Brett Dawson (The Athletic) on Patrick Patterson coming into camp in much better shape than last season: “The Thunder forward had spent much of a healthy summer out of town, but back in Oklahoma City, remnants of a previous life lingered, their expiration dates not yet passed. Tony the Tiger stared him down from a box of Frosted Flakes, tucked in a cupboard with Toast Crunch, both Cinnamon and French.”

Nick Gallo (OKCThunder.com) on the Thunder’s desire to play faster: “Donovan knew that in order to get this style of play ingrained into the players from the get-go, it would have to be installed into five-on-five work from the very outset of camp. So while there has certainly been drill work the past few days, the team has been encouraged by the opportunities to get out there in live settings and compete with their speed-based approach. Even without Russell Westbrook and Andre Roberson in action, there are still 18 players in camp that Donovan has been rotating through, making sure that newcomers and Thunder veterans alike are getting acclimated to one another.”

Erik Horne (NewsOK) on the Thunder’s increase in scrimmaging over the first few days of training camp: “I think Dennis being a point guard needs to get comfortable with those two guys because they’re going to be on the floor quite a bit together with Russell being out,” Donovan said. “I wanted that to happen some. But also, Dennis has to play with Patrick, he’s got to play with Jerami (Grant), he’s gonna have to play with Terrance (Ferguson). I’m less worried about the groupings of who’s playing together, but more like ‘let’s make sure these guys get a chance to play with one another.’”

Lawrence George (Thunderous Intentions) on whether the Thunder are built to win now or in the near future: “The moves Sam Presti made this Summer reflect a win-now mentality as well as a view for the future. However, we have seen this movie previously. One of KD’s primary criticisms of Oklahoma City’s roster construction was the lack of veterans in the squad that helps the team win now. Outside of the starting unit, only Patrick Patterson and Raymond Felton are the Thunder’s true veterans. With 2-Pat presumably set to start at power forward, OKC’s second unit will be lead by Schroder who is the most experienced of those not in the starting five.”

Paul George, on helping rookie Hamidou Diallo: