[Anton123Participant]

What do you think of them so far. To me Westbrook has been exceptionally well, he improved his range and is pretty good at playmaking.
I think they have a SG problem, Harden is looking miserable most of the time, he takes a lot of shots and misses most, he isn’t good on defense too, they sould’ve drafted Curry or Evans. Sefolosha is miserable on offense.
They also don’t have a dominant big man, Kristic is soft and not good on defense.
Before they erase these mistakes they’re not a playoff team, what do you guys think?

[uncfan011Participant]

i think they have a good young team.. also i like harden a lot.. he should be getting more time then Sefolosha.. If he sees the floor more people will come around to him because he is an unselfish player who could fill up the stat sheet

[aarondsonixfanParticipant]

So far they have been doing very well compared to last year. I think you are definitely wrong about them having a SG problem, because Thabo is one of the best defenders in the league, and Harden can be a prolific scorer as well as a distributor. I think they will be on the bubble playoff wise, either the 8th seed or 9th.

[fastdanParticipant]

Give Harden some time…that arn’t pushing him to play a big role right away like durant or westbrook, and since they’re winning there’s no reason to.

[the I in winParticipant]

harden is doing fine, for rookies percentages don’t matter as much as just putting up points, later in there careers percentages will matter but you just want to see if they are capable of scoring in the nba.

[jerb2011Participant]

but if you are judging Harden off of ast night, you don’t watch the Thunder enough, he normally has about 12-15 points per game, 3-4 rebounds, 2 assiss, and a 1 steal, he’s a great passer can get to the free throw line, ast night was an off night, but look for him to bounce back today

[nateoak10Participant]

If they had a better center they’d be a playoff team top 6 seed. They have lot of cap space so maybe they get J.Oneal.Nenad and Collison aren’t doing anything. Ibaka is coming along well though.

[Thunder09Participant]

The cap space they do have is to resign Durant Green and Westbrook at the end of the year. I love Ibaka,as a defensive big man and is coming along nicely offensively. Harden is doing exactly what he was drafted to do,ASSIST! pass the ball,ad make more perimater shots.

[fastdanParticipant]

Green’s and Durant’s contracts wouldn’t kick in until the 2011-2012 season, and russel’s the year after that. They’re going to be saving a lot of money in the next couple years as they have a really low payroll, have great attendance at the Ford center, and with them possibly making playoffs this year, and probably for sure next year, things look good for them financially, so I could imagine them signing someone before they hit the cap, kind of like Portland did with Miller.

[thunderforthewinParticipant]

If the thunder took evans do you really think tyreke would have as much of an impact on the thunder as he is having now in SAC

[KidDelicious35Participant]

OKC obviously has a great deal of young talent but in order to take the next step and become perennial contenders in the West they need another legitimate big man.

PG: RW0 and Maynor are two talented young PGs so they are fine at the 1. While Russ has his limitations (turns the ball over too much and doesn’t shoot that well from 3), his athleticism and potential are hard to ignore. Maynor is a nice compliment as he runs the pick and roll well and usually makes the right reads in the half court.

SG: Harden and Thabo also work well at the 2 with Thabo being the defensive stopper and Harden being more of a facilitator and shot maker when he comes in. While he has struggled of late he is a rookie and will only improve, if he can start shooting a high percentage from 3 it will open up a lot of driving lanes for Russ and KD.

SF: DURANT.

PF: Jeff Green isn’t the typical 4 but he can cause a lot of match up problems for other teams. His ability to put the ball on the floor and create his own shot along with the ability to hit from the outside make him very unique for his position. His rebounding numbers need to improve but I see him as an Antwan Jameison type of player.

C: Kristic can stretch the defense because of his range but this almost becomes irrelevant because Green does the same thing at the 4. They need a banger who can board and block shots. Ibaka brings some nice energy off the bench but they still need someone else.

Free Agency: Yes OKC has a lot of cap room but I seriously doubt they make any major signings. As others have pointed out they will need the cap room to keep their young core together. Presti hasn’t made many big signings and wants to build through the draft.

Draft: With 2 first rounders this year along with 2 seconds I think OKC needs to package some of these picks in an attempt to move up into the first round to get a center like Cole Aldrich. He rebounds well blocks shots, and can score from the block if you need him too but also doesn’t mind deferring to other options (as he does at KU). 4 picks are way too many as OKC already has too many young players on their roster already. The roster below could compete in the West for a long time to come.

RW/Maynor
Harden/Thabo
Durant
Green/Ibaka
Aldrich/Kristic

[Michael.S.Participant]

I think the Original poster is onto something…Harden is much more selfish than people make him out to be…Of the 3-4 OKC games I have seen this season, he has played terrible and assumed a chucker role off the bench…a couple of games ago he went 0-10 with no assists……

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