Monday Bolts – 10.13.14

Tom Ziller of SB Nation: “That doesn’t necessarily mean Westbrook will take 25 shots per game, but it does mean Westbrook will be constantly attacking. One of the misconceptions about Westbrook’s game is that all he does is shoot. And he does shoot, a lot. But he’s also mostly responsible for Ibaka’s offense, a healthy portion of OKC’s free throw game and, well, a lot of turnovers. He’s an incredible creator who has gotten an iffy rap in some circles because of our national fetishization with Right Way Basketball and point guard purity. Yet Westbrook’s fierce aggression has been vital to the Thunder’s stature. Durant is beyond great and GM Sam Presti has built a solid supporting cast, but without Westbrook this team is just your standard single-star heroball outfit a la the pre-Pau Gasol Lakers. Westbrook adds a dimension of chaos that puts OKC on another level.”

Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider: “SCHOENE projected Durant as worth nearly 19 wins above replacement player during a full, healthy season. (He was even better during his MVP campaign, posting a league-high 22.8 WARP in 2013-14, but was likely to regress somewhat.) Over 15-20 games, that’s approximately 4-5 wins. Of course, the Thunder’s replacements are better than replacement level. In particular, they may be able to extend Russell Westbrook’s minutes and give more action to backup point guard Reggie Jackson at shooting guard, helping offset the loss of Durant’s production. The estimate of 2-3 wins is an average. Over such a short period, good or poor luck in close games could translate into Oklahoma City winning as many games as with Durant or seeing a much larger drop-off. The estimate is also contingent on Durant returning as quickly as the Thunder hope. If he misses more than two months, the Thunder could easily drop by 4-5 wins.”

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “If there ever were an ideal time to suffer such an injury — or any injury, if you’re the reigning MVP — it would be October. If all goes well, Durant would be on pace to return to the lineup by mid-December. Even in the ultra-competitive West, no irreparable harm could be done to the Thunder’s season in that time frame. And who knows? Maybe something good could happen to Russell Westbrook’s reputation — fairly or unfairly established to this point — in the meantime. All we know for sure is that the full Westbrook experience is now upon us. Brace yourselves.”

Andrew Gilman of Fox Sports: “The Thunder are certainly used to this kind of situation. It’s just never been Durant in the past. Westbrook went out of the playoffs two seasons ago, in the first round, and his absence sunk the Thunder. OKC lost in the second round of the playoffs when Durant tired and the team faded. Last season, Serge Ibaka was injured in the playoffs. He returned, but clearly wasn’t as comfortable. The Thunder ultimately lost in the Western Conference Finals to San Antonio. Durant informed the team Saturday his foot was hurting. Turns out there’s a small bone broken at the base of his toe on his right foot. Now, Westbrook gets to inform us if he can lead the team like Durant has done and if he can maximize this team’s potential like Presti mentioned.”

Phil Taylor of SI.com: “It will be fascinating to see how Westbrook, talented but impulsive, handles his new role. He is a shoot-first point guard, and those shot opportunities will be plentiful, since without Durant OKC has only one big man, Serge Ibaka, who can be considered much of an offensive threat. Westbrook will be freed from the obligation of getting the ball to Durant, but with greater freedom comes greater responsibility. There will be no KD to turn to on the nights that Westbrook’s jumper isn’t falling, no KD to be the voice of the team when the media descends. Does Westbrook want everything that comes with being the alpha dog? Can he handle it all? The Thunder will essentially play two regular seasons, one as Westbrook’s team and one with the Durant/Westbrook combo. To make both adjustments smoothly will take a discipline that Westbrook hasn’t always shown.”

Michael Lee of the Washington Post: “Durant’s absence doesn’t doom the Thunder. The team still has one of the NBA’s most dynamic offensive weapons in Westbrook and a borderline all-star in Ibaka. But Oklahoma City was having a brutal training camp even before Durant went down – rookie Mitch McGary broke his foot in the preseason opener; Reggie Jackson has a wrist injury that could keep sidelined for a while, center Kendrick Perkins has a strained quad and Ibaka and Nick Collison have missed time with ankle injuries. The Thunder didn’t make any major offseason moves – signing guard Anthony Morrow qualifies as their biggest — and will again have to hope that its remarkable player development department can churn out another success story from former first-round picks Perry Jones, Jeremy Lamb and Andre Roberson, players who were postseason afterthoughts last season.”

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “It’s unlikely, given how stable OKC typically is and how quiet they were over the offseason. But there’s always a trade possibility. Reggie Jackson is a starter-quality point guard and Kendrick Perkins has a $9 million-plus expiring contract. Either by themselves is not appealing, but in combination, the Thunder might find a team that has multiple bench assets they’re willing to lose to take a shot at Jackson and clear some cap space. Again, it’s unlikely, but this is the same team who made the Perkins trade out of nowhere three years ago, drafted Perry Jones III, and made a run at Pau Gasol this summer. Big moves are not necessarily out of their mindset.”

This is really good explanation the misconceptions about OKC’s summer.

Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider on Mark Cuban’s max salary argument: “Cuban’s proposal is basically him wanting to trade a nickel for a dollar. Ultimately, Durant and James have a point. With tens of millions pouring in from the TV deal for each team every year, owning an NBA franchise is more profitable than ever. It’s harder to justify crying poor these days. Any car owner or homeowner understands that operating at a loss year-to-year comes with the territory of a long-term investment where the sale price is king. And NBA franchise values have skyrocketed to mind-boggling heights. The sad truth is that we’ve only just begun on these fronts. If owners and players are publicly butting heads now, just imagine how contentious it will get leading up to July 1, 2017, when the league can lock out the players. Alas, this regular season can’t come soon enough.”

Ben Golliver of SI.com on breakout sophomores: “But save the nitpicking for later. The 2014-15 season is a honeymoon period for Adams, who plays a physical, fan-friendly style and scores points for not taking himself too seriously. Perkins’ face seems fixed into a permanent scowl; Adams isn’t afraid to smile or smirk, and he even grew a bushy moustache solely for the purpose of enhancing his Media Guide photo. A reasonable goal for Adams in 2014-15 would be ramping up his playing time to 20-25 minutes a night, setting the stage for the crazy-long frontline of Durant, Serge Ibaka and Adams that should totally come to fruition in the post-Perkins era. If he manages to lock down the starting job between now and the 2015 playoffs, all the better.”