40 Acres Sports

The Seattle Times reports that at the NBA pre-draft camp Kevin Durant was the only player who could not bench 185 pounds at least once. And some morons strangely seem to think this is somehow important to where he might go in the NBA Draft.

How much does a basketball weigh? He seems to handle putting it in the basket pretty well. I can throw 185 up ten times pretty easy, maybe the Sonics will draft me. Oh wait, I suck at basketball. For a kid his age and with his height and wingspan, the bench press couldn’t be less important.

Kevin is still very much a kid who is growing into his body. Greg Oden is 35 or 40 years old and is probably near his ceiling physically (though not as a basketball player). The sky is the limit for Durant both from a physical and a basketball standpoint. If any team or scout (other than Portland) who even remotely considers passing on [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] is an idiot.

Daniel Gibson on NBA TV talking about the draft and Kevin Durant. The two could have been great duo this year.

With the second pick in the 2007 NBA Draft the Seattle Supersonics select [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag]…

Okay, it hasn’t happened yet but the Sonics won the right to pick second in the draft at tonight’s draft lottery. [tag]LaMarcus Aldridge[/tag]’s Portland Trailblazers secured the number one overall pick despite having only a 5.3% chance to win the pick. The Spurs and Mavericks are breathing a little easier after the Atlanta Hawks won the third pick and therefore don’t have to hand it over to Phoenix.

Seattle isn’t a great situation for Durant, but there’s certainly worse places to go (namely Atlanta or Memphis). The team is in a state of disarray both on and off the court. Not a great place from a marketability standpoint either, as most of the team’s games start too late for the other time zones to watch. Plus, there’s still the rumor that they want to move the team to Oklahoma City. That would mean Texas fans could drive up and see KD play, but then he’d have to live in Oklahoma.

I was rooting for the Blazers to get the number two pick so Aldridge and Durant could team up together. That still could happen, while Greg Oden is definitely the likely pick by Portland it is not a given. ESPN’s Chad Ford even mentioned a possible pick swap between Portland and Seattle since Durant might be a better fit for Portland.

It should come down to the very last minute before we know what’s going to happen with the first pick of next month’s draft. Should make for interesting TV.

Related Links

• Blazers get #1 pick
• True Hoop lottery live blog
• FanHouse mock draft: Blazers take Durant

It’s not a shoe deal, but Kevin Durant has signed his first endorsement deal with Upper Deck. KD will appear on their packaging and packaging and will have a line of autographed items.

The sports card and memorabilia company will market Durant in all of its 2007-08 products, and on its packaging, and will unveil a line of autographed Upper Deck Authenticated items.

Durant’s first card will appear in Fleer Ultra SE and Upper Deck’s First Edition Basketball and his first autograph will appear in Upper Deck SP Game Used Basketball.

Just the first of many of these deals for Durant. The kid is a rare talent and will instantly be one of the most marketable players in the entire NBA. It won’t be long before his face is plastered all over every product you can think of. Do they still make metal lunch boxes? Or even better, I want a Kevin Durant Thermos. That would be sweet.

Congrats Kevin.

As a freshman [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] had the best season ever for a Longhorn basketball player. [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] broke Texas passing records despite missing a game due to injury and only being a redshirt freshman. Sophomore baseball star [tag]Kyle Russell[/tag] has set baseball power records with plenty of games left to play in the season; It’s a great time to be a Texas fan and we’re lucky to get a chance to see all three of these guys play for the Horns in a single year.

Vote below on which one of the three amazing Texas athletes has had (is having) the best season:

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ESPN NBA Mock Draft 2007, only team with good chance of winning lottery that takes Durant is Milwaukee.

Kevin Durant is keeping his word and still attending classes. Hires Aaron Goodwin as his agent.

I kept hearing some serious rumors of this over the last two days, but I think I was hoping that if I ignored them they would just go away. Well, they haven’t. [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] is indeed turning pro.

So congratulations to Kevin Durant. What he accomplished this year by sweeping every major award as a freshman is just amazing, and something we may never see again. As much as I would want Kevin Durant to return, how can you blame someone for not passing up all of that money?

Now we get to have fun seeing where he will end up in the NBA. The Celtics are already throwing games so that they can get Durant. Going to the Hawks or Grizzlies seems to be a career death sentence. Maybe Phoenix could jump up from the 4 spot (via Atlanta) to get him? Now that would be fun to watch.

There will be a press conference today at 4pm on campus in Austin announcing his decision. Feel free to send me pictures if anyone attends.

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Kevin Durant easily swept all the national awards, many by unanimous vote, but he had to share team MVP honors with fellow freshman D.J. Augustin Monday night. Both players were definitely deserving, you could see Augustin’s importance to the team when he hit a wall late in the season and the whole team struggled to get going.

University of Texas freshmen D.J. Augustin and [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] shared the team’s Most Valuable Player honor in a vote of their peers, highlighting the 2006-07 men’s basketball team banquet held Monday evening at the Frank Erwin Center. Freshman center Dexter Pittman claimed the Lowe’s Home Improvement Most Improved Player Award.

With rumors swirling that Durant will declare for the NBA Draft this week, it could have been his last public appearance as a (current) Longhorn. Durant was the only Longhorn not available to the media at the banquet. Can’t really blame him though, he didn’t want to all the focus to be on him and I’m sure he’s exhausted. There will be a press conference whenever he announces his decision and reporters will have plenty of time to ask him questions then.

I love that the “Most Improved Player” award has a sponsor. They should sell sponsorship for all the awards. We could have the “Blockbuster Online Blocked Shots Award” and the “Acme Brick Worst Field Goal Percentage Award” and rake in the cash.

Award Recipients

• Slater Martin Award Ryan Clark
• Mike Wacker Comeback Award Matt Hill
• Coca-Cola Solid Citizen Award Damion James
• Jack Gray Award Connor Atchley
• Athletic Director’s Scholar-Athlete Award Craig Winder
• Jay Arnette Award Justin Mason
• Earlene Fulmer 3-Point Attack Award A.J. Abrams, D.J. Augustin
• Assists Award D.J. Augustin
• Blocked Shots Award Kevin Durant
• Field Goal Percentage Award Damion James
• Free Throw Percentage Award A.J. Abrams
• Rebounding Award Kevin Durant
• Hustlin’ Horns Award Ian Mooney
• Spirit Award J.D. Lewis and Harrison Smith
• Outstanding Defensive Player Justin Mason
• Lowe’s Home Improvement Most Improved Player Dexter Pittman
• Team Captains Craig Winder, A.J. Abrams
• Most Valuable Players D.J. Augustin, Kevin Durant
• Senior Award Craig Winder

Kevin Durant wins Wooden Award in a runaway to complete sweep of every single major individual award.