[valentine]

wow, A+ grade for them for this draft. they got cole aldrich! thats what they were missing in the playoffs! some height and defensive presence.

STARTING LINEUP:

cole aldrich
nenad kristic (?)
Jeff gREEN
Kevin Durant
russell Westbrook

bench:
james harden
eric maynor
thabo sefolosha

i honestly can see them winning a chip this year or next. and if not, then def. in the next 5 years or so!

btw, i consider myself the biggest knicks fan ever. and donnie walsh really has to go, he has no clue what hes doing! we want a marketable guy, and whether or not lance stephenson pans out or not, he still would have got alot of hype and many seats filled in MSG. now they better hope they get a couple free agents.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Like their moves. Cole is exactly what they needed and getting a vet like Mo Pete helps as well. This team is a contender in the West next year. Durant and Westbrook will only get better. Green too. Management has done a great job with this team in just a few years.

[Bnix13Participant]

In the next 5 years I can see them being close to winning a championship if they can keep the team together. The problem making a prediction like this is free agency can be difficult. I remember when Boozer was with the Cavs and they let him out of his deal just to watch him leave to Utah. Also in just a couple years they’ll have to start paying their players now on rookie contracts money, max money in Durants case. Durant, Green, Westbrook, and Harden are all 8-10 million plus players if they continue progressing depending on the new cap rules. Depending on if they owner feels he can recoup that money they won’t have the four together for their careers.

The other thing working against OKC is the eastern conference. If a Rose, Lebron, Deng, Bosh, Noah combo comes together or a Wade, Joe Johnson, Beasley, Stoudamire does then those combos would be greater than what OKC puts out depending on where the peak of OKC young talent is and injuries as well.

A lot of ifs come into play but bottom line is OKC will be a top 10 if not a top 5 team in the league for a few years ahead. Does that mean they’ll win a championship? No but they’re one of about 8 teams that even have a shot.

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

I just had to say that…the Pick was suspect to begin with…Aldrich for those picks was even more suspect…They have Mullens and could have just traded the same 2 picks for Beasley…then got Alabi or Whiteside in the second if they wanted too…we gotta chill on the OKC winning a ring cause they picked Aldrich

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

I just had to say that…the Pick was suspect to begin with…Aldrich for those picks was even more suspect…They have Mullens and could have just traded the same 2 picks for Beasley…then got Alabi or Whiteside in the second if they wanted too…we gotta chill on the OKC winning a ring cause they picked Aldrich

[plasticmanParticipant]

We cannot count on Mullens. There is no reason to think he will ever be a starting center in the L. Plus we don’t need Beasely at all. Arguably our 2 best players play the same position.

We need a center and Aldrich is the best available. You can say what you want about Orton, Whiteside or whoever, but they are nowhere near as NBA ready. OKC can contend now, it would be stupid to bring in a project or trade for a guy who isn’t a good fit. If they sucked last year I would understand a little better. It’s about puting the pieces together, and they have done that masterfully since drafting Durant and Green.

BTW… here is the lineup I want to see for awhile depending on how it goes…

Westbrook

Harden

Durant

Green

Aldrich

[fastdanParticipant]

Probably more like:

Westbrook
Thabo
Durant
Green
Kristic with Aldrich taking over the starting spot by the end of the year, but still seeing only around 25 minutes

They brought Harden along slowly last year, and with the already proven success of a Green/Kristic/Ibaka/Collison they probably won’t rush anything.

Orton, Whiteside, and Alabi will NOT have the same impact as Aldrich will for many years, if they ever do.

Try to find me players at 21 and 26 that could have taken minutes from any of their rotation players.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

They are competing in the west. Who gave the Lakers more proplems in the playoffs than the Celtics? They did. Winning a title? No. Competing and contending in the west?Yes.

[mgreener_34Participant]

The Thunder had a great draft. They needed someone to come in, and get boards and play tough D. Aldrich is gunna do just that, and they didn’t have to trade Maynor for him or anything. I feel like they have all the pieces now, but would like to see them get a scoring athletic SF to come off the bench. I know Green plays a little SF when Durant is out, but I feel like thats the only position that they don’t run two deep. A Mike Miller or Korver would be an amazing pick up for this team.

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

He ain’t winning a Ring in OKC…

[Mr. 19134Participant]

I would trade the whole sixers franchise in a heartbeart for this Thunder franchise…who i hated at first for moving from Seattle then again for picking one of them plural names without an S on the end. I like the OKC Outlaws better it was more fitting to me because of their exodus out of Seattle. Neways this team is amazing. And it Aldrich is a perfect fit. The Thunder don’t need anything else but what he brings rebounding, size, and shot blocking. I could def see the Thunder shocking the world next year and becoming the youngest team to win a ring. They are all stand up guys with a great work ethic who more importantly all LIKE EACH OTHER!

[Bnix13Participant]

Youngest team to win a ring? No 24.4 years old was the average age of the 1977 trailblazers. Thunder are sitting at 25 this past year so and I don’t see them getting that much younger average age wise even with their picks.

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