NBA 2K12 Roster Leaked, Oklahoma City Thunder Looking Strong, Kevin Durant 6th Overall, Russell Westbrook 10th

Via NBA 2K12 Stuff on Youtube and IamaGM.com:

As a kid, one of my favourite days of the year was when I got my new copy of NBA Live. I'd look at the rosters, find out which players had moved where, which teams had become good, and wonder when I'd get to legitimately play as Michael Jordan. (It goes without saying that I grew up without cable.) The mystery is gone, and I can now play as Michael Jordan whenever I want, but I still can't help but get a little bit giddy about the prospect of the roster update for NBA 2K12. And, with NBA Elite not coming back into the market until next year, this is all you've got for this season.

Overall, I'd say that they got the roster pinned down pretty well. Durant and Westbrook are the runaway best players (though Durant might be a bit low), with Harden and Ibaka as the secondary stars. Perkins might be a bit high, but all of the other role players are given good stats for what they do well. The minutes are also done well, with Harden grabbing more minutes on the floor than Sefolosha and the 9 man rotation taking up all possible minutes.

Here's a few tidbits to take away from the ratings (click here for all of the rosters, and here for last year's):

• Kevin Durant is tied with Derrick Rose for the 6th highest overall rated player in NBA 2K12. He is at a 92 overall and rated behind (in order) LeBron James (98), Dwayne Wade (96), Kobe Bryant (94), Chris Paul (93), Dwight Howard (93). It is worth noting that Carmelo Anthony is closest behind Durant's rating with 91.
• For comparison, Michael Jordan was rated 92 while in his 2nd season with the Bulls, but he was rated a 99 in his 6th season. (Durant is about to start his 5th season.)
• Russell Westbrook is tied for the 10th highest overall rated player with Amare Stoudemire (88). He is also behind Carmelo Anthony (90) and Deron Williams (90).
• Westbrook has also seen a high increase, going from 81 to 88 overall.
• The highest increase in overall rating was Serge Ibaka, who went from 65 to 75.
• The only players (that we can see) that have decreased in rating are Kendrick Perkins (72 to 71) and Nick Collison (63 to 62). That's pretty darn good.
• By position, the Thunder are tied for 14th at Center, 15th at Power Forward, 2nd at Small Forward, in a four way tie for 22nd at Shooting Guard, and 4th at Point Guard.
• Kendrick Perkins is one ratings point ahead of Tyson Chandler, Greg Oden, and Javale McGee. That's some excellent company.
• Serge Ibaka is one ratings point ahead of David West.
• Dirk Nowitzki is only rated an 85. Considering how many points he dropped on the Thunder, that's an outrage. But 2K's ratings are highly dependent on position, so him being at Power Forward confuses things a bit.