WESTBROOK

From day one, this is the spot I wanted to be. The organization believed in me by surprisingly picking me No. 4. A lot of guys doubted me, but from day one this organization supported me.”

Special thanks to my family. Without them, I don’t know if I would be sitting in this situation now.”

Growing up, me and my brother always said no pain, no gain. Right now, I can say I made a little gain. I’m just blessed to be in this position.”

It wasn’t something that was a problem. My agent, Sam and Clay were taking care of that. And my job was to come out every day, every night and try to find out how we could start the season off on the right foot…Once it got finished, it definitely was a big relief.”

I can say this for any player in the league. You want to be somewhere where you’re wanted. I wanted to be somewhere where I had great support, and this is the spot for me.”

Why wouldn’t you want to play with the best scorer (and maybe) the best player in the league on your team?”

BROOKS

How can you not love this guy? The guy plays with so much passion. He plays with toughness. He plays for the team. And he’s improved every month since we’ve had him.”

I like the fact that he wants to be coached. He understands than he’s not a finished product. His family has done a great job of instilling that work ethic in him.”

PRESTI

Days like today are made possible because of our owner, Clay Bennett, who’s shown unwavering support in our efforts to build and sustain and elite basketball organization. We’re fortunate to have an owner as committed as Mr. Bennett is.”

As we began our conversations with Russell about remaining with us as a core member of our organization and team, he made it abundantly clear he wanted to continue to be part of the organization, as well as this community.”

Our expectations for Russ are high, and he knows this. We expect him to continue to develop, even though he’s 23 years old, in a myriad of ways.”

The guy is so resilient. It’s really hard to keep him down. He just continues to come back and work. That’s incredibly impressive.”

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The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed its All-Star point guard to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday.

Details of the deal were not released, per team policy. But according to Yahoo! Sports, which first reported the deal, Westbrook will earn more than $80 million over five years, the maximum number of years for which he could have re-signed.

The deal, which will go into effect next season, would keep Westbrook in Oklahoma City through the 2016-17 season.

“We are thrilled to solidify Russell’s future with the Thunder,” said team general manager Sam Presti in a statement. “Since we arrived in Oklahoma City, Russell’s work ethic, persistence, character and involvement in our community have helped us establish the standards that we are committed to on a day-to-day basis. He is a valued member of our organization and we look forward to his continued contributions on and off the floor.”

Westbrook has averaged 17.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, seven assists and 1.5 steals in 261 career games since being drafted fourth overall out of UCLA in 2008. He was selected by coaches as an NBA All-Star for the first time last season and was also an All-NBA Second Team selection following the 2010-11 season.

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NBA on TNT crew of Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

On Monday night on TNT, the Thunder beat the Boston Celtics for the third straight year inside TD Garden. For more than two hours, the telecast crew of Kevin Harlan, Mike Fratello, Chris Webber and David Aldridge heaped praise upon the Thunder, which has the NBA’s best record at 12-2 after its 97-88 victory at Boston. But when TNT joined its studio crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal outside Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Thunder quickly played second fiddle again.

Johnson asked the panel to pick a series winner between the Los Angeles Lakers and Thunder right now and all three without hesitation picked LA. The Lakers are too big and Kobe Bryant is simply too good for OKC to win.

LA then went out and nipped Dallas 73-70 on a 3-pointer from Derek Fisher with 3.1 seconds left. The Lakers scored seven total points in the third quarter, shot 38.2 percent from the field, shot 10 percent from 3-point range (1 for 10) and Bryant went 7 for 22 from the field and finished with 14 points.

Some excerpts from the TNT experts:

Webber on Thunder forward Serge Ibaka: “He is athletic, smart defensively. He’s a great shot blocker and a great inside presence.”

Fratello on Thunder head coach Scott Brooks: “He really knows his players and he knows which guys to let grow and develop and which ones he can get on a little bit harder.  He wants players to grow and experience this learning process and by the way, they’re winning a lot of games in this process.”

Webber on Thunder sixth man James Harden: “The best teams that I played against had role players that were superstars.  They took their role seriously and they knew the importance of their role to the team.  (Harden) has embraced his role (as sixth man) and has made sure that the bench is better for that.”

Smith on point guards Rajon Rondo of the Celtics and OKC’s Russell Westbrook: ”They are the only two teams that have guards, besides (Chicago’s) Derrick Rose, that consistently get into the paint.”

Fratello on Thunder forward Kevin Durant: “He is a very unselfish player.  He has the God-given ability to score the basketball whenever he wants to. He understands the team aspect of the game and is a willing passer.”

Barkley’s predictions on the best teams in the Western Conference: “The Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets are the two best teams I have seen in the West.”

O’Neal on the Thunder being 12-2: “They’ve had an easy schedule.”

As you can see from ESPNstats, the Thunder ranks No. 1 in the NBA in RPI and No. 8 in strength of schedule. O’Neal is partically right in that OKC often has played teams not at full strength such as San Antonio (no Manu Ginobili), New York (Carmelo Anthony), Memphis (Zach Randolph, Darrell Arthur) and New Orleans (Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza), but other teams also have enjoyed the same benefit. In addition, the Thunder also swept its back-to-back-to-back, won five games in six days and is on a seven-game winning streak.

Maynor injured his knee on a drive to the basket with 7:47 remaining in the fourth quarter Saturday night at Houston. He collapsed to the court and remained there for approximately two minutes before teammates had to carry him off the court.

“After further tests and evaluation this morning, it was revealed that Eric Maynor tore his right Anterier Cruciate Ligament in the fourth quarter of last night’s game in Houston,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a team-issued release. “The injury will require surgery and Eric will miss the remainder of the 2011-12 season.

“It’s unfortunate to lose a player like Eric, whose work ethic and leadership has contributed to the culture of our organization. Knowing him and the mental toughness he possesses, we are confident that he will do everything necessary to come back from this injury and be prepared for the 2012-13 season. Injuries are part of the NBA, and although it is tough to lose Eric, we must move forward and focus on our continued improvement as a basketball team.”

Maynor was a key reserve for the Thunder behind starting point guard Russell Westbrook, helping the Thunder establish one of the best second units in the NBA. In nine games, Maynor was averaging 4.2 points and 2.4 assists in 15.2 minutes per game. Last season, Maynor ranked ninth in the league in assists-to-turnover ratio at 3.09-to-1.

Rookie guard Reggie Jackson, the 24th overall pick out of Boston College, is expected to be relied upon to fill Maynor’s void. Jackson had only played sparingly going into Sunday’s game against San Antonio, averaging 2.3 points in 4.7 minutes in three appearances.

“That is an old NBA saying,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said Saturday night. “You better be ready because you never know…But Reggie’s been preparing himself. He’s been working with (assistant coach Brian Keefe) every day, sometimes too long because he wants more. Reggie is one of those guys who wants more. He’s a sponge. And he’ll be fine if that’s what it calls for.”

The Thunder also could look to veteran point guard Royal Ivey, who was steady in limited action last season. Ivey had not appeared in a game this season prior to Sunday’s contest against the Spurs. In 25 games last year, Ivey averaged 1.6 points in 6.2 minutes.

The Thunder won by three against the Rockets but left Houston with heavy hearts.

“It’s kind of bittersweet for all of us, knowing that we got the win,” said Kevin Durant after the game. “But seeing one of our brothers hurt like that is tough on all of us.”

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Thunder coach Scott Brooks leads the Houston Rockets out of the tunnel in the mid-1990s. Over his left shoulder is former Rockets teammate Matt Bullard.

Sam Presti in 2007, his first season as general manager for the Seattle SuperSonics.

On Sunday, when the Thunder faces the San Antonio Spurs at 6 p.m. inisde Chesapeake Energy Arena, it will be Sam Presti’s turn to face an old friend.

The Thunder general manager got his NBA start as a summer intern with the Spurs in 2000. He was promoted to special assistant in the summer of 2001 after leaving Emerson College in Concord, Mass., as that school’s first-ever Rhodes Scholar nominee. He served as the Spurs’ assistant general manager from 2005-07.

Presti then became general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007 at the age of 32 and already is considered among the league’s premier GMs. He promoted Brooks from assistant coach to interim head coach just 13 games into the franchise’s first season in Oklahoma City after relocatiing from Seattle in 2008.

As Brooks spoke of his days with the Rockets, standing to his left was former Houston forward Matt Bullard, now a television analyst with the Rockets. Brooks and Bullard were teammates in Houston from 1992-94.

Brooks still looks back on those days fondly, as you might expect given the Rockets’ tremendous success. “We were the first team to ever win a championship in a major sport in Houston,” Brooks said. “The fans were terrific. They supported us and those were great times playing games in The Summit (which is now Lakewood Church).”

One of Brooks’ teammates in Houston was Hall of Fame center Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, whom Brooks frequently refers to when discussing the best who ever played.

Center Hakeem Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets to two world titles.

Hakeem was the best on both ends (offense and defense) for five straight years,” Brooks said. “Olajuwon at that time, those two or three years I played there, he was at a level that we didn’t see and you might not ever see again. The guy never missed a shot in the fourth quarter. He made free throws, he made the right plays. He blocked everybody’s shot and he made guys like Bullard and myself lucky to play in the NBA.”

“And that’s the truth,” Bullard said. “We were just living with ‘The Dream.’ ”

Bullard playfully suggested it was he and Brooks who helped Olajuwon block all those shots by “funneling” the players they were guarding toward the basket.

• Serge Ibaka looks to be picking it up. His last two games have been filled with energy and effort. He had eight points on 4-of-4 shooting tonight and swatted two shots. He didn’t get major minutes because of the Suns’ lack of size. But Ibaka looks to be putting it together.

• The Thunder went up 17-5 in the first quarter and, really, never looked back. Great starts like the Thunder had tonight seem rare.

• Russell Westbrook was good tonight. He finished with one of his best games of the season, scoring 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting with  four assists and a season-low two turnovers. He was attacking the rim aggressively early and was back to his normal self putting pressure on the defense and being a pest in the passing lanes.

• After one quarter, seven Thunder players had scored 11 baskets. That became the theme of the night. OKC racked up 25 assists and shot 53.2 percent largely because of its unselfishness.

• The bench is great again. And it never gets old seeing how successful the second unit is. They went on a 27-12 run in the second quarter to turn a five-point lead at the start of the period into a 19-point advantage. During that spurt, four players scored and eight of the 10 made shots were assisted.

• Daequan Cook was key to the surge, scoring 12 points, all on 3s. He later left the game feeling ill. He was said to have flu-like symptoms.

• Don’t underestimate the game James Harden had tonight. He made only one of six shots but still flirted with a triple double with 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Harden had five of the eight assists during that second quarter 27-12 run.

• Not sure why Scott Brooks took out the B team in the last four minutes of the second quarter. Eric Maynor wasn’t either. As Westbrook replaced him, Maynor walked toward the bench and asked “Why?” That’s the same thing I want to know. The bench built the lead, and the starters almost gave it back. The Suns got within 14 at the half.

• I feel bad for Steve Nash. The guy is too good to have to finish his career on a team like this.

• Nash seems to know it. He almost looked like he was going through the motions out there. We’ve seen him play with much more passion than he did tonight.

• Turnovers continue to be a problem. The Thunder had 21 tonight, leading to 21 Suns points.

• Thanks to the blowout, Lazar Hayward and Reggie Jackson made their Thunder debuts tonight. Both scored, Jackson on a driving layup late in the game.

• After the game, Kendrick Perkins explained to me why he’s shut down his Twitter account, terminating perhaps the best account in the site’s history. “I don’t know how to shut my mouth,” he said. When I asked if he’ll come back soon he said, “I been anxious to get back on. But I don’t think Sam Presti wants that.”

• Thabo Sefolosha was shooting with confidence tonight. He made two of his three 3-point attempts and looked comfortable doing so.

• Cole Aldrich caught an alley-oop from Maynor. Didn’t expect to see that.

• Kevin Durant’s streak of 30-point games came to an end tonight at four. He scored just 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting. More than anything, that illustrates how great a team win this was. Durant never got rolling and really never needed to.

• What is it about sequin shirts on New Year’s Eve? I saw enough tonight for all of 2012.

• The Thunder held the Suns to five fast break points. This isn’t the same run and gun Suns. But that’s still impressive so long as Steve Nash is at the helm.

• Not much more to say after this one. That’s five in a row now for the Thunder. And unlike last year, it really doesn’t feel like much of an achievement. I guess that’s the effect of expectations.

• Up next: At Dallas on Monday.

• Happy New Year, Thunder heads.

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Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (left) would not be with the Thunder if GM Sam Presti didn't once trade for Kurt Thomas.

Everyone wants to, or has been asked to, weigh in on the vetoed Chris Paul trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Emotions have ranged from outrage to downright distrust.

While expressing his opinion in an interview with a San Francisco radio station, TNT analyst Steve Kerr sounded off about his anger. Kerr, a five-time champion during his 15 NBA seasons, called the nixed three-team deal “a great basketball trade.” He then admitted that, generally, that’s not the case throughout the league. The most interesting part came when Kerr confessed that even he pulled the trigger on one of those not-so-great trades in basketball history back when he was president of the Phoenix Suns.

There are so many trades made these days that are lousy trades that are made for financial purposes. I mean, I made (when he was Suns President) one of the worst trades in NBA history. I traded Kurt Thomas and two first-round picks to Seattle for nothing, to save $16 million for our organization. Where was the NBA then to veto that trade for basketball reasons?”

That was then-Sonics GM Sam Presti at work. I’ve written about the creativeness of this deal and its impact on the present day Thunder roster on several occasions.

First and foremost, Presti was able to acquire Thomas and his $8.1 million contract only because he jettisoned Rashard Lewis to Orlando in a sign-and-trade rather than agreeing to give him an albatross contract of $118 million over six seasons. Many Seattle fans at the time swore not re-signing Lewis was a part of a grand plan to blow up the team so it could move to Oklahoma City. But Presti used part of the $9 million trade exception he obtained from Orlando in that sign-and-trade to take on Thomas (and essentially pilfer to two first round picks, one in 2008 and another in 2010) without giving up anything more than a conditional second-round selection.

Presti then shipped Thomas to San Antonio at the trade deadline that same season for Brent Barry, Francisco Elson and a 2009 first-round pick.

In the end, it was a work of art.

The 2008 first-rounder turned into Serge Ibaka, once an unknown prospect and now the Thunder’s starting power forward.

The 2009 pick from San Antonio became Byron Mullens.

The 2010 pick was packaged to land the Thunder Cole Aldrich.

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We are excited that we were able to reach an agreement that will keep Daequan a part of our core group moving forward,” said Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. “Daequan’s commitment to his own development and willingness to accept a role within our team, makes him a valuable member of our organization. At twenty-four years old, we believe Daequan’s best basketball is ahead of him. His desire to remain a part of the Thunder organization and the Oklahoma City community is what ultimately allowed us to reach this agreement.”

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Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti has plenty to smile about these days.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti met with the media today for his annual preseason address. And if there is ever one place you’re assured to not find any sort of guarantees, predictions or ultimatums at the start of a season it’s a Presti press conference. It’s just not happening. Ever.

Instead, Presti speaks more philosophically about the franchise and which direction it is headed. He talks about ideals and principles and values and commitment. Pay close enough attention to what Presti says, though, and not only will the direction of the organization become clear, but often times the internal expectations do as well.

Here’s a rundown of what Presti touched on today.

• He said the team’s focus is on three things as the season gets started.
  1. A commitment to the same approach that has been in play the last couple of years.
  2. Continuing to evolve in the areas that are associated with high-performing teams.
  3. Expectations remain the same. “They’re based on the internal standards that we have established and lived by on a day-to-day basis within the walls of our practice facility,” Presti said.
• As a follow-up to No. 1, Presti said that approach entails having great communication on the floor, attention to detail, execution, an ability to recognize situations within the game and the year and making necessary sacrifices to be an elite team. “We took major strides in these areas last season, and our players and our coaches deserve a lot of credit for that,” Presti said. “As we continue to progress in these areas, these will be the areas that will help define us as we move forward.”

• They want to continue to be an organization that focuses on how it will accomplish the goals and not just focusing on what it seeks to accomplish.

• Defense and discipline must continue to be a staple. “We want to be a team that plays with a defensive disposition,” Presti said. “We want to be a team that brings an intensity level to the floor each time we take the floor. We want to be a team that displays discipline during periods of success, during periods of adversity and also during periods of monotony that takes place during the year.”

• Last year’s success is in the review mirror.”We got to this point by learning from the past but also focusing on the present and committing to the ideal that the results will take care of themselves as long as we stay committed to the internal standards that we have and the consistency that we display to those,” Presti said.

• Nothing will be handed to the Thunder this year. “We still have to grind out the work every day without expectation or entitlement despite the shortened season,” Presti said.

Other player-specific topics after the jump.

ON HIS REACTION TO KEVIN DURANT’S SUMMER EXPLOITS
“One thing we know about Kevin is he’s an active guy. He’s going to play. And I’ve got total confidence in him that the No. 1 priority for him is always to be ready to perform at the highest level. And knowing him, he wouldn’t jeopardize that.”

ON HOW KENDRICK PERKINS, WHO IS SCHEDULED TO RETURN TODAY, HAS LOOKED
“From all the reports we’ve received, he’s had a very productive summer. We anticipated that. Not a lot of people would have been back on the floor as quickly as he was last year. He pushed himself incredibly hard to be able to contribute. Coming into the season, I know he has high standards for himself. We’re excited to see him and see where he is. But it wouldn’t surprise me if he comes back in great condition and great shape because he has that kind of work ethic.”

ON WHAT THE TEAM LEARNED FROM LAST YEAR’S PLAYOFFS
“I think there’s a lot of things that you learn as you go through a process like that. But I think one of the things that helped us was we played some very different series. We played in a series that we needed to show a lot of restraint against a very quick team that liked to push the ball. We played a very physical series with Memphis. And then we also played a very tactical series with Dallas. All those experiences, I think, will help us improve. In addition to that, just the mental energy that it takes to go through a season like that.”

ON PLAYERS GETTING IN AND READY FOR THE START OF CAMP FRIDAY
“We anticipate having our group in place and ready to take the floor. That’s not to say that there couldn’t be some hiccups along the way, but as of now we expect to take the floor and have our group in place.”

ON THE SCHEDULE
“Everybody has to play the same amount of games. It’s going to be up to each team to prepare themselves on a day-to-day basis, and I’ve got tremendous confidence in Scott and our players that they’re going to be able to manage that and be ready to play each night.”

ON A RUSHED FREE AGENCY
“We’re going to continue to focus on making the best decisions for our team, both in the short and long term, and not allowing the circumstances to allow us to make decisions that would be inconsistent with our processes in the past.

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Today’s topic in the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement:

AMNESTY

2005 CBA: One player could be waived prior to the 2005-06 season. Salary of waived player did not count toward luxury tax.

2011 CBA: One player can be waived prior to the start of any season, throughout the length of the new CBA agreement. Only one player can be amnestied and it must be from a previously existing contract. Contracts signed under the 2011 CBA are not eligible. The salary of the waived player will not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax. Teams with cap room can submit competing offers to acquire an amnestied player at a reduced rate before free agency and that player can sign with any team.

Definition: Amnesty is defined as “a general pardon granted by a government, especially for political offenses.” The NBA definition could be something along the lines of “a delete button for organizations that feel they’re paying a player too darn much.” In the NBA version of Monopoly, this is the equivalent of a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card. It’s also an opportunity for a player to get out of a bad situation at full salary. Teams with cap room can benefit greatly from amnesty by being able to submit a competing offer to claim an amnestied player at a reduced rate. Example: If Cleveland uses its amnesty provision on guard Baron Davis ($28.8 million for two years), a team that is $5 million below the salary cap can submit a $5 million offer to acquire Davis’ contract. If that offer is the highest, the team acquires Davis and is responsible for $5 million of his salary, with Cleveland responsible for the balance ($23.8 million).

Winners: Tough-luck owners, dumb owners. Sadly, amnesty penalizes teams that have chosen wisely, invested well and don’t need to be bailed out (see Thunder). Immediate executors of the amnesty clause figure to include Portland (Brandon Roy), Orlando (Gilbert Arenas), Cleveland (Davis), Detroit (Richard Hamilton), New Jersey (Travis Outlaw) and Charlotte (DeSagana Diop). Washington is so out of whack, the Wizards might choose to keep Rashard Lewis just to reach the increased league minimum. The benefits of amnesty are greater now than in 2005 because 100 percent of the player’s salary is removed for both cap and tax purposes. Also, rather than having to use amnesty this season, teams can save it for later use throughout the length of this new CBA. Teams like the Thunder will have an amnesty hole card, but likely will never reap the same financial break of tough-luck owners and dumb owners.