Oklahoma City Thunder 2015 roster: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are healthy and hungry.

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

After a 2014-15 season mired by injury, the Thunder are back at full force and looking for the first championship in franchise history.

Last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2009 as the result of terrible injury luck. The front office used the lost year to make some much needed tweaks to the roster and the bench. A multi-player mid-season trade brought in depth in the form of D.J. Augustin, Kyle Singler and Enes Kanter and got rid of Kendrick Perkins and a disgruntled Reggie Jackson. Then in the offseason, coach Scott Brooks was let go, with former University of Florida coach Billy Donovan taking over the position.

Now with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka all healthy, the Thunder will reclaim their rightful spot among the West's elite. With Durant's free agency looming, the team's payroll is higher than ever, as front office and ownership realized this might be their best shot at a title. The talent is there for a deep run, even in an ultra competitive conference.

Whether the players can adapt to a new system and new teammates quickly enough to grab a high seed remains to be seen but no one will want to cross paths with the Thunder in the playoffs if they are healthy.

LAST YEAR

RECORD: 45-37 (ninth in the Western Conference)
PLAYOFFS (if applicable): missed
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 104.5 (11th in the league)
DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 103.1 (16th in the league)

ROSTER

No.	PLAYER	POS	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	AGE	COLLEGE
0	Russell Westbrook	PG	6'3	200	26	UCLA
2	Anthony Morrow	SG	6'5	210	30	Georgia Tech
3	Dion Waiters	SG	6'4	225	23	Syracuse
4	Nick Collison	PF	6'10	255	34	Kansas
5	Kyle Singler	SF	6'8	228	27	Duke
6	Steve Novak	F	6'10	225	32	Marquette
9	Serge Ibaka	PF	6'10	245	26	Rep. of Congo
11	Enes Kanter	C	6'11	245	23	Kentucky
12	Steven Adams	C	7'0	255	22	Pittsburgh
14	D.J. Augustin	PG	6'0	183	27	Texas
21	Andre Roberson	SG	6'7	210	23	Colorado
22	Cameron Payne	PG	6'3	185	21	Murray State
33	Mitch McGary	C	6'10	255	23	Michigan
34	Josh Huestis	SF	6'7	230	23	Stanford
35	Kevin Durant	F	6'9	240	27	Texas

Coach: Billy Donovan

Assistant coaches: Monty Williams, Maurice Cheeks, Anthony Brown, Mark Bryant, Darko Rajakovic

OFFSEASON CHANGES

IN: Billy Donovan (coach), Cameron Payne (draft), Josh Huestis
OUT: Scott Brooks (coach), Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones

The Thunder made their roster upgrades during the season, making the coaching change the big move of the summer. Scott Brooks leaves the Thunder with a .620 record but with the talent available to him only one trip to the finals wasn't enough.

Since they are over the tax for the first time in franchise history, the front office got rid of Lamb and Jones to reduce their tax bill and added 2014 and 2015 first-round picks Cameron Payne and Josh Huestis.

DEPTH CHART

	POINT GUARD	SHOOTING GUARD	SMALL FORWARD	POWER FORWARD	CENTER
STARTER	Russell Westbrook	Andre Roberson	Kevin Durant	Serge Ibaka	Enes Kanter
RESERVE	D.J. Augustin	Dion Waiters	Kyle Singler	Nick Collison	Steven Adams
RESERVE	Cameron Payne	Anthony Morrow	Josh Huestis	Steve Novak	Mitch McGary
RESERVE

THE KEY QUESTION. What separates this Thunder team from others?

KD and Westbrook are the leaders now. With the departure of faces like Kendrick Perkins and Derek Fisher, it's been up to the Thunder's stars to guide the team. Furthermore, the Thunder are much better from beyond the arc than they used to be.

Most of the Thunder's big recent acquisition during last season (Waiters, Singler, Augustin, Novak, Kanter, Payne) have decent averages from beyond the arc. During the Thunder's strong playoff runs in 2012 and 2014, their three-point percentage was middle of the pack. Certainly, this year's OKC team will rank in the league's top 10.

- Marina Mangiaracina, Welcome To Loud City. Read the full Thunder season preview here.

PREDICTIONS

BEST CASE: Donovan finally introduces a nuanced offense that maximizes the talents of Westbrook and Durant. Serge Ibaka makes up for Enes Kanter's defensive limitations and the Thunder make it out of the West, win the NBA Finals and lock up Durant to a multi-year contract.

WORST CASE: Lack of familiarity leads to some early losses, the offense continues to rely on Westbrook's and Durant's ability to create for themselves and the defense suffers with the addition of Kanter. The Thunder don't make it past the second round and Durant leaves in the offseason.

How is Kevin Durant's health? Don't ask him. Really?

TULSA, Okla. -- You can tell Kevin Durant is already getting tired of the questions.

No, not those questions.

The ones about how he feels. If he's rusty. If he's back. When he thinks he'll be back.

"I told myself I'm not going to answer that question no more," Durant said after being asked how he felt after the Thunder's 100-88 preseason win over a patchwork Mavericks team.

With two weeks of training camp down and three preseason games in the books, Durant is trying to put the trials of a surgery-filled 2014-15 season behind him. In the first two exhibition games, he looked every bit the player he once was, showcasing his trademark explosiveness, silky smooth touch and endless range.

But against the Mavs on Tuesday, he started just 1-for-9 from the floor and turned the ball over five times. He was sloppy. He missed open shots. He was off.

"It was still frustrating, because I want 'em to go in, I want every shot to go in," Durant said. "I got great looks though, man. I was 4-for-12, but I could've easily been 10-of-12. A few shots I just missed, but other than that a few went in and out -- yeah, I could've easily been 10-of-12. I'm still pissed off I missed them, but it's part of the game and I can't harp on it too long. Just got to get rid of it and keep getting better."

Durant logged 20 minutes and ended with a flurry, hitting his final three shots on hard drives to the bucket, which included capping it off with a tough and-1 through contact to finish with 10 points. Naturally, because of last season's injuries, there's a curiosity about where Durant is, whether he is holding back, whether he has returned to form.

During last week's preseason win over Fenerbahce, Durant had a breakaway dunk, and the Oklahoma City crowd began to buzz as he neared the 3-point line. Durant went with a very vanilla finish, almost delicately placing it in the rim. Did he hold back?

“That’s how I usually do it. I’m not a huge fast-break dunker. That’s what I usually do," he said. "You guys are making me feel like, ‘Damn, I’m not supposed to have bad days or regular dunks.’ S---, I was doing this before I was hurt. I felt the same, man. You won’t see a windmill or 360 from me. I’m kind of basic.”

But like the free-agency questions that will dog him all season, the questions about his health will likewise persist. Durant is fine, he really is. Not every bad shooting night or ugly turnover is a sign of rust. It's a sign that it's October. For Durant, he's trying to round out the finer points, the little things that every player deals with coming into training camp. He noted how he spent all summer working by himself, so he's readjusting to making tough shots again. He talked about how he's trying to settle back into his normal routine, particularly on game days, mentally prepping for the night ahead.

How he feels, though?

"I feel great out on the court," he said. "I don't feel tired, I don't feel weak."

So that's that. Don't ask him again.

Kevin Durant Scores 15 in Return From Injury for Thunder

Kevin Durant scored 15 points in 22 minutes in his first NBA game in eight months and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 122-99 in the preseason opener for both teams on Wednesday night.

THUNDER: Durant had not played since Feb. 19 because of a broken right foot. He made 5 of 8 shots and had four assists. ... Russell Westbrook had 14 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in 22 minutes. ... Serge Ibaka had 18 points and six boards in coach Billy Donovan's NBA debut.

TIMBERWOLVES: Karl-Anthony Towns, the No. 1 overall pick, had 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting in his NBA debut. ... Gorgui Dieng scored 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

STAR WATCH: Durant showed no ill effects after needing three surgeries to repair his right foot. ... Towns made his first four shots in a sharp debut.

UP NEXT: The Timberwolves travel to Winnipeg for a game against Toronto on Saturday. ... The Thunder host Turkish team Fenerbahce on Friday.

Kevin Durant: Comment from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith not true

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thunder star Kevin Durant said Friday that a comment from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith indicating the star forward would consider Los Angeles his "primary objective" if he didn't re-sign in Oklahoma City next summer isn't true.

"I don't talk to Stephen A. Smith at all," Durant told reporters. "Nobody in my family, my friends -- they don't talk to Stephen A Smith. So he's lying."

On First Take on Tuesday, Smith said, "Regardless of how senseless it may [sound], in one breath I'm hearing that if Kevin Durant doesn't stay in Oklahoma City, L.A. is his primary objective and landing spot as opposed to South Beach or even his home of Washington, D.C."

Durant, an unrestricted free agent next summer, had previously warned reporters at USA Basketball minicamp in August not to put stock in anonymous reporting, and he reiterated that on Friday.

"If you ask me a question, I'll talk about them," Durant said. "But like I said before, I have people who I talk to about everything, and I know for a fact they didn't talk to him, so he's making up stories."

Smith responded to Durant via Twitter after the former MVP's comments.

"At NO time did I ever say I SPOKE to K.D. Or his family. Or his brother, friends, teammates, etc. (although I can assure you all I have on several occasions in the past)," Smith wrote. "I said I HEARD from folks I know -- in a league I've been covering for 19 years -- that if he were to leave OKC as a free agent, these are the cities I was told he was considering. OKC. LA. Miami. DC. NY. I stand by it all. And that is that. His assertion that I was lying is not only FALSE, but totally uncalled for. Especially from a player who receives nothing but praise not only from me, but from practically every media member you can find.

"Yet, for some reason, we're all the same folks who don't know *&%$ about the game of basketball. Whose thoughts he could give a &^%$ about. Essentially, individuals he wishes he'd never have to talk to.....that he's being forced to tolerate.....as if someone has done something to him.....OF ALL PEOPLE!

"Don't know what has happened to Mr. Durant over the years. But I know this much: We all win with his return, because he is an absolute superstar. The NBA is better with him. We're all at a loss without him.

"It just appears that @KDTrey5 needs to learn something about today's world in professional sports: We don't have to talk TO HIM to talk ABOUT HIM! Folks like ME will still be here. Watching! Listening! Waiting! Reporting! Whether he likes it or not. While he's here and long after he's gone. Time to get use to it."

'The Herd': Durant wants to join Lakers if he leaves Thunder

http://www.foxsports.com/video?vid=535184451753

Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant has made no indications that he plans on leaving the Thunder when he hits free agency in 2016, but that's not going to stop the rumor mill from running rampant.

One such rumor: Durant to the Los Angeles Lakers.

FS1's Colin Cowherd said there is some truth to the rumor — first reported by ESPN's Stephen A. Smith — that Durant prefers the Lakers if he chooses to leave the Thunder. Watch his take in the video above.

"Regardless of how senseless it may (sound), in one breath I’m hearing that if Kevin Durant doesn’t stay in Oklahoma City, L.A. is his primary objective and landing spot as opposed to South Beach or even his home of Washington, D.C.," Smith said on "First Take," according to Steve DelVecchio of Larry Brown Sports.

If this is report is true, it would buck the recent trend. While the Lakers have still been getting meetings with elite stars over the past few summers, they haven't been able to sell players on a Kobe Bryant-, Byron Scott- and Jim Buss-led core.

Now, however, the Lakers have tantalizing young talent with D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. Bryant appears to be on his way out in the next year or two. Scott struggled through a 21-61 first season coaching the Lakers. And who knows how long Buss will continue to call the shots if the Lakers keep struggling.

The Lakers have a rich tradition of winning, and someone has to take the torch from Bryant. Durant is the type of player Bryant would have no choice but to accept and respect. The two have played together on the 2008 and 2012 Olympics squads and supposedly are fond of each other.


What will Kobe's role be if he doesn't retire? - 'The Herd'
That doesn't mean Durant is going to join L.A. But it's not far-fetched.

Durant will have the option to join basically any team next summer. The Lakers are not the only attractive alternative. The Wizards were perceived to be the biggest possibility, as they're Durant's hometown team and have a nice young core of John Wall and Bradley Beal.

Until next summer, though, it's all speculation.