Friday Bolts – 8.26.16

Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider ranking 2017 free agents: “Still just 24, Oladipo emerged as a two-

way RPM standout last season, ranking among the league’s top 10 shooting guards. He has the chance to enhance his value with a strong performance on a bigger stage this season in Oklahoma City.”

CBSSports.com fantasy: “Russell Westbrook is the most irrepressible force in the NBA, and now he is even angrier than normal. With Kevin Durant taking off for Golden State, the Thunder are unquestionably Westbrook’s team and Fantasy owners have to be excited. The last time Westbrook played without Durant for an extended period of time, he led the league in scoring in 2014-15, while adding 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game. Last season, he was able to take his foot off the pedal a bit, trading some points for assist opportunities, and ended up averaging a career-best 10.4 per game. A nightly triple-double threat, Westbrook doesn’t have to worry about getting another high-usage star going, which means we should see the best numbers of his career in 2015-16. Efficiency might be an issue for Westbrook, who always has high turnover numbers and might struggle with his shooting given a larger scoring load, but his volume should make up for any issues. Westbrook is worth considering with the No. 1 overall pick this season, and shouldn’t fall past the fifth spot when it’s all said and done.”

So a fan is petitioning to change the name of Durant, Oklahoma to Westbrook. That’s fine. But it ain’t Durant. It’s Doo-rant.

Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders: “The clock is ticking pretty loudly for the Clippers. Not only are the Clippers still arguably the third-best team in the Western Conference, they are facing the looming free agency of both guard Chris Paul and forward Blake Griffin. Sources close to Griffin have been adamant that he is planning to re-sign in L.A. and that he’s not open to going anywhere. Clippers president and head coach Doc Rivers has mirrored that, saying he believes Griffin retires as a Clipper.”

Billy Donovan on with Woj talking KD and the future.

Erik Horne: “Right? That’s a certainty for the Thunder without Westbrook, but is it for the Clippers sans Griffin? Remember when there were rumblings of the Clippers possibly being a better team without Griffin last season? Griffin clearly makes the Clippers a more talented, deeper team, but they still managed to win 31 of 47 regular-season games in which he didn’t play in 2015-16. His absence was felt more in the postseason when Portland swept the final four games of its series with the Clippers, with Griffin missing the last two games due to a quadriceps injury.”