Things The Thunder Need To Do Before Winning A Championship...
The thunder will most definitely draft a big man in this years draft. They have their pick and phoenixs first so a team would definitely be willing to trade a higher pick for both of them. Maybe they could trade for a 6,7,8th pick. Jeff Green would be awesome coming off the bench and that will probably be his role down the road. I would absolutely love for them to grab Chris Bosh next year in free agency. i have heard they want to build their team with the draft and not free agency but that team would be amazing with Bosh. Westbrook has all the tools to be whatever he wants; he is a terrific talent.
I wonder if they could sign Bosh which probably won't happen and say grab one of the really good big man prospects from pick 6 to 14 (And yes I'm saying they will miss the playoffs this year) would that not be amazing? Based on every projection and logic, the big men that would be available would have to include at least Aldrich, Davis, Alabi, Sanders, and or Brackins as well as other possibles.
So...Portland has all these problems?
1) Either somehow draft a double digit rebounding shot blocker in 2010 or sign one.
Isn't Greg Oden suppose to be this guy?
2) Figure out Jeff Green is a perfect stud sixth man and not a starter. - Travis Outlaw ring a bell? Hmm, Batum, Rudy, or Webster could fit here as well.
3) Mold Russell Westbrook into a score first point guard like Chancey Billups and stop pretending he has classic PG potential. This is why he turns the ball over soooo much, despite having some of the best skills at his position. - Jerryd Bayless is a score first point guard like Westbrook.
4) Draft or sign a three point specialist to take pressure off Durant and stretch the floor a little more for the bigs. Will also give Westbrook one less reason to turn it over. - Rudy is pretty darn good along with those other dudes.
Sorry, just found it weird you said Portland had all these problems...unless you meant something else.
I don't agree...... I live in Oklahoma and they are on the right road to a championship, but it'll literally take 5 to 8 years.
Jeff Green is a starter, only it should be with a different team.
Why isn't the team getting Nenard Kristic involved offensively? Three years ago before his ACL injury he almost made the all-star team.
Why in the heck did the team draft James Harden????
Dhamp2....the greatest basketball mind in the world. Next to Hubie Brown anyway
I brought Wesley Johnson to this website and dubbed him a top 10 pick. Now everyone is jocking him!
Camelo will lead the league in scoring this year
I hate the NBA for what they did to Connie Hawkins
R.I.P. Earl Manigault.
R.I.P. Chris Henry
Rubio I didn't mean to give you the impression that Portland's problems were the same as the Thunder's. I was trying to say the Thunder has to take certain steps to get on an elite level or else they will face the problem Portland has right now in having enough talent to win a division or a playoff series year in and year out, while never winning a championship with their current strategy.
Harden is great for that team. I think they'll probably let him come off the bench for as long as they have thabo, and I think he could be really deadly, ginobli-esq.
I really hope they can swing a deal for Aldrich...with a guy like him it wouldn't be as big of deal to have Green play the 4.
The Thunder have a solid foundation with Durant, Westbrook, Green, and Harden. Aldrich or Sanders would be perfect for them at the 4 (Sanders) and 5 (Aldrich). If OKC can somehow lure Bosh, then they will have probably the 5th-7th best team out west behind the Lakers, Nuggets, Suns, Mavs, Blazers, Spurs, and Rockets/Clippers/Jazz.
The thunder should definitely go after Camby in the free agency this year then maybe draft Jarvis Varnado with their latest pick. their startin lineup should then be westbrook, thabo, durant. j.green, and camby. key players off the bench would then be krstic, collison, varnado(who could learn from camby), harden, and livingston although i do see livingston coming back and being a top point guardin the nba if he gets the chance. they could possibly trade thomas for a shooter
I think Cole Aldrich would be a perfect fit for OKC. Just like at Kansas he wouldn't have to be the primary scoring option and he can focus on defense and rebounding. I think OKC would have to move up in the draft to get him though unless they somehow get a top 3 pick in the lottery selection process. They have the trade ammunition to make a move up with 2 first rounders and some young players with potential (BJ Mullens, Serge Ibaka etc).
No major free agent like Chris Bosh is coming to OKC and I don't think Presti will break the bank to bring someone in and leave himself with not enough cap room to resign Durant Westbrook Green and Harden when their rookie deals expire.
I don't think any drastic conclusions on Green (starter or 6th man) Westbrook (true PG or not?) or Harden (waste of a pick?) can be made yet. For now how Green plays really determines how well the Thunder play. He needs to become more consistant and rebound the ball better but he does provide some interesting mismatches at the 4 on the offensive end. Westbrook obviously needs to cut down on his turnovers but his athletic ability and potential are hard to overlook. Harden is an excellent distributor at the 2 guard and I think his assist numbers and shooting percentage will improve over time, he is still getting adjusted to the NBA game and his man to man defense after playing primarily in a 2-3 zone at ASU.
1) Either somehow draft a double digit rebounding shot blocker in 2010 or sign one.
2) Figure out Jeff Green is a perfect stud sixth man and not a starter.
3) Mold Russell Westbrook into a score first point guard like Chancey Billups and stop pretending he has classic PG potential. This is why he turns the ball over soooo much, despite having some of the best skills at his position.
4) Draft or sign a three point specialist to take pressure off Durant and stretch the floor a little more for the bigs. Will also give Westbrook one less reason to turn it over.
As much as I love the Thunder, if they don't do these things, they will be a team stuck in transition for years and years like what I fear has happened to Portland.