Tuesday Bolts: 03.10.20

In Zach Harper’s (The Athletic) latest batch of Power Rankings OKC makes a BIG jump… insert eye ball emoji. “I thought the Thunder could be a playoff team this season if they didn’t trade Chris Paul. I also thought it was almost 100 percent certain that they’d trade Chris Paul. Instead, they kept him, developed the rotation quite a bit, and they let Billy Donovan coach this team. What’s resulted is far exceeding anything anybody — even the most passionate Thunder homers — could have imagined with the Thunder. Not only are they a playoff team, but also they might end up with home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Nobody expected this.”

Cameron Fields (USA Today) with 3 reasons why OKC will be a tough out come playoff time.

Berry Tramel (The Oklahoman) ranks the top 10 wins of the year for the Thunder.

Moke Hamilton (USA Today) on Chris Paul taking on the defensive challenge against Jayson Tatum. ““I told coach in the huddle I wanted to guard Jayson ‘cus I had a feeling that they’d go to him but, I mean, I work out with JT in the summer, we play hoop. I mean, if you ask him, he probably got the shot he wanted, but I just wanted to make it tough on him.””

Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst (ESPN) on the NBA’s announcement to indefinitely ban media members from the locker room. “The NBA considers coaches, general managers, basketball personnel and public relations staff to be among those who’ll have continued access to players in the locker room, sources said. The NBA is preparing for media access outside of locker room settings that includes a directive to keep players and media at a distance of six to eight feet, sources said.”