Wednesday Bolts – 9.23.15

ESPN.com’s Future Rankings has OKC ninth

: “But Kevin Durant will be a free agent next
summer, and Russell Westbrook the following summer. In NBA circles, there is a growing belief that one or both is willing to do what other superstars have done with increasing frequency of late — look for a new situation. While no one knows what will happen, we have to factor the possibility into our future roster rankings. The Thunder’s management score has been adjusted downward, too. GM Sam Presti remains one of the brightest minds in the game, but several questionable moves have us puzzled. That includes trading away future draft picks and the hiring of Billy Donovan, a rookie coach from the University of Florida, to guide the team at a sensitive time.”

Jon Hamm for NewsOK: “The Thunder is in position to give Waiters a sizeable deal and also dodge the luxury tax next summer without much effort. Assuming they are able to re-sign Kevin Durant (an item at the top of every Thunder fan’s Christmas list) and also guarantee Anthony Morrow’s salary for 2016-17, the team as currently constituted could wind up $13-$14 million under the projected $108 million luxury tax line. That’s roomy enough to give Waiters a lucrative extension thanks to an exploding salary cap.”

Kevin Durant’s NBA 2K rating has him behind LeBron, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis and James Harden. But the Thunder do have two top seven players.

This podcast with Brian Windhorst discussing agents is really interesting.

Caron Butler: “[Oklahoma City GM] Sam Presti’s going to kill me, but … how amazing would that be if KD returned to this area, you know the impact and how special it would be? We’re going to play this game of basketball, we’ve got a window of opportunity to do it and it’s gone and then you’re off to something else. But what would your legacy be? I think LeBron really tapped into his legacy and he found his niche and knew what his niche was, always playing basketball and making people better, but [he thought] where can I have the biggest impact for my legacy and my brand? Going back to Cleveland, and he was accepted with open arms and he’s impacting lives, he’s changing lives, he’s uplifting the whole community. Kevin Durant. He [could] go to the Lakers. Great market, unbelievable, the city of Los Angeles. New York, unbelievable. Pat Riley, Miami, championship contender. But what if he came back to Washington, D.C., the most powerful city in America? It’s where he’s from. It would be so impactful. It would be so uplifting for the DMV.”

Front office person Jason Ranne is leaving the Thunder.

Sam Presti will hold his preseason availability today.