Darius Soriano of PBT on role players for contenders: “Maynor also offers them lineup flexibility, giving them a key contributor to any small-ball lineup Brooks wants to deploy. For example, a grouping of Maynor,

The annual NBA GM poll came out yesterday. A few notes: The Thunder gathered only 6.7 percent of the vote that they’d win the NBA title, 36.7 percent have OKC in the Finals, 30

Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “The closest thing to a prediction here, if you’re looking for that, is that Harden will go the Ginobili route and ultimately agree to an extension by Halloween for something

Rob Mahoney of SI.com says Harden deserves an extension: “It’s odd that Harden — who is a lock to receive a max offer sheet should he become a restricted free agent — isn’t already

Ben Golliver of SI.com on the new 90-second rule: “The push-back from players is to be expected. This new time limit comes off as a bit petty and random. Tip-offs can be delayed at

Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell says OKC beat the Spurs because they copied their game and did it better: “And again, there are so many things that contribute to a loss and

Zach Lowe of SI.com: “And Eric Maynor is back! Remember Maynor, the guy who in 2011 looked like one of the league’s best backup point guards and replaced a benched Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma

Kevin Arnovitz of TrueHoop on Russell Westbrook and Jordan Brand: “Over the past quarter century (gulp), the Jordan Brand launched a business that would become an economic tentpole for sports. The brand has plenty