Tuesday Bolts – 1.26.16

Anthony Slater: “On Monday, Durant sat smack in the middle of the Nets and Knicks, both

geographically and on the NBA schedule. His Thunder played in Brooklyn on Sunday and will play in Manhattan on Tuesday. It’s his lone trip to New York this season. And Monday provided the best chance for any NYC-based reporters to get Durant in a reflective state. Following OKC’s practice in Basketball City, Durant held court for 10 minutes, fielding questions on the current state of the Thunder, Knicks rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis and the historically good Spurs and Warriors. Fine questions. Honest, thoughtful answers. But no free agency related topics. The subject wasn’t even broached. It hasn’t been for awhile now.”

Jonathan Tjarks: “At 6’2 180, Payne is never going to wow you physically and his ridiculous haircut only makes him easier to underestimate. He’s pretty frail-looking in person, he doesn’t have a lot of meat on his bones and he’s not a plus athlete but he’s a really smart player who knows how to maximize his physical abilities and he doesn’t appear to make a lot of the mental mistakes that get rookie PG’s sent to the bench. Like most OKC draft picks, he has really long arms (6’7 wingspan) and that helps his cause. He can shoot off the dribble from the 3-point line and he already has a nice floater as well as a great feel for manipulating the defense and finding the open man on the move. He’s a player – there’s no doubt about that. The question is whether he can survive enough on D that OKC can use him more as the season goes on.”

Something on Durant’s interesting comments yesterday from practice.

Berry Tramel: “Steven Adams missed the Thunder’s game in Dallas on Friday night with a strained right elbow, suffered in pregame. But never fear. With a backup center like Enes Kanter, Billy Donovan’s move was clear. Into the starting lineup, Donovan just slipped in … Nick Collison. That’s not just because Collison is quite the trusty hand. It’s also because Donovan knows a good thing when he sees it. Kanter off the bench has been an absolute success for the Thunder. The $70 million man is a defensive liability, but Donovan has found ways to make it work with Kanter.”

KD said Kristaps is a unicorn.

Melo on why KD hasn’t been asked free agency questions: “The good thing is he’s out in Oklahoma City where he don’t have to worry about all of this, 15, 20 guys and girls, media people at practice,” Anthony said. “They only have got to worry about a couple of people. But I don’t think he’s dealing with that at this point.”

Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post: “Between Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks have a pair of stars they can sell to prospective free agents this summer — be it Durant, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley, Atlanta Hawks big man Al Horford or others. That’s without even mentioning Phil Jackson, who can walk into a room and drop his 13 championship rings — two as a player with the Knicks before winning 11 as a coach with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers — onto the table.”

Andre Roberson is out three weeks.

Tramel: “But which would have been the better deal for the Thunder? Kanter for four years at $17.5 million per, or Lopez at three years for $20 million per? Again, some of it depends on who’s coming along. The Thunder got a much-needed backup point guard in Augustin, though the emergence of rookie draft pick Cam Payne has alleviated that need the last couple of months. And the Thunder got Kyle Singler, who alternately shows promise and absurdity as a rotational player. Plus Kanter has been everything the Thunder could have asked for. It knew Kanter was limited defensively, but his offense and rebounding have been excellent. Still, when Lopez goes for 30 and 11, it makes you wonder what might have been.”