Monday Bolts – 9.29.14
Sam Amick of USA Today with a big piece on KD: “Great players have great expectations and no shortage of opportunities to chase a championship elsewhere, and the question now is how Durant will play his hand when the time comes. But the Thunder’s confidence about their long-term place in his heart is rooted in an impressive reality, a sense of pride in where they’ve been and where they’re going that is acting as a shield to the din that surrounds Durant. There’s an obvious hope, too, that he’d rather be remembered as a Tim Duncan- or Derek Jeter-type than take the free agency road that James and so many others have chosen.”
Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal: “At Freds, the airy restaurant atop Barneys, Mr. Westbrook sipped water and discussed his style evolution. He wore pair of black Zara jeans with a hole in the left knee (“My big toe did that”), a short-sleeve hoodie he’d cut the sleeves from and a pair of fluorescent-orange Nike Jordans. New York Fashion Week was winding down, and Mr. Westbrook raved about the Phillip Lim and Public School shows; later, he planned to attend Proenza Schouler. It was becoming a familiar ritual. In June, not long after the San Antonio Spurs knocked the Thunder out of the NBA playoffs, Mr. Westbrook attended Paris Fashion Week, where he huddled among the likes of Rick Owens and Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing.”
Anthony Slater on starting 2-guard: “Because many feel he’s the closest thing to a Thabo Sefolosha defensive clone, Andre Roberson is the early favorite to land the vacant starting two-guard slot. But he’s offensively flawed and extremely unproven, far out of the rotation for much of last season. So he’ll need a good camp to beat out Jeremy Lamb, the most likely challenger. Anthony Morrow and Reggie Jackson are options, but the team would seem to benefit more from their offensive punch coming off the bench.”
It’s Kevin Durant’s birthday today.
Berry Tramel in a roundtable: “I think Steven Adams starts opening night, and I’m guessing that Adams starts the entire year. If the Thunder starts Roberson, that means the lineup is more offensively challenged than ever before. Adams instead of Kendrick Perkins is a big step up offensively, plus Adams made great strides defensively late last season. Finally, the second unit will be well-structured offensively, with Morrow, Jackson and Lamb. So a defensive presence like Perkins would help.”
The Based God curse appears to be over.
Tom Ziller of SB Nation says Scott Brooks could be on the hot seat: “With the Durant 2016 pressure mounting, one of the final arrows in franchise management’s quiver is to replace Brooks with someone who can get KD a ring in OKC. There are two seasons until Durant’s contract expires, so assuming OKC doesn’t replace Brooks during this season, there’s one more opportunity to make the switch. GM Sam Presti has been gun-shy about replacing his coach so far, and deferred to what Brooks has done right. But if Presti wants to keep his job and his superstar in 2016, he might need to be the bad guy in 2015 and make a switch.”
