Monday Bolts – 12.3.12

Terry Pluto of the Plain-Dealer speculating: “In the past, there has been a lot of trade talk about Varejao, but the Cavs never were real close to trading their 6-10 veteran. Their price has always been high — something like a lottery pick and perhaps other young players. The teams that treasure Varejao’s skills are contenders with low draft picks. That has not created suitable trading partners. It’s possible — with Varejao having a career season — that could change. Oklahoma City owns multiple picks, including a possible lottery pick that originally belonged to Toronto (protected for picks 1 to 3). You can imagine Varejao adding some lightning to the Thunder. But who knows if there will be a deal.”

Ian Levy of Hickory High looks at Westbrook’s post game: “He’s being smarter, using his physical attributes to his advantage better than he has in years past and making a conscious effort to take better shots. Fewer predetermined moves and more reading the defense. Fewer fade-aways, more going to the rim. He’s realized that his speed and quickness can be used to his advantage more when he faces his man up. He knows he can use his strength as more of a weapon when he’s trying to get to the rim and it becomes useless when he just fades away. His post game has been years in the making. It’s still in the making, frankly. He’s still shooting just 41.7%, so it’s not like he’s great yet. But he’s getting there, slowly but surely.”

Darnell Mayberry on Kevin Martin: “Since the 1985-86 season, there have been 170 occurrences in which players have scored at least 50 points, according to Basketball-reference.com. Martin is one of only two players over that span to do so on 22 or fewer shots. Willie Burton once dropped 53 with the Sixers on just 19 shots. Whenever you hear Martin described as an efficient scorer, that’s what writers and broadcasters, coaches and scouts, are speaking of. It’s a skill that’s every bit as much of a weapon as Martin’s sharp-shooting and something that has defined his career over much of the past eight seasons.”

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com has OKC as his team of the week: “Yes, most of it was on the back of their big game against the Bobcats, but Oklahoma City wound up beating teams by over 26 points per 100 possessions this week, and that included wins over Houston and Utah, who aren’t really pushovers. When you consider how well Charlotte’s played this year, that win actually looks more impressive. OKC has won five in a row, is 8-2 in heir last ten, and just a half-game back of the top spot in the West. What beard?”

From Elias: “The Thunder beat the Hornets, 100-79, and has won each of its last four games by at least a dozen points. It’s the longest such streak for the Oklahoma City franchise since November 2004, when the SuperSonics had a four-game streak.”

KD is No. 1 in NBA.com’s MVP rankings: “Durant is playing more minutes (39.3) than he has in three seasons, rebounding at a record clip (9.1), making plays (4.4 assists) like he never has before and still scoring a ton (26.6). Any lingering questions as to whether or not Durant’s game was still evolving have been answered. This is the only player with an all-around skill set to rival LeBron James. And his ceiling might even be a tad higher than that of the reigning MVP.”

Michael McNamara of Hornets 24/7: “If we look at the season as a whole, can we really say that Al-Farouq Aminu is any different than the player we saw last year. He had a couple of nice games at the beginning of the season because he got out into transition for easy buckets, but this Thunder team is a team that we will have to contend with for the next 5-10 years and when you watch the elite teams, you realize none of them have regular players or starters as flawed as Aminu. People think of Thabo Sefolosha as a defender, but he can hit the three, put the ball on the floor and create for others, and most importantly, he does not turn the ball over. The Thunder simply do not respect Aminu on the offensive end, and as a result the Hornets spacing is terrible when he is on the court.”

NBA.com power rankings have OKC fourth: “If we want to dissect Russell Westbrook every week, there isn’t much room for criticism of late. His shooting is still inconsistent, but his assist rate is way up from last season and his defense has been improved. Opposing point guards Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lin, Mo Williams and Greivis Vasquez combined for just 24 points on 9-for-31 shooting against OKC last week. Next up: Deron Williams.”