Just a few days after Jerry Brewer made us feel good about ourselves, Steve Kelley comes along and poops on our 
parade: “I’m not one of those people believing it is so sweet and nice Oklahoma City has a team. I think it’s a bad joke on the league. Oklahoma City still is a one-horse town that won’t sustain its love for the Thunder, won’t attract the upper echelon free agents and won’t be able to keep its own stars. I’m sure there are plenty of fine people in OKC, who enjoy their NBA team. Some even understand the game. But they should know that their team was built on the insults the Bennett ownership group hurled at Seattle.”
OKC to make an offer to Anderson Varejao?: “One rumor circulating is that Oklahoma City might make former Cavs forward/center Anderson Varejao an offer. That doesn’t add up. Sure, he would be a perfect fit for the emerging Thunder. But Thunder GM Sam Presti is best friends with Cavs GM Danny Ferry. They have a buddy-buddy system going strong, and the perception is Presti would not do anything to hurt Ferry’s team.”
Kevin Durant on James Harden: “I see him as a lot of guys,” Durant said. “Brandon Roy is one guy who comes to mind. Paul Pierce, the way he controls his body. He’s not the most athletic, quickest guy, but he’s sneaky athletic. He’ll dunk on you and uses his body very well.” After the pick-up game on Monday, Durant, Harden and other teammates went out to eat. “We got to bond with each other,” Durant said. “He’s a great guy. We’re getting started early. I can’t wait for the season to start.” Keep Reading…
City) — The former lottery pick has never been able to stay healthy and has never developed into a dependable NBA center. He is a legit 7-footer and does have a decent touch around the basket, but his knees have failed him and he doesn’t have much of a resume. Swift has played 97 games in five years and has had two major knee surgeries. The market for him will be thin.”
Breaking down the Orlando Summer League roster
Oklahoma City’s first summer league game is today at 4 p.m. and like reader Lefty said in the comments, “It’s only like five weeks until college football, and I don’t even care, because we get to watch the NBA summer league this afternoon. How messed up have I become?” I hear that. Here I am waiting for four o’clock to roll around so I can watch me some summer league basketball. Dedicated fan or over-obsessed nutjob? You tell me.
But there are things to be excited about. I’m psyched to see James Harden in action and also to see Serge Ibaka for the first time. But there’s some other interesting names on the roster, most of which have as much chance to make it to fall camp as I do, but nevertheless, it should be fun to watch some basketball again.
Russell Westbrook (PG) – Thunder
We all know he’s good. But what kind of progress has he made so far this summer? He’s been working on his jumpshot and decision making this summer so it’ll be interesting to see if he’s made any progress. He’ll be one of the elite players in the league and it’s hard to say how much playing time he’ll get. But he’s not participating in the Vegas league, so I’m guessing anywhere between 20-25 minutes a game. He’ll probably be able to get just about anywhere he wants, but the main think to look for is for more consistency on his mid-range jumper, a better ability to finish around the rim and also if he seems to have more control of the offense with the ball in his hands.
Shaun Livingston (PG) – Thunder
Livingston’s play at the end of the year was extremely encouraging for Thunder fans and extremely discouraging for Earl Watson. If Livingston continues to progress, Watson may be left on the end of the bench next to trainer Joe Sharpe. What’ll be most interesting to watch is if Livingston’s side-to-side agility has improved any and if he looks even more comfortable on his knee than he did at the end of the year.
Serge Ibaka (PF) - Thunder/Ricoh Manresa
With news coming out that Ibaka is going to be on the Thunder roster next year regardless of what happens in Orlando, this week became a lot less important for him. But he’s still the most interesting player to watch this week. Really nobody has seen much of anything from Ibaka and he’s a major unknown. We don’t know what to expect from him. Shot blocking? Rebounding? Post game? Any semblance of a jumpshot? We know he can dunk, but can he play defense? His unreal athleticism and length get me giddy and I know when he’s on the court, my eyes are only going to be on him. Keep Reading…