Daily Thunder.com

Darnell Mayberry says a rotation change is coming: “The idea is to sub out Kevin Durant earlier. It’s a strategy Brooks told me following practice today that the coaching staff began kicking around earlier in the day. By sitting Durant earlier, the Thunder can accomplish three things: most importantly a more sensible rotation that relies less on only Eric Maynor and Kevin Martin to create, secondly, an opportunity for Westbrook to run as wild as his heart desires for longer stretches and, lastly, more rest for Durant. Early in games this year Brooks has trusted his second team as much as he did a year ago, playing that unit consistent minutes without either Durant or Westbrook. But the bench has only been marginally successful without the help of one of its All-Star teammates. That’s now about to change, Brooks said, starting with Friday’s game at New Orleans and likely continuing back inside The Peake on Sunday against Golden State.”

Interesting from Elias: “It was the third time in eight games this season that Harden scored at least 30 points. Harden is the third player in Rockets history to have at least three 30-point games in his first eight games with the team. Elvin Hayes did it in 1968 and one of the players Harden was traded for, Kevin Martin, did it in 2010.” Kind of puts some things in perspective. Keep Reading…

Sports Business Journal: “Team profitability is on the rise in the NBA, fueled by a projected $200 million in revenue sharing among the clubs this year. Total league revenue for 2012-13 is expected to reach $5 billion, according to league estimates, up from about $4.2 billion for the lockout-shortened 2011-12 campaign. It is expected that 22 of the league’s 30 teams will make money this year, up from 18 clubs last season, which was the first year operating under the NBA’s new 10-year collective-bargaining agreement and with the installation of its new revenue-sharing system. For the 2010-11 season, prior to the new CBA and revenue-sharing plan, eight teams were profitable.”

Jenni Carlson: “NewsOK.com videographer Tim Money was in the bowels of the arena, setting up for the postgame press conference in a room that is right next door to the Thunder locker room, which is only about 20 steps from the visitor’s locker room. He and others in the press conference room heard yelling in the hallway. They thought nothing of it at first; with several restaurants and bars around the court-level, drunk and disorderly folks occasionally have to be escorted out. But the yelling didn’t stop. Then, they heard things hitting the walls and the doors of the hallway. The thudding continued for several seconds. All told, the commotion lasted at least 20 seconds.” Keep Reading…

Berry Tramel: “Thabo needs to play. He needs to play as many minutes as possible. If you need more offense, put in Martin and take out one of the bigs. The Thunder got butchered in Miami last year because Scotty Brooks forgot about Thabo. Thabo has to play around 30 minutes a night. He’s too good on defense, and he’s not in any way an offensive liability. I agree, go ahead and shoot more, Thabo. But he needs to play more, not less.”

Ben Watanabe of NESN.com on KD’s expanding game: “Is this a minor thing, considering Durant has 74 games left in which to get his attempts back up to a workable average? Of course it is, but this is a sign that Durant has entered the upper stratum of NBA stars. James reached that stature long ago, which is why everybody spent the last three or four years fixating on whether he possessed the intangibles to win a championship. Like James, Durant has so few flaws in his game that even his slightest defect could be something opponents hone in on when they game-plan against the Thunder. Whether Durant’s inability to get the free throw line continues or if he magically transforms into Wilt Chamberlain in getting to the stripe may not have much impact on his scoring average or the Thunder’s regular-season record. If the Thunder are to continue their ascension and break through with a title this season, though, they will need Durant getting easy points at the foul line, not just on difficult fade-away jump shots with a hand in his face.” Keep Reading…

Rob Mahoney of SI.com on KD: “The Thunder’s scoring efficiency in those configurations has been predictably great, but the more startling trend is OKC’s rebounding dominance with Durant as a power forward. We’re talking about shutout work on the defensive glass and a total rebound rate somewhere in the mid-60 percent range — values well above what the Thunder have done overall and what we could otherwise expect. The specific values will settle in as the season rolls on and the minutes played by those lineups tick upward, but this is a trend that could end up making a remarkable difference. Provided that Durant can continue to outrebound and defend opposing bigs, Brooks may finally be compelled into using his team’s most explosive lineup possibilities.”

Beckley Mason of HoopSpeak on Durant: “Durant’s game was likely headed for such an expansion anyways, his drive to improve would naturally lead him in that direction. But it might also be that the Harden trade will accelerate Durant’s growth as a playmaker and evolution within the Thunder petri dish. If that’s the case (and it’s impossible to say now) it would raise an interesting question: given the choice, is it better for Durant to become the absolute best player he can be, or to perhaps sacrifice some of Durant’s peak ability in order to retain the better secondary player in James Harden?” Keep Reading…