- Thunder rookie Jeremy Lamb isn't getting a whole lot of minutes while riding the Thunder bench, but when he's not in OKC, he's spending his time with the Thunder's D-League affiliate the Tulsa 66'ers. And man, is that time well spent: as of this writing, he's putting up 23ppg, 4.9rpg, and 3.3apg. Not bad for the Association, much less the D-League. As Lamb was really the centerpiece of the Harden-to-Houston trade for the future, I must say the future looks pretty bright. We know Lamb can score (see his 2 year college career stats here) but to really fill Harden's mighty big shoes, we need to see his play-making abilities. But he's off to a good start.
- Kevin Martin, a free agent at the end of this season, has said that he's happy in OKC and wants to stay. Not surprising, I suppose, considering his last stops of Sacramento and Houston haven't had the recent overall success of the Thunder. Martin will be one of the better shooting guard free agents at the end of the season, a list that also includes Monta Ellis (player option), O.J. Mayo (having a great year in Dallas), J.R. Smith (also having a solid year in NYC), and Manu Ginobili. I'd expect Ginobili to stay in San Antonio, J.R. Smith and Mayo to get longer term deals with someone other than their current team, and probably Ellis too. I'd like to see KMart stay in OKC, but not at the 12 million price tag he's getting this season.
- Kevin Durant is good. Okay...maybe really good. Alright, who am I kidding; the guy is friggin amazing. But even I didn't know how good, until I saw this - as of right now, KD is playing the game in exclusive territory, by working his way into the 50/40/90 Club. This means he's shooting better than 50% from the field, better than 40 from 3, and better than 90% from the free throw line. Whoa. As of this writing, KD is working with 52 FG%, 42.7 3PT%, and 90.3 FT%. To put it in perspective, only 9 guys in NBA history have ever finished the season with membership in the 50/40/90 Club. So it might be too early for you to say "KD 4 MVP" but I'm going to go ahead and say it for you.
- Some folks get down on Russell Westbrook because they say he shoots more than KD, or too much, doesn't get the rest of the team involved, or just plain plays out of control. What's funny is that the numbers really don't support that fact that he hurts his team. Only 7 players in the league averaging at least 30 minutes per game have a better assist-to-turnover ratio than Westy does. And only 2 of those average more assists per game than he does. Not bad for a guy who doesn't get his team involved, and plays out of control. He's has 11 double doubles in just 26 games so far this season, and had only 7 in 66 games played all last year. He averaged 27 double doubles in the 2 years prior to last year, so believe me when I say the kid is no joke and knows how to pass. They average more points with him on the floor, and give up more points to the other team when he's on the bench. The teams turnover ratio (the percentage of teams possessions that end in a turnover) is 11.52 when Russ in on the floor and 15.10 when he's not. So all you folks who think Russ is hurting the OKC Thunder with his play - think again.
As always, #ThunderNationRISE
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