Tuesday Bolts – 7.6.10

Harden wants to start: “James Harden is laying down his own challenge. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard wants to crack the starting rotation next season. “I hope so,” said Harden, last year’s No. 3 overall pick. “That’s what this summer is for.”

Dime looks at 10 players to watch in Orlando: “Latavious Williams, Oklahoma City – By now, you might know Latavious Williams was the first D-Leaguer to get drafted into the NBA. What I want to know is how the 21-year old is just one year removed from high school? Oklahoma City has done a good job of developing his game so far. We are interested to see the progress he’s made since finishing his first year in the D-League.”

Serge Ibaka is listed as day-to-day with an ankle sprain.

A couple notes from Zach Harper of HP on the Thunder: “BJ “Byron” Mullens: His stat line looks great with 24 points on 12 shots, 15 trips to the line and seven rebounds. But I’m afraid of his defensive rating when he actually plays in the regular season consistently because he’s way too slow to guard anybody or rotate properly. Serge Ibaka scare: He banged knees with Semih Erden and crumpled to the floor. He had to be helped off the floor and it looked bad for a few minutes. Luckily, he walked it off on the sideline and appears to be just fine. Eric Maynor: Within two years, he’s going to be the best backup point guard in the NBA and it won’t be close.”

Also this note on Daniel Orton: “He was easily the worst rookie of the day. He proved that jumping into the draft and securing a first round contract was maybe the smartest thing he could ever do with his life. He sold high on his hype and now will be guaranteed at least four years in the NBA. He fumbled passes, had slow post moves with no purpose and played pretty mediocre defense. He even got in a fight with Josh McRoberts and was ejected. All of this took place in just 13 minutes of action.”

Darnell Mayberry on yesterday’s game: “Byron Mullens sounds more passionate about the game. That, to me, means more than his 24-point, seven-rebound performance against Boston on Monday night. You might think that’s backwards. It’s not. No. 1, it’s summer league and Mullens’ production, especially against an overmatched group of “Celtics” needs to be taken with a grain of salt. And that’s not taking anything away from Mullens’ game tonight. He was a stud and did everything asked of him. No. 2, Mullens has never really struck me as a fiery guy when it came to basketball. Today, for the first time, I got that vibe from him. Mullens clearly has skills, and up until last season he was getting by on those raw talents. But now he seems eager to want to get the most out of his God-given attributes.”