WTLC Daily Loud Links: November 25, 2013

The Oklahoma City Thunder faced little resistance Sunday night in dismantling the Utah Jazz. Even without Westbrook, Utah was no match for the Thunder's plethora of talent.

In the wake of last night's dominant performance, Darnell Mayberry only questions the logic of sitting Russell Westbrook down to give him some rest:

With that said, I don’t really agree with the philosophy. I get it. I just don’t agree with it. It’s not a big deal. Just something that seems a tad unnecessary, perhaps even overprotective. Are five straight days off really that much better than four days off in five days? I don’t think so. But it’s also not my $80 million investment.

Daily Thunder writes that the OKC win revealed a number of positive nuggets, including this one:

Adams continues to impress with a soft touch, good footwork and nice vision. One of Kendrick Perkins’ only discernible offensive skills has been passing, and Adams appears to have the potential to be an even better passer than Perk.

Derrick Rose had successful meniscus surgery. As we have noted in this space, there is a big difference between meniscus repair and removal, and Rose had the former. As a result, he's done for the year.

Paul George is a beast. Paul Flannery writes a great piece on how quickly PG is ascending the ranks of dominant players in the NBA. The best thing about George, who despite having a great post-season last year, knows that there is much to learn.

"Last year I was just unsure of that role as opposed to this year where I feel like, ‘That is my role," George said. "I think it was just maturity. Going through having to learn how to deal with pressure situations, now I’m expecting pressure situations. Learning how to perform when your teams needs you the most. That’s what I gained the most out of the playoffs."

The Lakers have signed Kobe Bryant to a 2 year extension worth nearly $49 million. Seems like a good investment for a 35 year old player coming off an Achilles injury.

The terms represent a pay cut for Bryant, who is the highest paid player in the NBA this season at $30.5 million, but he will remain at the very top of the league’s player salaries lists.

Kevin Garnett cannot hear your criticism. Probably a good thing, because this Nets experiment is on the verge of becoming more disastrous than last year's Lakers' experiment.