National Basketball Association

Durant hoping to lift Thunder into NBA's elite

Published Oct. 23, 2010 9:01 a.m. ET

foxsports

Kevin Durant has already proven he is among the NBA's elite players. He'd like to take his team to the same level.

At age 21, Durant became the youngest scoring champion in league history last season, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder into the playoffs for the first time since the franchise relocated from Seattle.

Every player in his supporting cast - the nine who made up Oklahoma City's regular rotation - is back from last year's roster that won 50 games and got within a last-second tip-in of pushing the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers to a seventh game in the first round of the playoffs.

The Thunder could be on the verge of becoming a contender in the Western Conference, just two seasons removed from their 23-win debut in Oklahoma City.

''I think we have confidence but we still know that last year is over with,'' Durant said. ''We know that we had a good year, we made it to the playoffs, but this year we know that we've got to start back at square one. We've got to work hard every day to get better, continue to fight every day and work together as a team and continue to be one group.

''I think if we do that, the sky's the limit for us.''

Durant spent the summer raising his profile around the globe, leading the U.S. to its first gold medal at the world championships since 1994. He also signed a contract extension to stay with the Thunder for another five years.

Other than that, Oklahoma City had a relatively quiet offseason. Guards Daequan Cook, Morris Peterson and Royal Ivey were brought in to provide some experience to a youthful backcourt that features Russell Westbrook in his third year and James Harden and Eric Maynor, both rookies last season.

Rookie center Cole Aldrich was the key draft day acquisition, coming over in a trade from New Orleans after he was taken with the No. 11 pick.

''It's a big year for us as a team,'' forward Jeff Green said. ''We're coming off a great season last year, so there's going to be a lot of spotlight on us and there's going to be a lot of pressure on us to try to duplicate that.''

It all starts with Durant, who averaged 30.1 points last season and said he believes he's come back with improved ballhandling and post-up moves from his time playing at the world championships. Scott Brooks, last season's NBA coach of the year, has said he wants Durant to cut down on his turnovers.

Durant finished the preseason with an eight-assist, no-turnover performance against New Orleans, the first time Oklahoma City had all five of its starters together.

''It's all about carrying it over to the regular season,'' Durant said. ''Hopefully, you'll see more games like that from me.''

Durant's turnovers increased to a career-high 3.3 per game last season while his assist average stayed steady at 2.8 per game. He said he believes he's done a good job of helping his teammates through leadership, but now he wants to be ''really making them better on the court.''

''He's a talented kid that really, really pushes himself every day to get better. That's what makes players,'' Brooks said. ''You don't just wake up one morning and be a good player. You have to put a lot of time in.

''He really thinks of himself as a guy that just has to work extremely hard to make a team. He has that mentality, and that's what champions are made of.''

The Thunder believe that work ethic spread throughout the team last season, leading to a 27-win improvement and the franchise's first postseason appearance since 2005. But it's no given that Oklahoma City, the No. 8 seed in the West last season, will be back - especially since the element of surprise is no longer there.

''We know what we did last year and where it came from was hard work and dedication at practice, dedication to one another,'' guard Thabo Sefolosha said. ''That's definitely something that we've got to bring back this year because nothing's going to be given to us.''