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- Posted on: Mon, 07/04/2016 - 7:24pm #64540
r377ParticipantOk so quite a few KD and Westbrook threads but what about OKC as a team ?
Who do they sign as SF FA for this season ?
They still have some decent young pieces – Dipo, Payne, Adams, Sabonis, McGary
0 - Posted on: Mon, 07/04/2016 - 7:50pm #1080119
OhCanada-ParticipantNext year they should comfortably land a road seed in the West. There will likely be a battle for the 4th seed and it wouldn’t be surprising to see 3 or 4 teams fight it out for the last home seed with 10 games left in the season.
They have one of the best backcourts. Westbrook and Oladipo will be one of the best gaurd duos in the league. Payne seems like he could have a breakout year and practicing with those two should do wonders for him going forward.
They have prepared for this it seems. They have alot of roleplayes that seem ready to play good rotation minutes at SF. Out of Morrow, Single and Roberson you’ve got to be able to find one of them to give you a meaningful role next year. Roberson had played big minutes for them, I think Singlet has alot of untapped potential and a great contract and Morrow is what he is a knockdown shooter.
Getting Ilyasova in that trade was huge. He will love playing with Westbrook. Kanter, Adams, McGary and Sabonis give OKC a very tough frontcourt teams won’t want to play. Thier defence will likely struggle but it won’t be much worse than last year’s.
Going forward if Westbrook stays they will be more than fine. If he leaves they could still compete for an 8th seed if they make some smart tweaks.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 07/04/2016 - 7:50pm #1080011
OhCanada-ParticipantNext year they should comfortably land a road seed in the West. There will likely be a battle for the 4th seed and it wouldn’t be surprising to see 3 or 4 teams fight it out for the last home seed with 10 games left in the season.
They have one of the best backcourts. Westbrook and Oladipo will be one of the best gaurd duos in the league. Payne seems like he could have a breakout year and practicing with those two should do wonders for him going forward.
They have prepared for this it seems. They have alot of roleplayes that seem ready to play good rotation minutes at SF. Out of Morrow, Single and Roberson you’ve got to be able to find one of them to give you a meaningful role next year. Roberson had played big minutes for them, I think Singlet has alot of untapped potential and a great contract and Morrow is what he is a knockdown shooter.
Getting Ilyasova in that trade was huge. He will love playing with Westbrook. Kanter, Adams, McGary and Sabonis give OKC a very tough frontcourt teams won’t want to play. Thier defence will likely struggle but it won’t be much worse than last year’s.
Going forward if Westbrook stays they will be more than fine. If he leaves they could still compete for an 8th seed if they make some smart tweaks.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 07/04/2016 - 8:22pm #1080127
Ahkasi ClayParticipantOkc has enough to sign LeBron. He is instantly a good guy. And imagine if he takes them to the Finals beating the Warriors.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 07/04/2016 - 8:22pm #1080019
Ahkasi ClayParticipantOkc has enough to sign LeBron. He is instantly a good guy. And imagine if he takes them to the Finals beating the Warriors.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 1:21am #1080159
usfballerParticipantI’d say Durrant leaving for GS was the Karmic justice for the Thunder leaving Seattle.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 1:21am #1080050
usfballerParticipantI’d say Durrant leaving for GS was the Karmic justice for the Thunder leaving Seattle.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 3:25am #1080082
Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipantFour years ago, okc looked like it was set up to rule the NBA for years with a young nucleus of Durant, Westbrook, harden and Ibaka. Now they seem destined to go down as one of greatest "what if" teams of all time. The harden trade was the first in a series of events that ultimately led to the destruction of the teams core. It seems very likely they would have at least one ring by now had they kept harden and it’s also unlikely Durant would have walked away because he thought he had a better chance to win elsewhere.
There number one priority has to be to convince Westbrook to stay next year but that just got a whole lot more difficult. The team as presently constructed should still have enough firepower to make the playoffs but are clearly no longer a contender. It’s unlikely that Westbrook will be satisfied with that. They are going to have to either retool on the fly within the next year by trading for a legit sidekick to play next to Westbrook that will put them back into contention. Either that or they will probably be forced to blow it up entirely by trading Westbrook and rebuild from scratch.
It’s really a shame because this franchise looked like it had the makings of a dynasty and now it’s likely over for them. They took a gamble that they would still have enough to win a championship without having to pay harden and it clearly backfired. It set a precedent that the organization as a whole wasn’t fully committed to doing whatever it took to win and that no doubt had ramifications down the line. It had to at least be in the back of Durant’s mind when he was making his decision. It’s a tough lesson to learn and has to be a bitter pill to swallow for thunder fans. The chances of drafting a Durant, Westbrook and harden in consecutive years only comes around about once in a basketball generation and you have to do whatever you can to capitalize on that opportunity.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 3:25am #1080191
Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipantFour years ago, okc looked like it was set up to rule the NBA for years with a young nucleus of Durant, Westbrook, harden and Ibaka. Now they seem destined to go down as one of greatest "what if" teams of all time. The harden trade was the first in a series of events that ultimately led to the destruction of the teams core. It seems very likely they would have at least one ring by now had they kept harden and it’s also unlikely Durant would have walked away because he thought he had a better chance to win elsewhere.
There number one priority has to be to convince Westbrook to stay next year but that just got a whole lot more difficult. The team as presently constructed should still have enough firepower to make the playoffs but are clearly no longer a contender. It’s unlikely that Westbrook will be satisfied with that. They are going to have to either retool on the fly within the next year by trading for a legit sidekick to play next to Westbrook that will put them back into contention. Either that or they will probably be forced to blow it up entirely by trading Westbrook and rebuild from scratch.
It’s really a shame because this franchise looked like it had the makings of a dynasty and now it’s likely over for them. They took a gamble that they would still have enough to win a championship without having to pay harden and it clearly backfired. It set a precedent that the organization as a whole wasn’t fully committed to doing whatever it took to win and that no doubt had ramifications down the line. It had to at least be in the back of Durant’s mind when he was making his decision. It’s a tough lesson to learn and has to be a bitter pill to swallow for thunder fans. The chances of drafting a Durant, Westbrook and harden in consecutive years only comes around about once in a basketball generation and you have to do whatever you can to capitalize on that opportunity.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 4:50am #1080110
CynthiaParticipantUnfortunately there aren’t many decent Small Forwards left in Free Agency.
OKC will almost certainly need to trade, if not then it’s probably going to be Singler starting *cringe*. Morrow can play some SF, Roberson can too *double cringe*. Heck even Ilyasova could run some SF in a pinch (simply as a spot-up shooting threat though).
They have a few guys that can slide into the spot, but honestly none of them are even close to starting caliber players.
I think the best option would be to do a sign & trade with Waiters, now that Oladipo is in town he completely negates everything Waiters brings to the table, he’s pretty much a direct upgrade to Waiters offensively and defensively. Also as much as I love McGary, he just can’t crack the rotation with so many good bigs ahead of him.
A package of Waiters, McGary, and maybe one of Morrow/Singler/Roberson/Huestis/Sabonis isn’t too horrible, that should at least net you a decent starting SF.
If OKC could land someone like Gay, Giannis, Hayward or heck even Melo; then I think they won’t fall off quite as badly as people expect.
People forget how well the Thunder played without Durant not long ago, barely missing the playoffs literally by 1-2 games. That was even with Westbrook missing a handful of games himself and before Kanter (a full year at least), Oladipo, and the rise of Adams. So like I said if OKC can manage a borderline All-Star SF then I think they’re still a top 5-10 team.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 4:50am #1080218
CynthiaParticipantUnfortunately there aren’t many decent Small Forwards left in Free Agency.
OKC will almost certainly need to trade, if not then it’s probably going to be Singler starting *cringe*. Morrow can play some SF, Roberson can too *double cringe*. Heck even Ilyasova could run some SF in a pinch (simply as a spot-up shooting threat though).
They have a few guys that can slide into the spot, but honestly none of them are even close to starting caliber players.
I think the best option would be to do a sign & trade with Waiters, now that Oladipo is in town he completely negates everything Waiters brings to the table, he’s pretty much a direct upgrade to Waiters offensively and defensively. Also as much as I love McGary, he just can’t crack the rotation with so many good bigs ahead of him.
A package of Waiters, McGary, and maybe one of Morrow/Singler/Roberson/Huestis/Sabonis isn’t too horrible, that should at least net you a decent starting SF.
If OKC could land someone like Gay, Giannis, Hayward or heck even Melo; then I think they won’t fall off quite as badly as people expect.
People forget how well the Thunder played without Durant not long ago, barely missing the playoffs literally by 1-2 games. That was even with Westbrook missing a handful of games himself and before Kanter (a full year at least), Oladipo, and the rise of Adams. So like I said if OKC can manage a borderline All-Star SF then I think they’re still a top 5-10 team.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 5:37am #1080128
BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipantThey shouldn’t panic. There is no single replacement for Durant. They will have to adapt how they play, but they have the offensive talent to still be a very good team and use this season to convince Westbrook to stay. They have experienced life without Durant when he was hurt, but now they have a roster more capable of adjusting. Kanter has been underutilized, and he should end up with a bigger role as he did when Durant was injured. Oladipo was not able to successfully be the leading option on the perimeter for Orlando, but he does have the ability to supplement Westbrook. Sabonis is a very promising and skilled young big man. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cameron Payne takes a step forward with a greater role as well. I am sure they will still add a guy or two over the summer, but there is no need to turn into a crazy team and start throwing money at guys who won’t make a meaningful difference.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 5:37am #1080236
BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipantThey shouldn’t panic. There is no single replacement for Durant. They will have to adapt how they play, but they have the offensive talent to still be a very good team and use this season to convince Westbrook to stay. They have experienced life without Durant when he was hurt, but now they have a roster more capable of adjusting. Kanter has been underutilized, and he should end up with a bigger role as he did when Durant was injured. Oladipo was not able to successfully be the leading option on the perimeter for Orlando, but he does have the ability to supplement Westbrook. Sabonis is a very promising and skilled young big man. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cameron Payne takes a step forward with a greater role as well. I am sure they will still add a guy or two over the summer, but there is no need to turn into a crazy team and start throwing money at guys who won’t make a meaningful difference.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 12:57pm #1080339
BiggysmallsParticipantThere is no chance they can convince Westbrook to stay. Thinking so would be a fool’s errand.
He can get whatever number of shots he wants and put up massive numbers on any team, so OKC can’t really sell him on that. They can’t sell him on it being "his team" because again, wherever he goes, he’s the alpha. They can’t attract other players to him because, well, it’s OKC.
They shouldn’t panic. But they should be proactive and not let a top-five player in the league leave for nothing two summers in a row. That’s not how mid-market teams sustain success.
0 - Posted on: Tue, 07/05/2016 - 12:57pm #1080231
BiggysmallsParticipantThere is no chance they can convince Westbrook to stay. Thinking so would be a fool’s errand.
He can get whatever number of shots he wants and put up massive numbers on any team, so OKC can’t really sell him on that. They can’t sell him on it being "his team" because again, wherever he goes, he’s the alpha. They can’t attract other players to him because, well, it’s OKC.
They shouldn’t panic. But they should be proactive and not let a top-five player in the league leave for nothing two summers in a row. That’s not how mid-market teams sustain success.
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