Tuesday Bolts – 5.28.13

Brandon Parker of the Washington Post: “The texts typically start rolling in around early May, players inquiring about the availability of DeMatha’s gymnasium for a workout or pick-up game. Of course, Stags Coach Mike Jones is happy to oblige, opening the space a few times a week as a who’s who of local basketball products streams through the doors. But for as many familiar and talented faces Jones sees during the typical flow of summer sessions, even he was a bit surprised when a certain NBA All-Star strolled into the gym on Saturday. Flanked by three friends and just a couple weeks removed from the end of his team’s NBA playoff run, Oklahoma City forward and Montrose Christian alum Kevin Durant came ready for what would be an intense set of contests.”

Darnell Mayberry: “Is the Thunder so talented that it couldn’t use a steady stream of points, rebounds and blocked shots from Perk? ‘With us, we don’t need the scoring,’ said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. ‘We need his toughness. We need his defense. We need his ability to guard.’ But why can’t Perkins be a stat sheet stuffer? Why can’t he provide the most basic plays from his position next season? Because we now know Perkins will in fact be back next season. Thunder general manager Sam Presti recently put to rest any and all doubts over whether Perkins will be waived under the league’s amnesty clause. So that ship — at least for this summer — has sailed.”

Dave of Blazersedge: “Bailing out of a lottery position is not a prudent move under normal circumstances. Draft picks not only represent the future health of the franchise, they provide the better production per dollar invested than any other category of player in the league. The rookie contract scale tops out at about $5.9 million for the #1 overall pick after four years and go down from there. Those #1 picks are supposed to be stars. Think you can get a star on the open market for $5.9 million? By comparison Portland’s #10 pick would cost them about $2.6 million in the fourth year of his deal. That’s third-string point guard money for a lottery pick. There’s no substitute for having a player’s right so long and so cheaply. If you can find anybody good with those high picks you have to take him. You’ll never find a better deal.”

Brandon Weeden and Wes Welker helping with clean-up.

Chad Ford of ESPN.com: “The big surprise of the workout was Muscala. While McCollum and Carter-Williams are both projected as top-10 picks, Muscala is on the first-round bubble. His workout on Friday was extraordinary. It’s no exaggeration to say that he missed two shots the entire workout. His skill set both around the basket (with an impressive jump hook) and facing the basket (especially from midrange out to the college 3-point line) was terrific. He has perfect form on his jump shot and a nice touch. He showed the same shooting ability at the NBA draft combine last week, when he led all players with a 76 percent shooting percentage. Clearly he and Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk are the most skilled big men in the draft and their college PERs back it up. Olynyk was ranked first and Muscala second in the nation in PER.”

Ford on the most overrated prospect: “Gorgui Dieng. He rode Louisville’s great NCAA championship game into the first round, maybe the lottery. He’s old (23) and still pretty raw offensively. He has high bust potential.”

A discussion about the Harden trade.

Interesting piece by Ben Golliver of SI.com on Dwight Howard and Chris Paul: “Pondering the treatment of Howard relative to Paul leads to what feels like an inevitable conclusion: It’s too late for D12. Even if Howard declares his allegiance to the Lakers for the next five years tomorrow, there will be many who see it as too little, too late. It’s even possible that winning a title wouldn’t totally erase all the negativity surrounding him, as LeBron James’ Decision took less than an hour, while Howard’s Indecision is running on three years now. He might still be able to salvage this mess through dominant play and rings, but it’s hard to bet on a full repair. And if he leaves Los Angeles to go ring-chasing elsewhere? Forget about it. The character-torching will begin anew.”