Thursday Bolts – 4.9.15

Kirk Goldsberry of Grantland: “If you’re looking for Waiters Island on a map, it’s right in the heart of Pacific Proving Grounds, where the U.S. tested nuclear weapons from 1946 to 1962. Nobody is allowed to go there anymore, as the islands are too contaminated — just like the blue archipelago along the perimeter of Waiters’s shot chart. As it turns out, there can only be one Josh Smith. While none of these four players quite matches the vintage Smith’s bulk brick-launching, I truly believe that Waiters will be the closest thing we’ll have going forward. So if you have a missed-shot fetish like I do, come meet me on Waiters Island. We’ll have the whole place to ourselves.”

Kevin Durant gets his wish: The NBPA will have its own awards: “The players-only awards, which will include a Most Valuable Player honor, will be announced to union members at the annual meeting in Las Vegas in July. USA Today first reported the awards after obtaining Roberts’ memo. Since 1981, the NBA’s official annual awards are voted on by a panel of media members selected by the league and have a wide-ranging sponsorship from Kia. Those votes are all made public by the league after being tabulated by the accounting firm Ernst & Young. Roberts implemented the new awards following several star players publicly calling for NBA players to have a say in high-profile awards.”

Not that anybody probably reads this website, but this is exactly the kind of nonsense people are writing about Durant that is bothersome.

Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider says Anthony Morrow is the league’s most deadly open shooter: “The Thunder signed the sharpshooter to a bargain deal this summer ($3.2 million salary) and it paid off in a big way. He’s shooting 43.8 percent on 3-pointers, but that soars to a boiling 54 percent when there’s no one within five feet of him, according to NBAsavant.com. More amazing: He’s shooting 18-of-24 (75 percent) on open 3s in the right corner. There’s a reason the Thunder score 113.9 points per 100 possessions when Russell Westbrook plays with Morrow and just 105.9 when he doesn’t. Morrow is money.”

Chad Ford’s updated big board: “Stanley Johnson: Johnson’s tournament was solid, just like his season. He clearly has an NBA body, shot the ball better this season than anyone could’ve hoped, and when he dials in defensively, he looks to be a strong two-way player in the pros. But NBA scouts think Winslow is a better athlete and has an even better motor. They think both Hezonja and Kansas’ Kelly Oubre will be better shooters long term. Johnson is stuck somewhere in between: the guy who does just about everything well but lacks that one elite skill. Still, I think there’s almost no way he falls out of the lottery. He could go as high as No. 6, but I think the range is more likely Nos. 8 to 14.”

Darnell Mayberry looks at 10 what-if games: “Talk about ugly. A fully healthy Thunder team shot 32.6 percent, never held the lead and trailed by as many as 26 points. The Kings had lost 11 of 15 entering the game. But with a combined 75 points, Rudy Gay, Darren Collison and DeMarcus Cousins nearly outscored the Thunder. Westbrook scored 10 points on 3-for-19 shooting and had four assists against seven turnovers. In his first game with the Thunder, guard Dion Waiters scored four points on 1-for-9 shooting.”

If you missed it last night, the Grizzlies smashed the Pelicans, tying New Orleans with the Thunder in the standings (Pelicans still ahead by virtue of the tiebreaker). And the Suns have been eliminated.