Friday Bolts – 10.26.12

Rob Mahoney of SI.com with best and worst-case scenarios: “Best-case scenario: The Thunder pick up right where they left off a year ago, and storm to the title behind their own organic improvement. Worst-case scenario: OKC suffers another painful year of coming up just short. The Lakers are flashy and new, but the Thunder won’t give up the Western Conference crown easily. This team is excellent, and with another year under the collective belt of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka, the range of likely result is both slim and promising. Oklahoma City is going to be awfully good, but will that be enough to make it more than a highly successful runner-up?”

An opposing scout on the Thunder: “I love Perkins’ defensive toughness. He’s the perfect fit for what they’re trying to build, and it’s a lot like what he brought to Boston. He’s excellent in that role. Perkins is that complementary defensive player who doesn’t need to touch the ball a lot, which is something you like to have on a team like this. The problem is that Ibaka is that guy, too. What they really need is a big guy they can throw the ball to sometimes. I love Ibaka and I’d want him starting on my team. But if you’re looking to get to the highest level, having Ibaka and Perkins start together doesn’t work. We can talk about Westbrook and Harden, but they really need to get better at one of those frontcourt positions offensively. A big guy who was a threat to score would make life easier for Durant. Cole Aldrich [the 11th pick in the 2010 draft] is not going to be that difference-maker.”

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on your new basketball overlord: “Silver — who has shared a sprawling wood-paneled executive suite with Stern since becoming deputy commissioner six years ago — has essentially lived the job. He lives alone in Manhattan, an easy commute from the NBA offices on Fifth Avenue. Other than jogging or walking his dog, the bachelor has few commitments outside of work. Silver will take over a league with high TV ratings, as many fans as ever, a fantastic crop of stars, a new owner-friendly labor deal, a financial outlook that is is finally pushing the recession into the rearview mirror, and a growing global audience. But it is also at the epicenter of the mercurial digital entertainment business — how the world consumes NBA basketball has changed mightily just in the last year, with in-game attendance mobile phones an emergent force with potential to unsettle traditional distribution channels.”

Bill Simmons takes the over on OKC winning 60.5 games.

Hickory High on anti-awards: “The Chris Childs Award – This award goes to the player who has posted the highest Turnover Percentage for the season. It’s named after former New York Knick Chris Childs, who retired with a career Turnover Percentage of 22.8%. (Minimum 500 minutes). This award usually comes down to a stone-handed big man or a sloppily aggressive point guard. Reggie Evans, Earl Watson, Kendrick Perkins and Chris Duhon are all in play. But don’t count out rookie, Austin Rivers. He’ll have the ball in his hands plenty and has demonstrated that his decision-making doesn’t always fall in the positive side of the ledger. An always aggressive ball-handler, Rivers could be the only rookie to take home an award this season.”

Incredible timeline of David Stern’s career.

David Stern is reportedly determined to return the NBA to Seattle before he departs.

Drawllin on a pickup game with The Founding Fathers: “This is their go to play and Washington knows it. He shows hard, helping because Hamilton didn’t have his head on a swivel and was trailing heavy. Washington’s trying to help up the lane. Jefferson and Madison read it though. Madison slips the screen and opens up to the ball as Jefferson no looks a right-hander past Washington’s head. Madison lays it in with nobody around him.”