FanHouse Kevindurant

With the start of the 2009-10 season looming, NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

Madison Square Garden is the crown jewel of NBA arenas. It's the oldest building in the league, and has hosted a ton of special moments throughout its history. Many of those moments likely helped shaped the hoop dreams of many of the league's current stars.

Of course, no one had a greater influence on making MSG a special place to play than Michael Jordan (sorry, Knicks fans). Since Jordan, every NBA player has wanted to come to the Garden and put on a show.

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The English dictionary defines relentless as "Jeff freaking Green." I'm not kidding. Go look it up. And if it doesn't say that, then your dictionary has been scared into a lie.

Jeff Green is the other-other Thunder. If Russell Westbrook is The Edge to Kevin Durant's Bono, Jeff Green is one of the other U2 members that you don't actually know because they aren't The Edge or Bono. But if you haven't been paying attention to Green because you've been too busy calling your friends to tell them Kevin Durant is breaking your mindskull, take a second look at the power forward for the Thunder. Because if Oklahoma City is going to take the next step this season, it won't be on the back of Westbrook, but the man they call Predator.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The goal of the Oklahoma City Thunder should be apparent: Rise from the dregs of the Western Conference and into the middle-of-the-pack. That's a realistic endeavor, and it will be the responsibility of coach Scott Brooks to get the Thunder there.

Nobody expects the Thunder to be lumped in with the Lakers, Spurs, Blazers, Nuggets, Mavericks or even Hornets. But it does seem doable for OKC to gain some separation from the Kings, Timberwolves and Grizzlies of the world.

In our inaugural edition of the NBA Twitter mailbag, we've got some interesting topics to get us started. How will Shaq's ego fit in Cleveland? Is Kevin Durant getting the attention he deserves? And what's left on the Celtics' summer to-do list?

These questions and more, answered for you below.

LAS VEGAS -- The question for the Oklahoma City Thunder is whether premium free agents will want to play in a city with little NBA reputation. That question will loom large in coming years because the Thunder will have a satchel full of money and cap space to attract an All-Star caliber player to join Kevin Durant, James Harden and Jeff Green.

Until then, the Thunder will rely on the draft and clever moves such as the mid-season signing of Nenad Krstic and the acquisition of former lottery pick Thabo Sefolosha. Oklahoma City has one of the NBA's lowest payrolls -- although many critics would say that's due to the thriftiness of owner Clay Bennett -- and just $20 million committed to players after the 2010-11 season. But will any of those potential 2010 free agents -- a class that includes LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Dirk Nowitzki -- consider the Dust Bowl?

The NBA features an 82 game season. As such, some weird stuff is going to happen. The Clippers will beat the Celtics. The Kings will beat the Suns. And often times, they're simply the result of back-to-backs, injuries, or that most crucial of variables: a bad shooting night.

But tonight was kind of different. As Robin Williams once said (yeah, I'm quoting Robin Williams, you got a problem with that?), "It's not the end of civilization, but you can see it from there."

The Charlotte Bobcats defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 94-84.

Less than an hour later, the Oklahoma Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 96-95.

Okay, two lottery (most likely) teams beat two perennial contenders. Your average bizarro night. But there were things in these wins that forecast the future.

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day. Want to submit an item? Hit us up on Twitter (@NBAFanHouse, #essentials).

* "During a recent trip to Toronto earlier this month, Matt Bonner talked with the media about how the combination of his grandfather - a 'Newfie' as he affectionately referred to him - and his wife being from Canada has led him to feel a strong connection to this country. Bonner also recently discovered that he has some cousins who are Canadian. Because of these factors Bonner has decided to file the necessary paperwork to gain his Canadian citizenship. Not only that, but he's also expressed a strong desire to play the Canadian national team." -- Hoops Addict.

Shaquille O'Neal stunned the world (in a "wow, now I remember why I freaking love Shaq" kind of way) when he broke out in freestyle dance with the JabbaWockeeZ during the All-Star Game lineup introductions. But he wasn't the only one breaking it down with the hip-hop (?) stars (??) over the weekend. Turns out, Kevin Garnett and Kevin Durant both got down too.



Via NESW Sports, courtesy of Mission G ... who has yet to offer me a G Blogger package. Ahem ... No, seriously, Gatorade folks. Hit me up. I'm easy.

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Andre Miller didn't move at the deadline, despite Philadelphia's season not living up to expectations and Dre due for July free agency. To be honest, there didn't seem to be as much interest in Miller as you would have predicted. Perhaps that came from the Sixers shutting down inquiries. It's easy to see why when Dre goes off as he did Saturday, whipping out 30 points, nine rebounds, two assists and no turnovers.