Daily Thunder.com

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com imagining a Point Guard of the Year award: “I consider, in all honesty, Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook to be more impactful players than Tony Parker. They’re able to take the game over in a way that Parker is not. Their individual talents, be it athleticism, shot-making, creativity, put them at a higher level than Parker this season. But a point guard? Parker commands the best offense in the league. Even if Oklahoma City’s is the best according to the metrics (110.3 per 100 possessions) and San Antonio’s is only fourth (107.3 per 100 possessions), the Spurs’ offense is widely regarded as the toughest to defend. They simply force you into too many impossible decisions.”

Anthony Slater of NewsOK on the opposite paths of KD and Beasley: “His once-promising career, now out of its infant stage, is in complete reconstruction. Once viewed as a sure-fire immediate starter, he’s now working through the baby steps of a rebuild job, for his image and game. But he’s only 24. So it’s still far too early to label him as a bust. And at times this season, including a 25-point performance against Durant’s Thunder last Friday, he’s flashed the unique ability that intrigue and frustrate so many at the same time. There’s still plenty of time to figure it out. But fair or not, because of the similar paths they took (from pre-teens to late teens), Beasley will always be linked to Durant (one of the most prolific young scorers in NBA history). Where will each career go from here? Who knows. But it’s an interesting case study.” Keep Reading…

Joe Kaiser of ESPN Insider on young players that could be dealt: “Lamb has played only 64 minutes this season on a Thunder roster brimming with talent, and his chances for playing time have been very limited thanks to the presence of Kevin Martin and Thabo Sefolosha ahead of him on the depth chart. Still, there’s a reason Houston selected him No. 12 overall last summer before shipping him to OKC in the James Harden deal: Lamb is a versatile wing with a long wingspan who can shoot, defend and become a key piece to a winning team. The question is whether that will happen with the Thunder, which may be better off resigning the efficient Martin after the season and using Lamb in a deal for a center. Phoenix could be a good trade partner, since it has the prized big man to offer — Marcin Gortat — and a big need at the shooting guard position.”

KD: “It wasn’t long ago when we were worse than that,” he said. “We were three and 29, three and 30, just fighting to win 20 games. I know what it feels like. But the thing that you need to come in and do every single day that we did is come in and work. We worked like we wanted to win every game. We put in the preparation from the first to the last game … I’m never going to forget our last game of the season, one of our coaches — we were up 30 — it was the last game of the season, and we weren’t playing for nothing. But he was getting up in the huddles, coaching us up. Our coaches did a great job back then of preparing us for now. And I’m sure the Suns are doing the same.” Keep Reading…