Wednesday Bolts – 10.21.15

NBA scout on the Thunder

: “For them to progress, they probably had to get rid of Scott Brooks. He was a good coach who connected with the players, but he had weaknesses, timeout plays being one of the biggest. It will be a big adjustment for Billy Donovan, but at the same time Sam Presti is a very heavy-handed GM. He’s like Joe Dumars was. Presti hired Donovan’s staff for him… The relationship [Donovan] has with Russell Westbrook is more important than the one with Kevin Durant. Russ is a hard guy to coach. You have to connect with him… They have great depth. Kyle Singler is an ideal complementary player. I thought Steven Adams took a step back last year. There were times that he was out there getting in scraps and being more of a distraction than helping the team. Anthony Morrow was a great get for them. He can space the floor.”

Anthony Slater: “Donovan said his preference was to sit his two stars the entire fourth quarter of the final preseason game. But when momentum shifted, he changed his mind. It was a chance to get them some late-game reps before the real thing starts. And for the first time as their coach, Donovan experienced the benefit of unleashing two of the NBA’s biggest trump cards to ice a 113-102 victory.”

Billy Donovan says no minute restriction for KD.

Jordan Schultz of HuffPo: “A free agent after this season, KD faces immense pressure to win and win now. He has the luxury of another top-10 player in Russell Westbrook; a talented and deep roster built to win now; and a new head coach, Billy Donovan, who won’t mess around. Durant played a measly 27 games last year after being sidelined with a foot fracture. He finally appears to be fully healthy, however, and has run out of excuses for another deep postseason push. If he fails to accomplish it, or if he faces the seemingly endless drama surrounding him and Westbrook, Durant would presumably be all but out the door.”

A comprehensive list of what podcast names are still available.

Rob Peterson of ESPN.com on drafting KD in fantasy: “The Brow, the reigning MVP and the greatest player of his generation (LeBron James) were off the board before No. 4, but I felt I couldn’t go wrong with KD. Yeah, Harden went right after him at No. 5, but Durant will be out to show everyone he can still ball after he played in only 27 games last season.”

Daniel Lewis of Hardwood Paroxysm: “Kanter creates a new dimension as well for Donovan. No longer do Durant and Westbrook need to play and rest together. Durant can sit down, allowing Westbrook and Kanter to run pick and roll together. Then Durant can come back in, playing alongside D.J. Augustin and Anthony Morrow to give the defense shooters on the perimeter to worry about while he works off screens from Kanter or Mitch McGary. Kanter can bang in the post early in the game, helping wear down opposing centers so that when the 4th quarter comes around, Durant and Westbrook can attack fatigued big men and get to the basket for scoring opportunities. Kanter is a 20-point scoring threat – that’s not something you just take for granted.”

On Mitch McGary and why he may be an integral part to OKC’s offense this season.

Programming note: Welcome back Daily Thunder Unplugged, which will be lovingly curated from here on by friend of the site, Brandon Rahbar, who you may know as TempBoy Brandon.