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Ethan Sherwood Strauss tries to sort out the fourth best player in the league: “He’s a fine passer and an incredible athlete. If only that shot fell a bit more often, if only his decisions were a bit better. Though the public mood swings rightfully cause concern, this has been another impressive Westbrook season. Again, he’s highly involved in a great offense. If Russ could just stop inexplicably taking terrible, early shots off the dribble, he could even do better than ‘fourth-best player.’”

Darnell Mayberry: “Oklahoma City has gone 3-1 in the first four games of this month and, despite the difficulty of the schedule, has made things look rather easy. In those three wins — against the Spurs, Pacers and Jazz — the Thunder limited its opponents to an average of 81 points on 38.9 percent shooting. OKC out-rebounded those teams 146-118, which included a 34-26 advantage on the offensive end.” Keep Reading…

Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider ranks his MVP contenders and has KD second, Westbrook fifth: “If he can hold off Anthony in the points per game column, Durant will become the first scoring champion in NBA history to also be a card-carrying member of the ultra-exclusive .500/.400/.900 shooting club. And unlike Anthony, Durant is no longer qualified to be a “pure scorer;” the OKC forward’s repertoire is now bolstered with additional skills such as passing and defense. For instance, Durant has more triple-doubles this season alone (three) than Anthony has in his entire career (two). Compare Durant’s numbers this season to Dirk Nowitzki’s 2006-07 campaign and you won’t be able to tell the difference. Nowitzki won 83 of the 129 first-place votes to win the MVP that season; Durant may get zero this season. Because of the next guy on the list, the possibility is there that Durant may never win an MVP, but the 24-year-old (24!) remains a good bet to go down as one of the all-time leaders in MVP-caliber seasons. Remarkable player, remarkably poor timing.”

Chad Ford’s first mock has OKC taking Alex Len: “The Thunder get this pick from the Raptors (which the Rockets received as part of the Kyle Lowry trade only to move it on to OKC as part of the James Harden deal) as long as the Raptors aren’t picking in the top three. Oklahoma City needs to find a long-term replacement for Harden at the 2 and a long-term backup for Kendrick Perkins at the 5. Len seems like great value here. He’s one of the two or three biggest players in the draft, has a decent offensive game and can rebound and block shots. It really feels like he’s scratching the surface. The Thunder can afford to bring him along slowly and hope he develops.” Keep Reading…

Rob Mahoney of SI.com: “Interestingly enough, the Thunder have opened themselves up for just such a strategic turn in accepting Martin’s contributions in exchange for Harden’s — not to mention the addition of the utterly stagnant Derek Fisher to replace more useful offensive players. Westbrook and Durant make for one of the most potent shot creating duos in the league, but should an opponent manage to lock down Durant with any measure of success, it could throw Oklahoma City’s offense off-balance enough to make every game of a potential series winnable. As prolific as the Thunder are, the absence of a third playmaker — and their dependence on individual dribble-driving rather than team-wide ball movement — makes them susceptible to pressure-heavy schemes. If an opponent keys in on Durant and/or Westbrook in the same way that the Thunder once focused on Parker, OKC becomes an imminently beatable opponent.”

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on minutes: “Sitting them can cost you a lead, or a game. But evidently it also comes with the serious upside of increasing your likelihood of winning a title, which is why it’s no surprise to see top players resting this time of year. (The bigger surprise is that NBA rules force teams to gin up tales of injuries to justify good medium-term planning.) In Vegas, the top three contending teams at the moment, in order, are the Heat, Thunder and Spurs. The Heat have played their top players a lot, but not a crazy amount. The Thunder, thanks largely to Durant’s crazy minutes, might be the league’s most flagrant violators. The Spurs, meanwhile … forget three thousand minutes. They barely have any players over two thousand. That doesn’t mean they’ll make it past the Thunder or Heat, but if minutes matter, it does mean the coaches have done what they can to maximize success.” Keep Reading…