Friday Bolts – 6.11.10

Good news! More Dante and Galante this year! The Thunder will indeed be participating in the Orlando Summer League with six other teams.

SLAM wants to nickname Russell Westbrook: “Standing 6-3, Russell Westbrook. Westbrook isn’t the most intimidating of players—until he steps on the court. Besides Kevin Durant and the rest of the Thunder’s young squad (check SLAM 138 if you haven’t), RW runs the point for a high-energy offense. He averaged 16.1 ppg and 8 apg during the regular season and is a major reason why the Thunder went from 23 to 50 in the win column since his arrival from UCLA in ’08. The dude is balling and we need a nickname to accommodate him.” I thought he already gave himself one?

Want to be a Thunder Girl? Open tryouts are July 10 at 10 AM at the Ford Center. The audition process will be an all-day event. Participants will learn a series of dance combinations and finalists will be chosen at the end of the day. Members of last year’s team are still required to audition for a spot on the 2010-11 squad. Thunder Girl hopefuls are encouraged to submit their application and $20 registration fee by Friday, July 2. After that date, the registration fee will increase to $30.

Looks like John Wall will be No. 1 overall. Evan Turner isn’t even going to work out for the Washington.

I wrote something yesterday saying goodbye to the Big 12. Read it, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Oklahoma City was represented yesterday at the big draft workout yesterday in New Jersey, just so you know.

Jonathan Givony of Draft Express writing for SI looks at five sleepers: “Zoubek was the biggest reason for the Blue Devils’ advantage on the offensive glass. He led the nation by a wide margin with 7.8 offensive rebounds per 40 minutes pace adjusted. In fact, Zoubek ranks as the second-best per-minute offensive rebounder in the NCAA in the past decade, behind only DeJuan Blair, who made the NBA’s All-Rookie second team this season after slipping to the second round of the 2009 draft.”

Instant replay is going to be re-evaluated after the season: “Still, replay will continue to grow next season, when officials can use the monitor for those tough possession calls during the entire overtime. And there is now a seven-member instant replay committee evaluating the system and studying ways to further incorporate review into the league. So expect to see more finals games have their instant-replay moments — as long as it doesn’t slow things down.”