Daily Thunder.com

ESPN.com Future Rankings have OKC second still: “Additionally, getting veterans to come here will be a harder sell than other markets. To the Thunder’s credit, they’ve built up enough of a winning culture that they now get considered — Derek Fisher landed here last season, for instance — but they’re still going to come behind the coastal cities. And while their four stars have shined, some of the secondary talent — most notably Kendrick Perkins — has disappointed. That’s where good management comes in. Sam Presti has shown himself to be among the league’s best general managers, and regardless of what he did in Seattle, owner Clay Bennett has shown he can operate a basketball franchise. We rated the Thunder’s front office second behind only San Antonio — the team that is in many ways the blueprint for success.”

Talking Lakers-Thunder with Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN LA: “The Thunder might not be a post scoring team, but if the Lakers can turn them almost exclusively into a bunch of jump shooters, they’ll take their chances. Cutting off those lane drives would make a huge difference, and it’s a possibility because with Howard the Lakers not just have great help at the rim, but also someone with more mobility in pick-and-roll defense. Durant is going to be Durant — how incredible was that Olympics performance? — but in the half court the Thunder weren’t always a dynamic scoring team.” Keep Reading…

Beckley Mason of ESPN.com on if the Nuggets can contend: “The Nuggets are deep with speed. There won’t be many lineups that don’t have a decided collective advantage in end-to-end quickness against just about every team. But speed isn’t like size. Andrew Bynum is the biggest guy in the league whether he wants to be or not on a given night. But a fast player is only as fast as he chooses to play. For the Nuggets to max out their ability, every player will need to commit to playing at that intense pace because though they have loads of skill, the peak talent on the Nuggets isn’t anything to shout about. This team is all about motor, about using effort level to unleash wave after wave of talented athletes toward the rim.”

FIBA is considering adding 3-on-3 to the Olympics and Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com looks at what America’s team might look like: “LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul. Undersized, sure, but with premier play-making, shot-making, excellent defense and commitment. Could struggle on the boards but a match-up nightmare sporting three of the best five players on the planet. The presumptive gold medal favorites.” Keep Reading…

Eric Freeman of BDL on what a gold does for KD: “When a player leads the NBA in scoring for three consecutive seasons, it’s difficult to imagine that his reputation as a producer of points could actually improve. However, Durant was so fantastic in his eight games — breaking the U.S. record for points in an Olympics and winning the tournament scoring title — that it’s only going to become easier to mention him as one of the best scorers in history, not just in this era. We didn’t really learn anything new about Kevin Durant in this tournament; he just continued to establish that he’s a historically great player worthy of all the praise he receives.”

James Harden on winning gold: “It’s hard to explain,” said Harden. “Just being on this team with this great group of guys, competing for a gold medal and reaching our goal is overwhelming … Every single day it was something different. Especially, like I said, being with these guys. You get to watch them play basketball, you play basketball against them, but once you are the same team you get a feeling for who they are as a person. Every single day was something different and I am just happy to be a part of this team.” Keep Reading…