Erik Horne (NewsOK) on the prowess of Dennis Schröder in the pick and roll and an update on Andre Roberson: “When Thunder post-practice opened to the media, Roberson was in a rotation of wing players taking catch-and-shoot 3-pointers off passes from team assistants. It wasn’t a lot of movement, but when the drill was finished, Roberson chased after a ball without running and even gave it a few kicks before corralling it.”

Grant Afseth (OKC Thunder Wire) on how the bench role could help Schröder: “The top area where Schröder will make an impact for Oklahoma City will be with his playmaking and ability to run an offense. The Thunder are used to having a high-usage guard like Westbrook in their starting unit as their focal point, and they haven’t had someone on their bench to lean on in a similar fashion. That’s where Schröder comes into play.”

Nick Gallo (OKCThunder.com) with the first practice report for the new season: “Donovan puts defense first so it may be tempting for him to go deep in that direction right away to start camp, but on the very first day of practice with relative continuity and only a handful of new faces, the Thunder coaching staff was able to go at a steady pace throughout practice, riding that line of moving along briskly without blowing past any important concepts. Of course, at the very dawn of what will be a long year full of practices, it was more important for Donovan to focus on big picture items like style of play and standards rather than specific coverages or sets.”

James Horvath (Thunder Digest) on Jerami Grant gearing up for primetime: “Grant is one of two players that could be starting at the Power Forward position this year, with Patrick Patterson being the other option. Patterson brings more of a shooting approach with corner 3s, while playing Grant would sacrifice three-point shooting for more athleticism and switching power on the defensive end.”

Berry Tramel (NewsOK) on Terrance Ferguson’s upcoming second season: “You know, once you get a year under your belt, you always feel more comfortable. Last year was definitely new to me, obviously playing my first year, but coming into this year, 20 years old, having a year under my belt, definitely feel more confident, more focused, changing my body up, changing my eating habits up, and I’ve got a little girl on the way, so that changing up my whole focus, as well.”

Clay Horning (Norman Transcript) on Westbrook’s leadership and Billy Donovan’s advice to younger players: “Obviously, he plays with great energy and passion and always leaves it out there physically on the floor,” Donovan said. “But there’s a lot of things he does behind close doors in the locker room, in practice, even at night with guys. You know, he organizes things with the guys so they can go to dinner together.”