Daily Thunder.com

Bleacher Report finals power rankings with OKC at No. 24: “My personal favorite losing-team to watch currently, the OKC Thunder will be much better next year. Kevin Durant will be an All-Star, and rookie Russell Westbrook will have another year of adjusting to NBA play under his belt. Imagine if the Thunder land another scorer in the draft?”

Kevin Durant took home CelticsBlog’s MIP award: “Though his defense still has a ways to go, Durant made progress in every aspect of the game this season with the most significant coming in his jump from 51.9 to 57.6 true shooting that accompanied a scoring increase from 20.3 to 25.3 points per game.  It took just two years for KD to become an elite scorer in this league, and his rebounding, passing and ability to take care of the ball all took a step forward this season as well.” 

Chris Silva has the scoop on all the exit interviews for the team. Lots of great information here: “Green will head back to his hometown of Washington, D.C., where he will take more courses towards his degree in Women’s Studies at Georgetown.” Jeff Green is majoring in Women’s Studies? Weird. “If he had to grade his performance this season, Green said he’d give himself a ‘C.’” I’d give him a B+. “Away from the media, Westbrook did say that he might wear protective sleeves on his arms next season; his arms were covered with bruises, scratches and scars from attacking the rim on a regular basis.”  Keep Reading…

I realize Russell Westbrook dropped in a lot of people’s eyes in the rookie race recently. If I had a vote (and I do in our “blogger” awards) I’d go Derrick Rose, Russell, Brook Lopez in that order. David Thorpe’s has had Westbrook as high as one for most of the season in his rankings and consistently in the top three. Well his final rankings came out and Westbrook is at SEVEN, behind guys like Michael Beasely, Marc Gasol and Kevin Love. What the heck?

Darnell has a clarification on Russell’s “non-committal” stance on Scott Brooks: “Speaking of Brooks, allow me to clear up something from Wednesday’s editions of The Oklahoman. Russell Westbrook was not and is not opposed to Brooks. He was simply saying that the decision was not up to him and never gave a firm answer one way or the other. But I know for a fact that Westbrook enjoys Brooks as a person and as a coach. In fact, while I was interviewing Brooks before the game, Westbrook gave his coach a hard five as he walked by.”

Well this was just unneccesay. Jason Quick of the Oregonian blasts Oklahoma City: “About the only good thing about covering a game in Oklahoma City is that the hotel I stay at is literally 20 feet from the Ford Center. Other than that, it’s easily No. 29 on the NBA tour of cities, even worse than Sacramento and Milwaukee. One reason why? When I arrived here with Oregonian photographer Bruce Ely (second roadie of the year for Bruuuce!), it was about 9:30 p.m. and we were starved. The downtown here might as well have had tumbleweeds blowing through it, but they do have what could pass as a lively section called “Bricktown” – which was within walking distance … OKC blows.” Cool. Keep Reading…

Empty the Bench recaps the NBA season in 40 lists. Click and read. It’s awesome. Oklahoma City finished on top of a couple including team Andrew most watched, team most likely to improve and Kevin Durant, Thabo, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook are all mentioned throughout.

BDL power rankings: “As has been stated many times in many places, this team could have rolled over, but it fought and worked and genuinely enjoyed playing with each other. Bright, bright future for the Thunder.”

Bill Simmons will his full MVP list with appearances by Nenad Krstic and KD, but this is noteworthy: “Follow-up note: Presti wins 2009 Exec of the Year for shrewdly building a nice foundation — Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook as his Big Three; Krstic, Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha as three legit rotation guys, a top-six draft pick coming, multiple first-rounders in the hopper, cap space galore, a genuinely good coach in Scottie Brooks, and the NBA’s single strangest bench guy in Robert Swift. There’s just a lot to like. By the way, if they make a “Children of the Corn” remake and DON’T include Swift, I’m going to be furious.”

The poll says “Yes!” Players wants Scott Brooks back but Sam Presti still not saying anything: “A survey by The Oklahoman of all 15 Thunder players yielded 13 players who are in favor of Brooks returning as the full-time coach. Chucky Atkins declined to comment, and Russell Westbrook was non-committal. But even with overwhelming support from players and a growing segment of the fan base in favor of lifting Brooks’ interim tag, general manager Sam Presti has been unwavering in his desire to defer contract talks until the off-season.” Keep Reading…

Marc Stein’s power rankings with a pretty strong note: “Was this the one and only season in the Durant Era that the good folks of OKC had to stomach a ranking that was always in the 20s? The answer is YES unless the whole league is guilty of overhyping this situation.”

SLAM awards: “O.J. Mayo? Are you kidding me? Russell Westbrook? Word? Look. This rookie class has been exceptional. I see about eight future All-Stars. But there shouldn’t be a discussion, here.  Rose came into the season facing the pressure and shouldering the burden of being the No. 1 pick, playing for his hometown Bulls. He was thrust into a starting role in the game’s most demanding position. To make matters more challenging, he was playing on a young squad without a leader and for a coach whom many of his teammates disliked. Through a season that included a coaching change and roster overhaul, he’s put up 16, 6 and 4 and helped the Bulls get into the postseason. Meanwhile, O.J. and Russ play for two of the worst teams in the League and O.J. has often played like the typical “numbers guy on a bad squad.” Rose better be a unanimous pick.”

NBA.com looks at potential Most Improved candidates:

Layup Drill has five players it wishes were in playoffs: “1. Kevin Durant: KD is the truth. The kid is making Portland wish they had went in a different direction a few seasons ago when bypassed Durant for Greg Oden. The Thunder have built the franchise around their lanky swingman, who averaged career highs in points, assists, and rebounds this year, and should have been selected as an All-Star. There’s always next year though.” Keep Reading…