Monday Bolts – 9.19.16

Larry Coon for ESPN Insider: “The Thunder just completed a “renegotiate-and-extend” deal with

their remaining franchise player, increasing his 2016-17 salary to $26.5 million while extending his contract through 2018-19. The final season has a player option, meaning Westbrook can become a free agent in either 2018 or 2019. If he becomes a free agent in 2018, he will be 29, likely still in his prime and have exactly 10 years in the league. Should he choose to re-sign with the Thunder, his contract could start at a projected $35.5 million and could total $204.1 million. If he waits until 2019, he could start at a projected $35.8 million and his contract could total nearly $206 million.”

Jerry West says he would’ve left the Lakers if he could: “I remember years ago, if I had an opportunity to leave the Lakers I would have left, for one reason: because I did not like an owner that was not telling me the truth. It would have made no difference what they would have offered me, I would have left. It’s easy to say after the fact, but players have earned the right to go where they want to go.”

The Spurs hired Monty Williams as director of basketball ops.

Erik Horne: “In the postseason, Adams drew attention after his manic defensive scramble against the Spurs, but his offensive development was rapid. Including the playoffs, the Thunder was 13-4 when Adams attempted eight or more shots last season. Expanded chemistry with Russell Westbrook should lead to more looks for the emerging center.”

Steven Adams on KD: “It was a surprise, mate, but yeah … oh well. If he’s happy, all good.”

If you ask me, or anyone else, about trade “rumors” that originate from these kinds of sites, you’re a moron. Plain and simple.

Victor Oladipo can sing, y’all.

The Stache Brothers will return.

Josh Huestis Q&A: “Kyle was around summer league, and he did the training camp for summer league with us. He’s someone that plays the same position as me and is similar in style to me, so it’s been nice to be able to go against him, prepare and see the work we each put in, help motivate ourselves by looking at the other guy.”

Presti: “It’s been a tremendous opportunity for us as an organization and obviously Russell and his commitment and a lot of the young players we’ve had in place, we’re really excited about the opportunity to continue to build what is an unwritten legacy,” Sam Presti said. “We will be going on our ninth season in Oklahoma City and we see this as another point in time to continue to build on our principles and vision for what the Thunder stands for and is about. We’re uniformly excited about what lies ahead, knowing full well that there’s going to be ups and downs. Part of building a sustainable and enduring organization is encountering different things along the way and figuring out how to turn them into opportunities to grow. That’s our mentality.”