Friday Bolts – 8.9.13

Berry Tramel on national TV love: “The NBA schedule is out, and like always, the most interesting aspect is the league’s television assignments. It’s the best barometer of the NBA’s star power. Oh, sure. The Knicks and Lakers always get a ton of air time, regardless of their prowess. And some small-market teams always get shorted, no matter how competitive they (Indiana, Memphis, San Antonio). But that’s all part of it. The Thunder was treated very well again, thanks to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.”

Adam Silver told the New York Post he wants a harder cap: “I would say it’s no secret that we went into collective bargaining seeking a hard cap,” NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver — one of the main architects of the current CBA and who will replace David Stern as commissioner when Stern steps down Feb. 1 — told The Post Wednesday after speaking at the league’s Rookie Transition Program in Florham Park. “So, for the long-term health of the league, we would rather do more to level the playing field among our teams, so the teams that have disparate resources are all competing with roughly the same number of chips so to speak.”

Read Sam Anderson’s feature on Gary England. Do it.

James Han in a 5-on-5 says Russell Westbrook is the most underrated point guard: “Because he shares the court with likely the second-best player in the league in Kevin Durant, the focus tends to gravitate toward Westbrook’s flaws more than his abilities. Not that an injury is ever a good thing, but perhaps the silver lining to Westbrook being sidelined last playoffs was the ability to see the Thunder were just another good team rather than a title contender without their All-Star point guard.”

Rookies talking about rookies.

I just found this B.S. Report with Nate Silver and Malcolm Gladwell fascinating.

Amin Elhassan of ESPN Insider ranks under-25 teams and OKC is No. 1: “The Thunder were the only team to place three players in the top 25 under 25 list last January, and as of this writing, all three of those players are still under 25 and still fantastic. Durant’s firmly entrenched at No. 1 of the “Best Player Not Named LeBron James” list, Westbrook is probably the most dynamic player at the point guard position and Ibaka continues to improve his skill set and range to make him more than a defensive specialist. However, what makes the Thunder No. 1 on my ranking is their stable of young prospects and track record for developing talent. Jackson is a shining example of this, going from hardly playing in his rookie season to being a major contributor (and a starter in the playoffs once Westbrook went down). Elsewhere, Lamb is a silky-smooth shooting guard with excellent length and athleticism, Jones III has the chance to be a “Durant-lite” with his size and skill set, and rookies Adams and Roberson bring a different dynamic to the front line. Oklahoma City is the rare team that is legitimately contending for a championship while simultaneously stockpiling real talent in its youth pipeline.”

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider projects Russell Westbrook as the No. 2 point guard: “By the time the MVP voting results were released during the playoffs, Westbrook had been knocked out by a knee injury, and, unfortunately, that’s probably what we will remember most from his 2012-13 season. Overlooked at the time was the fact that Westbrook finished ninth in the voting despite ranking third in WARP. Although Westbrook’s value to the Thunder was apparently overlooked when the ballots were completed, it was abundantly clear when he was absent in the postseason. ATH isn’t forecasting a decline for Westbrook this season as much as a regression, and the distinction is important. Regression, in a statistical context, simply means moving toward average. It can be a positive or negative effect, yet many people take the term as a pejorative. Westbrook took a huge leap last season, and, like Derrick Rose in 2011-12, he’s likely to come back to earth just a little bit. ATH sees Westbrook maintaining his roughly 33 percent usage rate of the past two seasons. Given some possible shortages on the Oklahoma City bench, it could climb even higher depending on how many of his minutes come with Kevin Durant off the floor. If so, Westbrook’s tepid efficiency could slide into the danger area.”