Thursday Bolts – 12.20.12

Rob Mahoney of SI.com with proper KD gushing: “It’s rare to find a night when watching Durant play basketball isn’t one of this game’s great pleasures, but there’s a very particular charisma in watching him ply his trade in such unencumbered fashion. In that, maybe Kyle Korver and the Hawks — who played an active part in their own demise — are to be thanked for their supporting efforts; it was only by their collective ability to be scored over and around that Durant poured in 41 points on just 23 shots, each demoralizing to an Atlanta team that had pieced together an impressive, gradual comeback. Valiant attempt though it was, all the Hawks did was effectively set the stage for the game’s leading performer.”

Fear the Sword includes OKC in an Anderson Varejao trade post: “Oklahoma City sends Perry Jones III, Jeremy Lamb, Toronto’s top 3 protected 2013 pick, and Kendrick Perkins to Cleveland for Anderson Varejao. Why it works for OKC – Most reports say that OKC is happy with their team at the moment and aren’t looking to make a deal. Still, you have to think that adding Andy and getting rid of Perkins deal would be something appealing to them. Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefalosha, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, Anderson Varejao and a deep bench is a pretty darn good team. Why it works for Cleveland – Lamb theoretically is perfect with Kyrie Irving, and could even play in three guard sets with Waiters and Irving. I would talk about this for 300 more words, but you have heard enough from me on Lamb. Perry Jones, meh. Maybe he figures things out. I don’t know. The first round pick should be pretty valuable. Ultimate Verdict – This is probably the most popular Varejao trade, and it makes a lot of sense. It seems to work for both teams.”

Darnell Mayberry’s take on the trade speculation: “Meanwhile, it’s impossible to overstate how important pieces like Lamb and Jones and the Toronto pick are to the Thunder. Parting ways with those players and assets could go a long way toward destroying the Thunder’s future. Lamb, Jones and Reggie Jackson aren’t just promising players. They’re pivotal players, young bloods who will be integral to the Thunder’s future financial state as well as its future goal of flanking Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka with adequate talent. Luring a player like Varejao at the expense of those young players wouldn’t hurt the Thunder’s salary structure now. But it could devastate it down the line. The reason is because with Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka all inked to lucrative contracts, the Thunder is banking on cheap labor like Jones, Lamb and Jackson. All are on rookie scale contracts for the next two to three seasons. The Toronto pick, even if it ends up the fourth overall selection, will come in on another manageable rookie scale deal of less than $4 million for the first two years.”

Per his wife Vanity, Perk is back on Twitter: @Kendrick Perkins.

Want this for Christmas.

From the writers of this great Kevin Durant song, here’s one called “Don’t Dunk on Perkins.”

From Darnell Mayberry’s nuggets: After his 30th point, a fast break dunk in which Josh Smith nearly took off his head, Durant strolled over to the crowd, peered into the stands, puffed out his chest and proclaimed “This is my (expletive) house!” But after the game, long after he had put his cape back in the closest, Superman slipped back to Clark Kent. Still, I had to ask him, just so we were clear, whose house it was. Of course, the unassuming Durant tried his best to dodge that bullet. ‘Uh,’ he smiled and said. ‘I don’t remember that.’”

Podcast with Zach Harper of CBSSports.com on OKC with some Wolves talk sprinkled in.

TrueHoop TV talking super guards.

From Elias: “Kevin Durant had 41 points and 13 rebounds and Russell Westbrook chipped in with 27 points and 11 assists in the Thunder’s 100-92 win in Atlanta on Wednesday night. Over the last 20 seasons, there have been only four other instances in which a player had 40+ points and 10+ rebounds and a teammate had 25+ points and 10+ assists in a regulation game: Phoenix’ Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson on March 13, 1996, Denver’s Antonio McDyess and Nick Van Exel on January 20, 2000, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash on January 15, 2002 and New Orleans’ David West and Chris Paul on January 6, 2009.”

Dan Devine of BDL: “In reality, Durant’s largely been somewhere between serviceable and quite good defensively over the past few years; we just haven’t really noticed it as much because we were focusing on all those points he was scoring. Now, though, with Oklahoma City running roughshod over the league for the past six weeks, we’re paying more attention to the whole floor game. We’re seeing that the whippet-thin dude we tend to think of as all arms and legs, able to be tossed by a stiff breeze, can get dirty in close-quarters combat with big bruisers. Maybe not all the time — OKC coach Scott Brooks might not want to test it too much against, say, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol for all game every game seven times (oh, man, please let it be seven) this spring — but more often than you’d think.”