Daily Thunder.com

Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus on Serge Ibaka’s 3-point shooting: “Something noteworthy happened during the third quarter of Tuesday’s innocuous preseason game between the Chicago Bulls and the Oklahoma City Thunder: Serge Ibaka made a three-pointer. During his first three NBA seasons, the promising young forward made just two three-pointers in six attempts. Ibaka has surpassed both figures during the exhibition campaign. After splitting his two attempts from downtown Tuesday, Ibaka is 4-of-7 on three-point attempts in five games. Air Congo might have a slightly different meaning this season. These games being all about practice, Ibaka may just be working on adding a new element to his game that will not last into the regular season. However, Scott Brooks‘ comments to reporters on Monday suggest he’s comfortable with Ibaka continuing to fire from long distance at times when the results begin counting.”

Sean Deveney of Sporting News picking breakout preseason players: “It is possible that, as Oklahoma City weighs how to keep guard James Harden without breaking the bank, Aldrich could wind up replacing center Kendrick Perkins, whose contract has been outweighing his production. With that in mind, there have been some positives for Aldrich in the preseason. He is still mostly rough edges, and it’s doubtful he will ever be a real offensive threat, but he has shown that he can rebound and sets good screens. Aldrich is not very agile, and that hurts him defensively, but he is a respectable rim-protector (1.6 blocks) and considering what the Thunder have gotten from Perkins, Aldrich could be a viable future option.” Keep Reading…

Darius Soriano of PBT on role players for contenders: “Maynor also offers them lineup flexibility, giving them a key contributor to any small-ball lineup Brooks wants to deploy. For example, a grouping of Maynor, Westbrook, Harden, Durant, and Ibaka gives the Thunder a unit that can match up with the position-less Heat lineup that gave them so many issues in the Finals. There’s no hiding defenders against a lineup like that. Word is that Maynor is fully recovered from his knee injury and should be ready to return to the form he showed before he got hurt. If that’s the case, one of the best teams in the league just added another fantastic young talent to flank their already stacked core. If he’s not, the Thunder will once again be stuck playing below replacement level players behind Westbrook.”

Zach Lowe of Grantland says OKC will re-sign Harden before the deadline: “With the amnesty option in the bag, and no tax money due this season, re-signing Harden now makes the most sense — and doesn’t prevent Oklahoma City from exploring future trades. Dealing Harden for a wing shooter who can play defense and handle a bit, plus draft picks, makes some sense in theory; Harden’s best skill is his ballhandling and pick-and-roll creativity, and he doesn’t get to use it to the optimal degree playing alongside two ball dominators. There’s a reason Harden comes off the bench despite quite obviously being one of his team’s three best players. Making that kind of deal while on the precipice of a title would be almost unprecedented, but the “Thunder model” itself is basically unprecedented. The odds are always against a trade like this, especially during the season, but you can bet the Thunder will kick it around.” Keep Reading…

The annual NBA GM poll came out yesterday. A few notes: The Thunder gathered only 6.7 percent of the vote that they’d win the NBA title, 36.7 percent have OKC in the Finals, 30 percent have KD winning the MVP, 13.3 percent say Serge Ibaka is the best defender in the NBA, 30 percent say OKC is the most fun team to watch, 46.7 percent want KD taking the final shot in a game and 70 percent say OKC has the best homecourt advantage.

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “But the cap is here; it’s push-come-to-shove time. The Thunder were a fun team but not a playoff team. Then a playoff team but not a team that could win in the playoffs. Then a team that could win in the playoffs but not one that could make the Finals. They made the Finals, couldn’t win the title. Now they either win the title or they regress. But they have so much going for them. Durant’s superb standard, Westbrook’s incredible production, Harden’s prolific support, Serge Ibaka’s versatility, Kendrick Perkins‘… Perkinsness? Scott Brooks has improved each season along with the team, and they have great depth that only got better in the offseason with the return of Eric Maynor. There’s no reason to think this team won’t be back in the Finals … except for maybe the Lakers. And that’s going to be something we’ll be talking about the whole year through. But this division? It’s already wrapped up.” Keep Reading…