Thursday Bolts – 12.26.13
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “The Knicks have no such pipeline or plan. They still owe Denver a 2014 first-round pick from the Anthony trade and will convey the less favorable of their 2016 first-round pick and Denver’s to Toronto from the Bargnani trade. Hey, at least they’ll have a first-round pick in 2015. The Nets, who mortgaged their future to get Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from Boston, don’t have a clean pick — without swapping or outright conveying — until 2019. So this wasn’t about a dud of a basketball day in New York on Christmas Day. It goes much deeper than that. If the Thunder ever wished they had the advantages that glamour teams in big markets enjoy, they should be careful what they wish for. There are two teams in New York who’d trade their lofty zip codes for some of the Thunder’s assets and intelligent management right about now. And I shouldn’t have to tell you who’d say no to that trade.”
Sam Amick of USA Today: “Sam Presti isn’t the type to do a touchdown dance. It wouldn’t make sense, for starters, considering this is basketball and all. More importantly, the Oklahoma City Thunder general manager who has evolved from a wunderkind to a simply wondrous front-office mind is far too smart to take part in premature celebrations. His Thunder haven’t made us all look silly for deeming them dead as title contenders just yet, if only because it’s December and even the Boston Celtics of the 1960s weren’t good enough to win championships this time of year. But two seasons after falling to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals and being labeled the scourge of the NBA earth when they traded James Harden to Houston four months later, the Thunder — thanks mostly to the game’s best one-two punch, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook — are looking fully capable of having the last laugh here.”
A little kid loses it when he opens up a present containing a couple Thunder tickets.
Chris Mannix of SI.com: “Indeed, while much of the praise will be heaped on Oklahoma City’s stars — all of it deserved, no doubt — it’s the work of the role players that has had a heavy hand in keeping Oklahoma City among the elite. There is Jackson, a mini-Westbrook, a dynamic scoring guard who has tacked five points onto his scoring average this season. There is Lamb, who made the two-hour trek between Oklahoma City and its D-League affiliate in Tulsa several times last season, emerging as a solid, 20-minute per game contributor off the bench. There is Adams, a panned draft pick in June whose per-36 minutes production this season (8.4 points, 10.7 rebounds) is better than the Thunder’s starting center, Kendrick Perkins (5.7 points, 7.1 rebounds), in the same category. G.M. Sam Presti continues to draft top talent, while coach Scott Brooks has proven to be skilled at developing it, without costing a rising contender wins in the process.”
Anthony Slater: “Part of me wishes Scott Brooks would have gone all Gregg Popovich an hour before tip on Wednesday, announcing KD, Westbrook and Ibaka would sit once he learned the Carmelo news. That way, we would have had the Thunder’s second-unit facing the Knicks remaining roster. Who’d be favored? I’d take OKC’s reserves. The way they’re playing, they’d probably be a 6-seed in the East. On Wednesday, Reggie Jackson had 18 (including 15 in a dominant fourth quarter), Jeremy Lamb had 13 on 5-of-8 shooting and, combined, the bench had a plus/minus of +67.”
Marc Stein has KD as his trimester Western MVP: “I was among those coming into the season with loud questions about what the Thunder have to show for Harden at the moment — Jeremy Lamb, Steven Adams and a trade exception created through Martin’s exit until cashing in the other first-round pick owed by Houston via Dallas — and what that would do to Durant’s demeanor. Yet if he’s at all frustrated, it’s pretty tough to tell given how steely Durant has been in steering OKC to a 67-win pace. Really, really wanted to go with Love or Aldridge as my First Trimester MVP. Really did. KD just wouldn’t let me.”
Scoop Jackson of ESPN.com: “Jackson was a roster-filler; someone to keep Westbrook from being bored in practice. A “break glass in case of extreme emergency” player. When Westbrook was injured in the playoffs last season, Jackson played himself into a position where the team began to believe he could be a little more than serviceable. Last season, Lamb showed up from the bench for bits and pieces of games. He played 41 of his 147 minutes in the regular season’s last game with nothing on the line for either team. But the Thunder needed more from him this season. So the original plan changed. If you’ve watched OKC lately, you can see a sense of attractive arrogance returning to the Thunder’s aura. It’s as if they know, you know? Like they know they are back.”
