Thursday Bolts – 7.15.10

Fox Sports with some early power rankings and OKC is five: “Too high? Maybe so, but re-signing Durant to a long-term deal keeps the good vibes going for the West’s team of the future. Cole Aldrich may (or may not) give them the inside presence they need. But if Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden (all 21 or younger) keep making progress, OKC may be the biggest threat to the Lakers in the conference.”

One writer thinks the Kings could be this year’s Thunder: “After spending several days at the Vegas Summer League last summer, it was something special when a genuine star stepped into the arena. Chris Paul made an appearance to watch a few games and several other NBA veterans stopped by as fans as well. But only one player really stood out as someone who was there to really get to know his teammates integrate himself into the Summer League process. That guy was Kevin Durant, who jumped into the upper echelon of NBA players last season and led his young team to a improbable playoff berth. This summer, Rookie of the Year and Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans is trying to follow that blueprint by being a presence at Summer League 2010.”

Have you already forgotten about the t-shirt contest? Well don’t. We’ve  received some pretty cool pictures so far so keep them coming.

Morris Peterson did an interview with his hometown paper: “Q: Last year at this time, you were getting ready for your season by rehabbing an injury. This summer, you have the trade and moving on to a new team. How excited are you to play with one of the up-and-coming, exciting teams in the NBA? A: It’s a great thing to be a part of. I feel honored, I feel blessed to be a part of such a great organization. I watched them last year. As a fan, I loved watching them play. Kevin Durant, (Jeff) Green and (Russell) Westbrook and all those guys, they have a lot of room to grow, and to get and opportunity to work with them and be a part of the Thunder is a blessing. They want to contend for a championship and hopefully I can be a missing piece of the puzzle.”

NBATV will have a Team USA training camp special on July 20. Here’s some info about this year’s world championships.

The Thunder passed 100,000 fans on Facebook. Cool! Currently, Daily Thunder has only 193. WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE?

Some info on the Blazers interviewing Rich Cho: “Larry Miller’s pursuit of a general manager went in a different direction when the Trail Blazers’ president interviewed Oklahoma City assistant general manager Rich Cho. Miller has said throughout his search for a replacement for the fired Kevin Pritchard that he longed for experienced general manager with a track record of making trades and landing free agents. But Cho is a longtime No. 2 who has never been a GM. “Initially we started out saying, ‘Hey, we’re looking for someone that has GM experience,’” Miller said today. “And that’s something we’re still looking at. But I guess we’ve gotten to a point where we’re not excluding people that we think might be qualified because they haven’t been a GM yet.”