Thunder star Kevin Durant gets motivated when he plays video games.

"People might not believe me, but when I go home (after practice) I play video games and I lose all the time," Durant told the Oklahoman. "And I get so mad that I come back and I want to win everything. Something that small puts that winning mentality into my head."

Durant, who was the NBA's sixth-leading scorer last season, maintains that winning is his most important goal.

"That's what this year is all about," Durant said. "We have the right group of guys here and we all want to win, so that makes it easier as well."

A popular topic of discussion this offseason was the problematic +/- of Kevin Durant over the course of his NBA career.

During the 2008-09 season, Durant had a net on/off of -8.4 points per 100 possessions.

In Oklahoma City's first game of the 2009-10 season, Kevin Durant scored 25 points on 10-24 shooting while grabbing 11 boards in their 102-89 win over the Kings.

Perhaps more importantly, Durant got off to a successful +/- start with a +17 for the game.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed guard Thabo Sefolosha to a multi-year contract extension, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. Per team policy, the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

?We are excited that we were able to reach an agreement that will keep Thabo a part of our core group moving forward,? said Presti. ?Thabo represents many of the qualities that we look for in our players, great competitiveness, a team first mentality, and a strong work ethic. We believe Thabo?s best basketball is ahead of him, and his desire to remain a part of the Thunder family allowed for us to make this happen."

The Thunder will not extend the contract of guard Thabo Sefolosha prior to this weekend's deadline.

However, the team does like Sefolosha and will have the right to match any offer he receives as a restricted free agent next summer.

"We had some discussions, but it didn't result in any conclusions," Sefolosha's agent, Guy Zucker, told AOL Fanhouse. "But (team officials) like (Sefolosha) for the future even though we weren't able to reach any financial agreements."

Only three players from Sefolosha's draft class, 2006, have had their contracts extended -- Andrea Bargnani, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Thunder forward Kevin Durant feels at ease entering his third NBA season.

"I feel good," Durant told the Oklahoman. "This time the last two years I was shaking. I had butterflies. But now I'm calm and I'm ready to play. I'm the leader of this team. They follow me, so I've got to be calm and go out there and lead us."

Durant averaged 25.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists last season. His newfound peace has him feeling much more confident.

"Last year, going into games I would think too much," he said. "Just small, stupid things I would think about. But now I'm just calm and ready to play. I'm just more focused and hopefully I can go out there and help our team get some more wins."

The Thunder like what they saw from point guard Russell Westbrook in the preseason.

Westbrook led the NBA in turnovers during his rookie campaign.

"He's improved his game," center Nenad Krstic told the Oklahoman of Westbrook. "He's looking for his teammates. I know if I set a good screen and I'm open I'm going to get the ball. Last year, in the beginning, it was not (like that) because we didn't know each other. Now, he knows where I'm going to be and I know he's going to pass me the ball. So it's been really good playing with him."

Westbrook was tied with Steve Nash in preseason assists with 54.

The Thunder are led by three very young players, but are hoping to improve vastly this season.

Jeff Green is 23, Kevin Durant is 21 and Russell Westbrook is 20.

"We have the guys that can make a huge jump," veteran forward Nick Collison told the Oklahoman.

The team is trying to build on back-to-back seasons of 23-59 and 20-62.

"Our guys, they want to be better players," said coach Scott Brooks.

The Oklahoma City Thunder exercised their fourth-year options on forwards Kevin Durant and Jeff Green and third-year options on guard Russell Westbrook and forward DJ White it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.

Durant and Green were both acquired during the 2007 NBA Draft. Durant was selected second overall while Green was acquired via a draft day trade with the Boston Celtics.

Westbrook and White joined the Thunder during the 2008 NBA Draft. Westbrook was selected with the fourth overall pick and White was acquired via a draft day trade with the Detroit Pistons.

The Oklahoma City Thunder waived forward Mike Harris
it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manger Sam Presti.

Harris appeared in two games this preseason for Oklahoma City, averaging 2.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 steal in 5.5 minutes of action.

Oklahoma City?s roster now stands at 15.

The Oklahoma City Thunder waived forward Michael Ruffin it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manger Sam Presti.

Ruffin appeared in one game this preseason for Oklahoma City, grabbing 1.0 rebound in 12.0 minutes of action.