Wednesday Bolts – Almost There Edition

Empty the Bench recaps the NBA season in 40 lists. Click and read. It’s awesome. Oklahoma City finished on top of a

couple including team Andrew most watched, team most likely to improve and Kevin Durant, Thabo, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook are all mentioned throughout.

BDL power rankings: “As has been stated many times in many places, this team could have rolled over, but it fought and worked and genuinely enjoyed playing with each other. Bright, bright future for the Thunder.”

Bill Simmons will his full MVP list with appearances by Nenad Krstic and KD, but this is noteworthy: “Follow-up note: Presti wins 2009 Exec of the Year for shrewdly building a nice foundation — Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook as his Big Three; Krstic, Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha as three legit rotation guys, a top-six draft pick coming, multiple first-rounders in the hopper, cap space galore, a genuinely good coach in Scottie Brooks, and the NBA’s single strangest bench guy in Robert Swift. There’s just a lot to like. By the way, if they make a “Children of the Corn” remake and DON’T include Swift, I’m going to be furious.”

The poll says “Yes!” Players wants Scott Brooks back but Sam Presti still not saying anything: “A survey by The Oklahoman of all 15 Thunder players yielded 13 players who are in favor of Brooks returning as the full-time coach. Chucky Atkins declined to comment, and Russell Westbrook was non-committal. But even with overwhelming support from players and a growing segment of the fan base in favor of lifting Brooks’ interim tag, general manager Sam Presti has been unwavering in his desire to defer contract talks until the off-season.”

FreeDarko now has some KD swag: “Right before the regular season ends, FreeDarko pays cloth-y tribute to Kevin Durant’s mammoth sophomore campaign . . . and the relative obscurity he’s toiled in. Maybe if we move enough of these, he’ll get on national television for 2009-10.”

Interesting note from ClipperBlog: “Know what else is on the line tomorrow night when the Thunder and Clippers face off at Staples Center? The battle for 29th and 30th in Offensive Efficiency! The Clippers clawed their way out of the basement about a week ago, and have maintained a paper thin 0.1 point per 100 possession edge over OKC ever since.”

Hasheem Thabeet officially enters the draft: “UConn junior center Hasheem Thabeet, projected to go no lower than third in most ‘09 NBA mock drafts, officially threw his name into the draft today. Huskies coach Jim Calhoun called Thabeet, “One of the most dominant defensive players in the history of college basketball,” and said he’s ready to make the jump to the League.”

SLAM on the anatomy of the draft: “If Oklahoma City lucks out and gets the first ball, roster aside, to have a player of Griffin’s magnitude would be transcendent for this new NBA city. Yes, Blake played his college ball a couple hours down the street in Norman, but the kid is an OKC-native. Dream scenario. Just ask Jordan Farmar how sweet it is.”

This draft could be getting deeper as John Wall may be able to declare straight out of high school: “Wall turns 19 in September, so he meets that. The question revolves around whether Wall, as a fifth-year high school senior, qualifies as a player a year out from his class’ graduation. Or, at what point did or does Wall become part of the graduating class of 2009 versus the graduating class of 2008? Is this set upon entering high school? Because Wall did not graduate last year but took high school classes this year, does that make him a part of the class of 2009 in a legal sense?”

Nothing all too shocking but Malik Rose unlikely to return next year: “Veteran forward Malik Rose, acquired from New York in a trade-deadline deal, considered his time in Oklahoma City a success from an individual standpoint but is unsure if he’ll return for 2009-10. It’s unlikely the Thunder will re-sign the 34-year-old Rose, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and likely will consider joining a championship-caliber team next season.”