Wednesday Bolts – 2.24.16

Fran Blinebury of NBA.com: “Durant and Westbrook, of course, have both raised their games this

season to where the 1-2 punch has perhaps never been more potent. Yet will that be enough to step into the hurricane winds of the Warriors in a Western Conference finals showdown or even get that far by standing toe-to-toe with the deep, deep lineup of the Spurs? It’s that depth — or lack of it — that is most troubling for the Thunder. GM Sam Presti chose not to tear things up and make significant changes at the trade deadline, satisfied with adding guard Randy Foye.”

The Classical with J.R. Smith/Dion Waiters power rankings: “He plays like a man that has no relatives, like a man trying to remake and rebuild and repair his legacy in real time, like a man who knows that eventually he’ll be living in the city of Philadelphia and that, before Hinkie’s Process wraps it’s cold dead fingers around him, he has to make statements constantly, brusque burly statements—a 20-point game here, an acceptably nifty accidental drive there. But mostly he plays too much, shoots like a dang Stormtrooper, and has abdicated any of that Dwyane Wade-lite promise that once led serious and adequately qualified people to do crazy things like draft him or trade for him or play him nearly 30 minutes a night at the expense of folk hero/sniper Anthony Morrow.”

Why aren’t the Thunder playing small anymore?

Excellent from Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “With a report this week that the Warriors have Durant’s “attention” as a free-agent destination this summer, it’s worth pondering what such a move would mean for Durant, his reputation and his legacy. If the Thunder fall short of a championship again this season, could Durant justify leaving to cherry-pick championships with a fellow MVP on an all-time great team? It worked for LeBron, except in that case, he wasn’t riding a champion’s coattails; the Heat’s Big Three, as good as they were together, were taking on a certain amount of risk by eating up the entire cap and hoping Riley could find enough cheap veterans to make it work. But an established champion, chasing an historic record and a second consecutive title, adding a former MVP or otherwise decorated max free agent in mid-dynasty? Unheard of — and not at all what anyone responsible for such things had in mind. All of this may very well “blow up Facebook and Instagram,” as Silver suggested. It might also result in some historically perverse outcomes over the next two seasons.”

Erik Horne: “Has the Thunder missed Roberson? Morrow’s play during Roberson’s absence hasn’t been much better than Waiters’ offensively (35.3 FG, 35.7 3-point FG). Randy Foye’s only played one game since joining the Thunder at the Feb. 18 trade deadline. Donovan could have played Roberson at shooting guard on Sunday, but wanted to get him more contact in practice. Foye and Morrow played 14 minutes each off the bench. That night, Donovan said he wasn’t in a position yet to make a decision on who the starter would be when Roberson plays again.”