Daily Thunder.com

KD won’t play tonight, but he could this weekend: “The Oklahoma City Thunder could have leading scorer Kevin Durant back in the lineup by the weekend. The second-year forward was off crutches and walking with only a slight limp during Monday’s 96-87 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Durant was expected to miss seven to 14 days after suffering a severely sprained right ankle in Dallas on Friday. “It’s definitely improving,” Oklahoma coach Scott Brooks told The Oklahoman. “Young guys’ bodies heal a lot quicker than older guys.” Durant will not play Wednesday against Washington, meaning the earliest he could return would be Saturday at New Orleans.”

SI writers discuss awards, including Rookie of the Year and Most Improved: “This is a close one between Rose and Mayo, and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook is closing strong. But from the beginning of the season, it was Rose’s task to lead the Bulls, and he has done so in an efficient and mature fashion … I struggle with this award. You don’t necessarily want to reward a player who had a bad season and comes up with a pretty good one the following year. And you almost never have a young player because he needs a track record to establish a baseline. Nevertheless, I’m going with second-year player Kevin Durant, who has expanded his game and showed a lot of leadership in getting the Thunder back on track.”

And Russell has taken over the SI rookie rankings top spot: “Hours after being named Western Conference’s Rookie of the Month for February, the point guard got a jump on the March race. With starting forwards Kevin Durant and Jeff Green sidelined by injury, Westbrook had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 41 minutes in Oklahoma City’s 96-87 victory against Dallas on Monday. “Russell did a good job of making guys better,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks told The Oklahoman after Westbrook’s first career triple-double. “He’s learning how to play a position, and he’s doing a great job. He’s improving month to month. I don’t look at Russell game to game. I look at him in bigger chunks. … He’s improved every month, and we all see that.” Keep Reading…

Russell Westbrook wins second rookie of the month honor: “Westbrook ranked first among rookies in scoring for the month (20.6 ppg), second in assists (5.9 apg), fifth in rebounds (6.1 rpg) and fourth in double-doubles (2). In addition, Westbrook scored 20 or more points six times and 30 or more points three times. On Feb. 1, Westbrook had a career-high 34 points at Sacramento including a career-high 20 free throws made and on Feb. 21, had a career-high 13 field goals at Golden State.”

Remember that whole Ricky Rubio is likely to enter the draft this year? Yeah, nevermind: “[Coby] Karl, who shares the same agent as Rubio, told his dad that Rubio likely won’t enter the NBA draft until 2010, and Pau Gasol, the Spanish legend and Lakers center, concurred (multiple mock drafts have Rubio in the top two for 2010).”

Marc Stein breaks down the second trimester award winners: “Most Improved, Kevin Durant: He won’t win this award. He won’t (and shouldn’t) even be eligible for this award at season’s end. But no one in the NBA has improved during the past 27 (or so) games more than Durant. The reigning ROY has averaged 33.1 points per game in February alone, along with 6.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists, entering Friday’s visit to Dallas. He’s flourishing in his move to small forward under new coach Scotty Brooks for a team that was very respectable in its first 20-ish games of 2009 before some recent slippage.” Keep Reading…

In case you haven’t heard, Joe Smith was waived this weekend: “Good teams seem to want Joe Smith. The veteran forward and the Oklahoma City Thunder reached agreement on a buyout of his contract on Sunday, and The Clevaland Plain Dealer reported that the Cavaliers will try to sign him immediately after he clears waivers.”

And in case you haven’t heard again, KD will be out 7-14 days with an ankle sprain: “Durant is expected to miss seven to 14 days after rolling his right ankle in Friday’s game at Dallas when he stepped on the foot of Mavs forward Josh Howard while driving to the basket with 7:13 left in the first quarter. He remained in the game for about three minutes before walking off the court with a limp. Team officials said X-rays taken on Durant’s foot were negative, but Durant wore a protective boot on his right foot and walked with the aid of crutches following the Thunder’s 110-108 overtime loss.”

It’s looking likely that Ricky Rubio will enter the draft: “Rubio’s position in the top three is significant for one big reason: “He has a huge buyout from his team in Spain. To afford the buyout, he really needs to be a top-three pick. Publicly, the mood has been pessimistic that Rubio would be in this draft, with a series of international stories claiming Rubio is staying overseas and other draft sites pulling him from their 2009 mock drafts. Privately, his agent, Dan Fegan, has been working on this for months, and we’ve been getting the same signals all along: Rubio is entering this year’s draft. Rubio still needs to work on his jumper and get stronger, but his floor leadership and energy are just remarkable. He’s a special playmaker.” Keep Reading…