick, Kentucky redshirt freshman Hamidou Diallo. Brooklyn made the pick for Charlotte. Presti said only
there was ”potentially some stuff that happened tonight.”—>One week left, lots of questions to answer.And plenty of certainty in the NFL, too.First, to the seemingly sure things, start with the AFC. Does anyone
really believe the conference title game won’t be at Gillette Stadium? Or that
the Patriots won’t be hosting the Steelers?The separation in the AFC is as stark
as the wide-openness of the NFC. Barring a collapse or more major injuries
??Pittsburgh already is minus the league’s best receiver, and perhaps the NFL’s
best player, Antonio Brown, who’s due back for the postseason ??New England will
go after its sixth Lombardi Trophy or Pittsburgh will try for its seventh.Kansas
City could be pesky Cowboys Elite Jerseys , but that’s about it. Jacksonville, despite its sensational turnaround, appears a year away from true championship status.
Baltimore’s defense can scare opponents, while its offense only scares Ravens
fans.Buffalo? Nice to see you after nearly two decades out of the playoffs, if
you get there. The Chargers can do some dynamic things, but not nearly enough to
be a threat.Simple.One more certainty: Cleveland’s headed for 0-16 ignominy,
joining the 2008 Lions. That the Browns also lost 15 games last season
undoubtedly stamps them as one of the worst teams in sports history.Of course,
there always are some puzzlements in sports, and the AFC has these:??Will Hue
Jackson really survive as Browns coach, even after owner Jimmy Haslam said he
would be staying? New GM John Dorsey might have a say in that.“I’m not going to
change,” Jackson said Sunday. “I’m going to be very consistent with this group.
I have their total trust, they have mine. We just have to do some things
better.”Some things? How about everything???Will Chuck Pagano keep his coaching
gig in Indianapolis after such a disappointing season punctuated by the fiasco
of Andrew Luck’s injury rehab???Is Marvin Lewis leaving Cincinnati,
where Ty Montgomery Jersey , despite Sunday’s win, the team has been more Bungles than Bengals???Does Todd Bowles get the contract extension he deserves
with the talent-poor Jets?Tune in when the calendar turns to 2018.On the field,
the NFC is far more intriguing. It’s hard to argue that any of the six teams who
get into the playoffs ??the Eagles, Vikings , Rams , Saints and Panthers have
qualified, with the Falcons or Seahawks getting the other berth ??isn’t capable
of a long run. Injury-ravaged Seattle’s solid performance Sunday in eliminating
the Cowboys makes that obvious, and the Falcons have some recent pedigree, even
though they haven’t played up to the standard that got them so close to grabbing
the Lombardi last February.“In these situations where it truly is a must-win
game, we don’t have to make anything up,” receiver Doug Baldwin said. “We’re
well-prepared for it. The process that we’ve gone through the whole season
really helped us today.”Who is the favorite in the conference? Had Carson Wentz
remained healthy, Philadelphia would have that role. While the Eagles are the
leader for home-field advantage, the other four qualifiers won’t fear them ??or
anyone else ??in the postseason.Well http://www.brownsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-antonio-callaway-jersey , until they have to face the formidable AFC champ, New England or
Pittsburgh.There are coaching complexities in the NFC, too.??Who gets the job
with the Giants, where it’s unlikely Steve Spagnuolo is given a shot with
nothing much changing on the scoreboard under his interim leadership???Is Kirk
Cousins playing his final game as Redskins quarterback on Sunday, at the Giants,
before striking it even more rich elsewhere???Do John Fox in Chicago, Dirk
Koetter in Tampa Bay and Jim Caldwell in Detroit remain as coaches???Can Todd
Gurley’s late surge ??he’s actually been spectacular for most of the season
??get him a league MVP award? Could Wentz, despite missing the month, still walk
off with it???Will the Vikings be the first team to play in a Super Bowl they
are hosting in their stadium?Maybe of most interest, given the uproar over
officiating this season, is how calls will affect the 12 teams who take to the
road to the Super Bowl on Jan. 1? If you think the controversies of the last
four months were wild, just wait..
