Thursday Bolts – 9.1.16
A look at whether OKC can retool their offense around Westbrook: “Obviously being on the other side of the coin for the biggest shakeup this offseason is primarily the reason for that, but the Thunder were already making big changes in advance of this year’s free agency with the trade of Serge Ibaka on draft night. With time now to move forward to blaze a new path for the future, the Thunder had a luxury that most teams usually don’t have when a superstar player signs elsewhere. Having Russell Westbrook and more importantly, extending his contract for an additional two years (which goes into effect next season), give the Thunder some security and a superstar to effectively build a roster around.”
#SagerStrong: “Sager began a new round of chemotherapy last month at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center. The procedure was intended to prepare the colorful NBA sideline report to undergo the third transplant this month in his fight against leukemia, initially diagnosed in 2014. “My body isn’t getting strong, so they want to do it while I’m strong enough. Third transplants are kind of rare, so hopefully we will get it done and I’ll be ready in time for [NBA] opening night,” he told the Houston Chronicle last month. “We’ve known since February we would have to have the third transplant. We tried to delay it until after the Olympics, but [the disease] is very aggressive, and there is a sense of urgency to do it now.”
Steven Adams becoming a leader: “The seven foot 23-year old centre has come back to New Zealand for a couple of weeks and brought a number of his Thunder teammates, coaching staff and front office staff with him. One of those to make the trip is guard Andre Roberson who is a close friend of Adams. “That’s my man,” Roberson tells herald.co.nz of the Rotorua product. “We were drafted together so we clicked right from day one. “He is just a great guy with great heart. You can actually see that on court. A lot of guys try to get under his skin and he doesn’t let it affect him – he brushes it off and keeps on moving.”
Bleacher Report predicting who will lead each major statistical category in the NBA next season: Spoiler alert – Russell Westbrook is listed on here quite a lot.
Apparently, NBA rookies don’t feel the same way about Kevin Durant as Thunder fans do: “Kevin Durant moved to a new team, but one thing that has not changed: He is still the favorite player of NBA rookies. The Thun …er, Warriors’ forward came in first among first-year players for the third straight year, according to an annual poll conducted by John Schuhmann of NBA.com. Schuhmann spoke with 38 incoming NBA players in early August, at the league’s annual rookie photo shoot. When asked, “Who is your favorite player in the league?” 29.7 percent offered Durant’s name. After a much-publicized offseason move to Golden State, Durant won a larger portion of the vote than he did in 2014 (25.0 percent) or 2015 (21.2 percent).”
