OKC Afternoon Loud Links: Prepping for Detroit

As they say, on any given night...

Team Is Built; Now Comes Hard Part | NBA.com

Aldridge examines the next steps for the Thunder now that they have their two cornerstones locked into place. Read it though; there are a number of candid quotes in here, but also words that reflect great (if tongue-in-cheek) respect:

"He just looks like a smart guy" - Kevin Durant on GM Sam Presti

Westbrook Happy to Be in OKC | ESPN

In re: the commentary clip involving Skip Bayless, I know that he's paid to be a provocateur, and I don't even care much that he doesn't like Russell Westbrook, but what bugs me the most is that his 'facts' aren't even accurate.

Quarterly Report Awards | CBS Sports

A nice loaded question is thrown in there regarding James Harden.

What We've Learned At the Quarterly Mark | Sports Illustrated

At least Lowe likes the new OKC court design. Also note that league-wide, scoring is down. It isn't just in OKC.

Tweeting Ain't Easy | Hardwood Paroxysm

Kevin Durant makes the all-Tweet ranking list here, by and large because of the way he connects with his fans. I think that's great, but nothing beats out Tony Allen's stream of consciousness.

Best Free Agents Available | The Basketball Jones

I truly hope OKC never has to consider who is on this list.

Denver's Two Point Guard Line-Up Bringing Early Success | SB Nation

Prada takes a look at what is fueling the Nuggets' offense in the early part of the season. They are using both Andre Miller and Ty Lawson on the court at the same time, to great effect. We can see that this is a natural evolution from what Denver was doing last season when they had both Lawson and Ray Felton working together at times.

Walton Feeling Good | ProBasketballTalk

If you're an older gent like myself, you probably look back on the Bill Walton commentating era with a smile. As bombastic as they come, Walton still never fails to communicate how thankful he truly is about his state in life.

Blake Griffin Evolves on Hero's Journey | ESPN

Blake Griffin is carving out his own personal and career arc, and so he presents the dilemma of how we the fan-base are supposed to relate to him.