Daily Thunder.com

Nick Gallo of the team’s site on Nick Collison’s trip: “The consummate team player and positive locker room force wasn’t done giving back after that trip, and in fact, he had the chance to join three of his Thunder teammates in Africa. Collison hopped back on a plane to meet up with Thabo Sefolosha, Serge Ibaka and Cole Aldrich in Johannesburg, South Africa to work with the NBA and FIBA’s Basketball Without Borders program. While in South Africa, the Thunder quartet, led by Sefolosha, whose father is South African and the Congolese Ibaka, helped lead a youth basketball camp, build houses with Habitat for Humanity and open four new basketball courts for the Alexandra Township community. It was a wonderful display of selflessness by the four Thunder players who just got finished with a condensed NBA season and a long NBA Playoff run. The fact that the four of them, all from different backgrounds, were able to join together to make an impact as teammates was very special.”

Perk checked in 94th in CBSSports.com’s top 100 players: “Perkins needs to live up to his reputation as a Dwight-Stopper this season to reclaim some of the clout he had when traded to OKC. Perkins struggled through the playoffs but it was discovered later that he had a groin injury which severely limited him. He still was a huge part of the Thunder’s win over San Antonio, but in a league that continues to shift more and more towards small ball and versatility, Perkins’ old-school center approach loses its value.” Keep Reading…

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop with a lovely piece: “This is a big part of what David Thorpe teaches his NBA clients, and it’s something I find myself thinking about often. It goes something like this: It may appear that NBA games are won with big moments when everybody is looking — dunking over people, blocking shots, hitting a momentous jumper. And once in a while that does happen. But the reality is that many more careers and games turn on getting things right in the millions of small moments when nobody is looking. The big moments will always dominate the Hollywood version of events. But in real life, if you want to do the most you can to get the best possible results, it’s a long game of putting together one solid day of training after another.”

Bob McAdoo: “We got to get there but I still feel OKC is the team to beat in the West,” the Hall of Famer said. “Everyone’s talking about how they got better but I still think (OKC) is the team to beat. They’re still young and got experience of a championship series.” Keep Reading…

Beckley Mason of ESPN.com looks at signature moves: “This move became a major topic of conversation in the playoffs, when Harden used it to earn free throw after free throw. Typically, players are taught to conceal the ball on drives to the basket in order to protect against the defense’s prying hands. But Harden holds the ball way out, often past his defender as he makes his move, exposing the ball but also plenty of arm. More often than not, the defender swipes down and hits his arm, and Harden, expecting the contact, is exceedingly adept at finishing with a score.”

 Kevin McHale talking about schemes: “Again, ideally if you asked me how I’d like to play I’d say that I’d like to have a big guy to throw the ball to and pound the hell out of the other team. If you don’t have those guys then it’s very hard to do that. I don’t foresee those guys being on our team right now, so we’re probably going to have to create offense from the outside-in even though I’d prefer my offense from the inside-out. I’d rather be a team that’s a great rebounding, great pound-it-inside, throw it out for jump shots after you’ve explored pounding it inside type of team. But those teams in the NBA are few and far between these days. So we’re just going to have to do whatever fits our team the best. If our best playmaker is our two-man then we’ll run a ton of stuff that will allow him to make plays. If our best playmaker is our four-man, then we’ll run a ton of stuff for him to make plays. The object is not to run your offense, the object is to run an offense that fits your team. I’m not playing, so it doesn’t matter what I like; it matters what these guys can and can’t do.” Keep Reading…

Neil Paine for ESPN.com on Thunder vs. Heat vs. Lakers: “Complicating matters is Kendrick Perkins. The advanced stats are none too fond of the big man, with both box-score and plus/minus metrics ranking him in the bottom third of the league on a per-minute basis. Replace him in the simulation with an average center, and OKC’s odds shoot up; plus, you might argue he isn’t terribly relevant in a series against the small-ball Heat anyway, since he logged just 23 minutes per game in the Finals. At any rate, the league’s current Lakers-Heat-Thunder triangle projects to be as compelling as any three-team battle we’ve seen in recent memory. While it’s certainly possible for another squad to unexpectedly crash the party, we’re probably going to see some combination of those three battling it out next June.”

Dylan Murphy of Dime doesn’t seem to get it: “For all intents and purposes, the Thunder had a decision to make: Serge Ibaka or James Harden. Ibaka’s recent four-year extension clearly indicates, however, that the decision was made. Many have flirted with the possibility of amnestying Kendrick Perkins’ bloated $8 million per year deal to make room for Harden, but that still won’t cut it: OKC will still be at least $6 million over in year one, which is only slated to rise as the contracts of Westbrook, Durant and Harden elevate with each successive year. (Contracts are typically backloaded, with the yearly salary increasing every year.) So really, it boils down to some creative cap-fenagling or basketball fans coming to grips with a fact we’ve only skirted around. James Harden is entering his last year in Oklahoma City.” Keep Reading…