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How bad do the Thunder miss Thabo and when is he coming back? — Rick T.

Thabo is still listed as day-to-day. Which means he could be back literally any day. But that foot is really bugging him and with mid-February not being the most important thing in the world and the Thunder getting on okay without him, there’s not a big rush. It wouldn’t shock me if he was held out through the All-Star break, just to give him plenty of time to heal up and get back in shape.

How bad does OKC miss him? It’s the times you forget about Thabo where you miss him the most. Like last night against the Rockets, as Kevin Martin torched Daequan Cook and James Harden, Scott Brooks turned to Royal Ivey for a little defensive spark. That normally would’ve been Thabo’s assignment. The other two Thunder games this season with Thabo getting the start on him, Martin scored 29 total points. He had 32 Wednesday. Read more…

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You should do a run-down of the top Thunder Killers. Thunder Killers, meaning players who always seem to play above their heads against the Thunder. — Dustin T.

Well, no Thunder Killer list can be correct without having Dirk sitting firmly at the top. That dude is basically Charles Manson to Thunder. He’s a straight Thunder serial killer. (To kind of define this, what I consider a Thunder Killer is someone that seems to always hit big shots or play really well against OKC. And that doesn’t always mean LeBron, Kobe or Chris Paul. It’s pretty much anyone that seems to save their best games for the Thunder.)

But this would be my All-Thunder Killer Team: Read more…

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What are the chances Westbrook continues to tank this season, OKC extends him for less money, then he regains his form next year? — Steve P. 

This question was asked before Westbrook started playing like himself again, but I think it still applies.

What the real question here is, would it be better if Westbrook kind of had a down year while heading into his contract stuff? The answer is yes, and no. Yes, because the less money Oklahoma City has to pay Westbrook, the more chance of keeping James Harden and Serge Ibaka. No, because the Thunder’s success rides largely on how well Westbrook plays. So if you’re mildly excited about Westbrook not playing well because it might mean he gets less money, it’s best to chill with that.

The real issue here is that the Jan. 25 deadline for Westbrook’s extension is coming and coming fast. And from what I hear and understand and read, it’s by no means a foregone conclusion that a deal is done before Jan. 25. Why? Because the money isn’t making sense right now. Part of me wonders if Presti is waiting to see what happens with Westbrook’s season to see if he qualifies for the Rose Rule extension. Because if the Thunder max out Westbrook now, he could retroactively be awarded that extra five percent, which would devastate the Thunder’s cap. It’s a risk to let him go to restricted free agency, but not really. OKC can still match on any offer and likely would. But at that point the Thunder would have all the information needed to make a deal. As long as it doesn’t bother or offend Westbrook, I think that might be the best move for OKC. Read more…

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No messing around, let’s get right to the questions:

Hypothetically, would you rather keep Harden or Ibaka? — Jeff V

That’s like picking between In-N-Out or Chick-Fil-A. Or at least it is for me. Both so very wonderful, in terrifically, fantastically different ways. I mean, a Neapolitan shake with a double or some nuggets with sweet potato fries… wait, what are we talking about again? Anyway… I’d go with Harden. Serge Ibaka is an immensely talented young big that might have a ceiling he can’t even touch. He could be a potential 15-10-3 guy. He still has a lot of room to fill out and he’s just 22.

But James Harden strikes me as the type of player you have on a championship team. The Manu Ginobili comparison works, but Harden can carry an offense on his own. He just fits. Finding an adequate 4 isn’t easy, but the Thunder could survive making do Nick Collison or someone else. I don’t think you could really replace Harden. To me, Durant-Westbrook-Harden is a better core than Durant-Westbrook-Ibaka.

That question sucked enough as it was, but someone one-upped it with this one… Read more…

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All along, I’ve taken the position that I wouldn’t get too upset about this lockout until games are actually missed. Because right now, nothing is all that different in the NBA world other than we missed Summer League and didn’t get a couple weeks of players signing extensions and with new teams. Blah blah, I know the sides are really far apart and that it’s looking pretty dreadful, but there isn’t a real reason to get THAT angry.

Well, wasn’t a real reason. Because with last week’s stuff about David Stern being unavailable for two weeks (allegedly) and meetings being cancelled because of scheduling conflicts — that’s sort of miffing me off. All I want is a real — a REAL — effort to get a deal done before the middle of September when games would be missed. I want legitimate movement towards the middle. Just something to say that these greedy owners and these greedy players actually have the best interest of the game and fans in mind.

Because right now, I’m not getting that impression. All I’m getting is that they don’t really give a crap about what happens right now. Which is a message I’m not loving. Anyway, on to your letters: Read more…

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You know why people like doing mailbags so much these days? Because it’s content without having to really think. The readers come up with the topics and all you have to do is just answer the question. It’s brilliant!

I get a handful of emails each day and I do my best to answer every one of them. Mainly because I still email writers I like with questions and it makes me sad when I don’t get an answer. So I say that in order to say that I apologize to anyone who’s answer I didn’t grab. I received more than I expected and I didn’t think anyone would really be up for a 15,000 word mailbag here. So I’ll file those away for next time.

Anyway, your letters:

Q: Not sure if you can answer this, but I thought I could give it a shot. How do I get my wife to enjoy Thunder games with me? She refuses to watch the games and always tells me she’s not interested when I acquire Thunder tickets. Sigh! Is there any surefire way? I’m trying to ease her into it for next season by talking about it constantly, not sure if it’s working or not. Probably not. Thanks for reading, and more importantly thanks for writing!
– Chuck

DT: This is something I’ve been really lucky that I don’t have to battle. As you all probably know, my wife absolutely LOVES the Thunder and enjoys following the team almost as much as I do. Actually, she may like them more.

The reason why? She loves the players. She doesn’t care so much about basketball per se, but she cares about the team, if that makes sense. So I would pander to that emotion. See if you can get her to connect to KD, Russ and Jeff Green. Have her watch some Broingtons videos. My wife just loves how together they are. The NBA itself isn’t necessarily a ton of fun to someone that doesn’t love basketball. But I’ll go see a movie with Harrison Ford in it even if it’s a chick flick and I know I’ll hate it, just because I’m a fan of his.

I asked Mrs. DT her thoughts on this and here’s what she added: “Well you can start by not talking about it constantly. I’m sure everybody is aware I am married to an NBA writer and basketball is a major topic in our conversations. Talking about it al the time is probably turning her away from the game. I started loving the Thunder because of my love for Oklahoma. The way we acquired the team was less than ideal and I hated hearing people talk about my home state the way they did. I decided I didn’t really care about the Thunder, I cared about making them succeed. If they succeeded, Oklahoma succeeded. The only way I thought I could help was to go to the games and support them.

I actually didn’t care for the players at first (I’m supposed to cheer on a Longhorn? Umm, no.) until Royce started a Twitter account for Daily Thunder. He would tell me about the things KD, Russ, and Uncle Jeff would say to each other and I soon realized it was like listening to Royce’s friends having a conversation. I think that’s one of the reasons he loves them all so much too (no homo). I started reading what they were saying to each other and soon fell in love with the players. Then Broingtons came to us like a gift from God and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Also, tell your wife this: the great part about the NBA is the time. It is almost always over in 2 hours-ish. That is a short amount of time compared to your trips to the mall.” Read more…

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