Kevin Durant plans to take a hands-on approach to Perry Jones’ development as an NBA player.

“Perry and I got close over the last few months after we drafted him,” Durant said. “I was happy that he reached a goal, a dream that he had been wanting for a long time...We have a good relationship and I’m looking forward to taking him under my wing and also learning a lot with him as well. I’m just trying to help him become the best and I’m sure he’s going to try to help me become the best as well. It’s going to be a fun relationship.”

Durant reached out in June, just days after Thunder selected the 6-foot-11 Jones with the 28th pick of the draft.

“He’s a guy that really cares about his team and his teammates,” Jones said earlier this summer. “A lot of people at his level, players like that, most of them care about themselves. It’s very rare to come around a type of player like that who cares about his team.”

Kevin Durant believes he's approaching the prime of his NBA career.

“I’ve heard a few times, in three or four years, this league is going to be yours. . . . I don’t like that. Because I think I’m established now. My time is now,” Durant said. “I feel as though I’ve proved myself these last five years that I can be one of the top players in the league. I’ve got a long way to go to being the ultimate best, but I think my time is now. And I’m starting to enter my prime.”

The 23-year-old three-time scoring champion said he will continue to move at his current pace, with the expectation that he’ll eventually win an NBA title.

“I’m not going to let people define my career as a player thus far if I don’t win a championship,” Durant said. “They are going to say I’m a bust or I flopped or that I didn’t have a good career in the NBA because I didn’t win a championship in the time that they wanted me to do it? I’m just going to keep enjoying what I’m doing and hopefully I get there sooner than later.”

Paul Lukas of Uni Watch ranks the uniforms of all 30 NBA teams, with the Celtics coming in first.

"The Rolling Stones, "Goodfellas," a Hershey's with almonds -- the classics are classic for a reason," writes Lukas about the Celtics. "That definitely applies to the Celtics' set. No goofy side panels, no extraneous bells or whistles -- just a perfect, vertically arched wordmark and a simple green-and-white color scheme. They rank atop this list despite sometimes wearing that black-trimmed alternate."

The Spurs, Lakers, Warriors and Jazz comprise the remainder of the top-five.

"The Raiders aren't the only team that knows how to wear silver and black," writes Lukas in regards to the Spurs. "In addition to the killer colors, the Spurs are also among the few NBA teams that have successfully incorporated a graphic image into their chest typography -- a small element that goes a long way."

6. Wizards
7. Thunder
8. Heat
9. Knicks
10. Blazers
11. Pistons
12. Pacers
13. Bulls
14. 76ers
15. Hornets
16. Suns
17. Grizzlies
18. Nuggets
19. Rockets
20. Hawks
21. Raptors
22. Bucks
23. Cavaliers
24. Mavericks
25. Clippers
26. Bobcats
27. Magic 
28. Wolves
29. Nets (based on last year's set)
30. Kings 

In a recent interview, Kevin Durant described how playing with Team USA taught him to focus on the little things that help win games.

“Just the focus and the energy that you have to have every single day,” Durant said when asked what he learned from his Olympic experience. “The details you have to pay attention to every day. That’s why we won the Gold. For every winning team, it’s the small things that win, not how many points LeBron (James) scores or Kobe (Bryant) scores or me.

“It’s about the deflections we get, the steals, the blocked shots, the charges we take. Small things like that that we do is going to separate us because everybody at this level is good at the major things in the game. That’s what I learned and hopefully we do it in (Oklahoma City) every game.”

Durant led the U.S. in scoring (19.5 ppg) and ranked second in rebounding (5.8 rpg) while averaging 26.0 minutes per contest.

Serge Ibaka's base salary for his four-year extension is worth $49 million, with an additional $2.5 million in potential bonuses for achievements such as being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year and being on the All-Defensive first team.

Ibaka's salary impacts the ability of the Thunder to offer extensions to James Harden and Eric Maynor.

Ibaka finished second to Tyson Chandler in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

With Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka signed to multi-year contracts, James Harden remains the core member of the Thunder that Sam Presti still needs to agree to terms with.

"I want James to be here with us, of course," said Durant. "He's one of my closest friends. Hopefully it works out, that's all I can say. 

"I haven't asked [Thunder GM] Sam [Presti] about anything and I haven't asked James about anything. I'm just going to let that take care of itself, be the best teammate I can be and hopefully by the time camp starts we have him locked up."

The Thunder have reached an agreement with Serge Ibaka on a four-year contract extension worth $48 million, according to league sources.

Ibaka could have become a restricted free agent after the 12-13 season.

Oklahoma City now has three of their young core players signed up over the long-term as Ibaka joins Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

James Harden is also eligible to sign an extension this offseason.

The Thunder won the Western Conference in 2012, beating the Lakers along the way in the Semifinals.

But the complexion of the conference has changed following the Lakers' acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.

"That's what the Lakers do," said Kevin Durant about the trade. "They have great management and ownership to make those moves come to life."

James Harden doesn't believe the Lakers' offseason moves change his opinion that the Thunder remain the team to beat in the Western Conference.

"Of course," said Harden when posed the question.

Russell Westbrook injured his right ankle during Team USA's semifinal victory over Argentina on Friday.

Westbrook was injured while chasing Marcos Mata on a screen, stepping on his foot and rolling his ankle.

Westbrook fell to the floor and limped to the bench and then the locker room.

“Hopefully he's fine,” said Kevin Durant. “Russell bounces back quick from injury, so hopefully this one isn't any different. … He ran off. It didn't seem like it was too bad. Hopefully he's all right.”

Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Westbrook will be available for Sunday's Gold Medal Game.

The Thunder have four players competing in the Olympics as Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden compete for the United States, while Serge Ibaka represents Spain.

Sam Presti believes the national team experience helps players develop.

"I think it's really helpful for them to play under different circumstances; it only rounds them out as players and makes them better," said Presti. "What we observed from the World Championship was just the mental endurance that it takes to go through an international competition and the training camp that leads up to it in medal-round play just to get there.

"Just the level of mental endurance that Kevin and Russell have been exposed to and conditioned themselves to, I think has really helped us in our playoff series. That's a real benefit. I think Serge's experiences with the national team, again just being in different situations and adjusting to different styles of play, I only makes him a more well-rounded player. And James now is also getting that level of experience. I really feel like we've benefited from all of the exposures that the players have been given, and I think they're all very grateful for the opportunity too. It's fun to watch them in these situations."