OKC Thunder Offseason 2015

[Pillendreher]

I don't believe anything that guy says from here on out. Even I could be right sometimes if I threw enough **** against the wall.

[bondom34]

MKE has been linked to every free agent big man out there.

[Pillendreher]

MKE?

[bondom34]

MKE?

Milwaukee.

[Marcus50]

The Thunder takes Dakari Johnson from Kentucky with the 48th overall pick.

I like this pick. He is a big body that can develop into a useful stopper but also it is a backstop for the Kanter negotiations. A very low key shot across the bows of the Kanter management team not to get ridiculous in their demands.

I expect he will end up in the OKC Blue of the year but all in all a smart pick

[Kizz Fastfists]

I like this pick. He is a big body that can develop into a useful stopper but also it is a backstop for the Kanter negotiations. A very low key shot across the bows of the Kanter management team not to get ridiculous in their demands.

Demand? They are going to have Kanter sign the best offer sheet he gets and OKC will either match it or let him walk. This might be insurance in case there is actually a number that Presti won't match, but is should just be a high upside big at good draft value. There shouldn't be much in the way of negotiations with Kanter. Presti should make an offer and then Kanter will either or sign it or sign an offer sheet from another team that Presti will match.

[bondom34]

I'm torn, I congratulated the Heat board on getting Winslow, and its a tight race in better draftee nickname. CamPayne 2015 or JUSTice WINslow.

[Bravenewworld]

[Bravenewworld]

I like this pick. He is a big body that can develop into a useful stopper but also it is a backstop for the Kanter negotiations. A very low key shot across the bows of the Kanter management team not to get ridiculous in their demands.

Demand? They are going to have Kanter sign the best offer sheet he gets and OKC will either match it or let him walk.

Presti wont let him walk. He learned from Harden, he cant let a guy like Kanter walk. We cant spend another three or four years trying to find another guy to add to make us unquestionable contenders, like we did after Harden.

[Soonerule]

I like this pick. He is a big body that can develop into a useful stopper but also it is a backstop for the Kanter negotiations. A very low key shot across the bows of the Kanter management team not to get ridiculous in their demands.

Demand? They are going to have Kanter sign the best offer sheet he gets and OKC will either match it or let him walk.

Presti wont let him walk. He learned from Harden, he cant let a guy like Kanter walk. We cant spend another three or four years trying to find another guy to add to make us unquestionable contenders, like we did after Harden.

You don't think we were unquestionable contenders in 2013?

[Bravenewworld]

Demand? They are going to have Kanter sign the best offer sheet he gets and OKC will either match it or let him walk.

Presti wont let him walk. He learned from Harden, he cant let a guy like Kanter walk. We cant spend another three or four years trying to find another guy to add to make us unquestionable contenders, like we did after Harden.

You don't think we were unquestionable contenders in 2013?

No.
I guess what i mean is this OKC team without that third, real option, cannot sustain an injury or we're out (short or long term). In 13/14 had we had Harden, we possibly still could have made the finals. Ibaka being out for those first two games, might not have mattered as much as it did.... wait... maybe i am getting my years mixed up. Either way, we still could have gone on to the WCFs or Fs after the Westbrook injury had we had Harden and possibly the Finals with the Ibaka injury had we had Harden.
Its just that extra little bit teams need to take over the west and win a title.

Maybe the term "unquestionable" is a poor term, but the point is that those teams were always one non-perfect step away from not moving forward. When we had Harden, we had a safe guard in place. Which we have not had again until we got Kanter and Presti is not going to let that insurance go. The west is too stacked to allow for that. Look at the Spurs and how many options they have, or hell, the Warriors. Those guys have David Lee as their like... 12th man. This is a guy who is not "elderly" but five or six years ago was a 20/10 and still has those offensive capabilities.

[Soonerule]

Presti wont let him walk. He learned from Harden, he cant let a guy like Kanter walk. We cant spend another three or four years trying to find another guy to add to make us unquestionable contenders, like we did after Harden.

You don't think we were unquestionable contenders in 2013?

No.
I guess what i mean is this OKC team without that third, real option, cannot sustain an injury or we're out (short or long term). In 13/14 had we had Harden, we possibly still could have made the finals. Ibaka being out for those first two games, might not have mattered as much as it did.... wait... maybe i am getting my years mixed up. Either way, we still could have gone on to the WCFs or Fs after the Westbrook injury had we had Harden and possibly the Finals with the Ibaka injury had we had Harden.
Its just that extra little bit teams need to take over the west and win a title.

Maybe the term "unquestionable" is a poor term, but the point is that those teams were always one non-perfect step away from not moving forward. When we had Harden, we had a safe guard in place. Which we have not had again until we got Kanter and Presti is not going to let that insurance go. The west is too stacked to allow for that. Look at the Spurs and how many options they have, or hell, the Warriors. Those guys have David Lee as their like... 12th man. This is a guy who is not "elderly" but five or six years ago was a 20/10 and still has those offensive capabilities.

Harden or no Harden, when we lost Westbrook in the 2013 playoffs that run was over. Not before beating Harden's Rockets, but essentially over. There may be room for debate about 2014, but without Serge in the 1st two games the Spurs didn't just beat us in the WCF, they destroyed us. You could stick a fork in last season as soon as KD sustained his foot fracture.

The Warriors won it all because they stayed healthy. You take one guy away, Andre Iguodala out with a twisted knee in the Finals for example, and LeBron is hoisting the O'Brien trophy. If the Grizzlies don't lose Tony Allen in game 4 the Warriors would have been lucky to get out of the second round. You don't get around injuries in the NBA, not unless everyone else gets chopped up too.

As for Harden, with his team down 2 games to none in the WCF he shoots 3 for 16 and in the close out game he shot 2 of 11. I won't put "the turnover" on him because his teammates were out of position and put him in a bad spot but there are many that do. Remember his shooting in the Finals with us? Thirty-seven percent including two 2 for 10's in games 3 and 4. Every dog has fleas and right now, big games are Harden's fleas and Kanter shouldn't even be used in the same sentence with Harden.

[kd 35]

I'm torn, I congratulated the Heat board on getting Winslow, and its a tight race in better draftee nickname. CamPayne 2015 or JUSTice WINslow.

I've gotta admit -- Just Win is pretty good. But CamPayne FTW.

[Bravenewworld]

Harden or no Harden, when we lost Westbrook in the 2013 playoffs that run was over. Not before beating Harden's Rockets, but essentially over. There may be room for debate about 2014, but without Serge in the 1st two games the Spurs didn't just beat us in the WCF, they destroyed us. You could stick a fork in last season as soon as KD sustained his foot fracture.

The Warriors won it all because they stayed healthy. You take one guy away, Andre Iguodala out with a twisted knee in the Finals for example, and LeBron is hoisting the O'Brien trophy. If the Grizzlies don't lose Tony Allen in game 4 the Warriors would have been lucky to get out of the second round. You don't get around injuries in the NBA, not unless everyone else gets chopped up too.

As for Harden, with his team down 2 games to none in the WCF he shoots 3 for 16 and in the close out game he shot 2 of 11. I won't put "the turnover" on him because his teammates were out of position and put him in a bad spot but there are many that do. Remember his shooting in the Finals with us? Thirty-seven percent including two 2 for 10's in games 3 and 4. Every dog has fleas and right now, big games are Harden's fleas and Kanter shouldn't even be used in the same sentence with Harden.

With 2013 its a bit silly to say we would be contenders with a Westbrook/KD duo but if it was Harden/KD we wouldnt.

The 2014 Spurs series, they did what they wanted those first two games. Harden exploited the Spurs more than anyone else did on that OKC team, so its reasonable to suggest they could have gone 1-1 instead of 0-2.

Health helped the warriors, but they were not reliant on it. Outside of Curry and Klay obviously. AI2 was a bonus, they had not even been using him like that until the finals. They had plenty of options offensively and defensively even without AI2.

Whatever, this is all getting passed my point. What Kanter offers us is probably more important then what Harden did. Im not sure why you dont seem to get what a high scoring low post guy does for this team and how its pretty much always been our big fault but....i mean, i guess back to the original point... Presti is not (Please Use More Appropriate Word). He will pay him a max if he has to.

[bondom34]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/614824282271559680[/tweet]

OK, I kinda miss Perk.

[Pillendreher]

Nice Russ has the Terminator image!

[Soonerule]

Harden or no Harden, when we lost Westbrook in the 2013 playoffs that run was over. Not before beating Harden's Rockets, but essentially over. There may be room for debate about 2014, but without Serge in the 1st two games the Spurs didn't just beat us in the WCF, they destroyed us. You could stick a fork in last season as soon as KD sustained his foot fracture.

The Warriors won it all because they stayed healthy. You take one guy away, Andre Iguodala out with a twisted knee in the Finals for example, and LeBron is hoisting the O'Brien trophy. If the Grizzlies don't lose Tony Allen in game 4 the Warriors would have been lucky to get out of the second round. You don't get around injuries in the NBA, not unless everyone else gets chopped up too.

As for Harden, with his team down 2 games to none in the WCF he shoots 3 for 16 and in the close out game he shot 2 of 11. I won't put "the turnover" on him because his teammates were out of position and put him in a bad spot but there are many that do. Remember his shooting in the Finals with us? Thirty-seven percent including two 2 for 10's in games 3 and 4. Every dog has fleas and right now, big games are Harden's fleas and Kanter shouldn't even be used in the same sentence with Harden.

With 2013 its a bit silly to say we would be contenders with a Westbrook/KD duo but if it was Harden/KD we wouldnt.

The 2014 Spurs series, they did what they wanted those first two games. Harden exploited the Spurs more than anyone else did on that OKC team, so its reasonable to suggest they could have gone 1-1 instead of 0-2.

Health helped the warriors, but they were not reliant on it. Outside of Curry and Klay obviously. AI2 was a bonus, they had not even been using him like that until the finals. They had plenty of options offensively and defensively even without AI2.

Whatever, this is all getting passed my point. What Kanter offers us is probably more important then what Harden did. Im not sure why you dont seem to get what a high scoring low post guy does for this team and how its pretty much always been our big fault but....i mean, i guess back to the original point... Presti is not (Please Use More Appropriate Word). He will pay him a max if he has to.

Your kidding about 2013, surely. The Thunder was the best team in the West and went into the playoffs with the #4 ranked defense in the NBA. What is silly is to allude that the Thunder would have been just as good with a player that shot 37% in the 2012 Finals and scored 62 points as with the player that shot 52% and scored 135.

What Kanter offers is a negative net rating. In fact, the worst of all the Thunder bigs.... all of them:

1. Mitch McGary - +4.0
2. Serge Ibaka - +3.6
3. Nick Collison - +2.6
4. Steven Adams - +0.2
5. Enes Kanter - -2.6

http://stats.nba.com/vs/#!/advanced?PlayerID=202683&VsPlayerID=201586

Has Harden finished a season with a negative net? Ever? What Kanter offers is a chance to play catch up every time he sits down because the other team scored more points than we did when he was on the floor, a scene we saw repeated on multiple occasions this past season.

Just for the record, if the Warriors didn't have Iguodala, LBJ would have made the Warriors his bitch.

[kd 35]

I made a CamPayne campaign button!



Feel free to use it as your avatar.

[Bravenewworld]

Your kidding about 2013, surely. The Thunder was the best team in the West and went into the playoffs with the #4 ranked defense in the NBA. What is silly is to allude that the Thunder would have been just as good with a player that shot 37% in the 2012 Finals and scored 62 points as with the player that shot 52% and scored 135.

What Kanter offers is a negative net rating. In fact, the worst of all the Thunder bigs.... all of them:

1. Mitch McGary - +4.0
2. Serge Ibaka - +3.6
3. Nick Collison - +2.6
4. Steven Adams - +0.2
5. Enes Kanter - -2.6

http://stats.nba.com/vs/#!/advanced?PlayerID=202683&VsPlayerID=201586

Has Harden finished a season with a negative net? Ever? What Kanter offers is a chance to play catch up every time he sits down because the other team scored more points than we did when he was on the floor, a scene we saw repeated on multiple occasions this past season.

Just for the record, if the Warriors didn't have Iguodala, LBJ would have made the Warriors his bitch.

Jumping all over the place here...


1. Welp. Go tell the OKC front office you have it all figured out. They might give you a few million dollars for saving them tens of millions.
Just so you know, i dont do the advanced stats arguments.

2. So tell me, what does Harden's shooting in the Finals have to do with what he could have done for us in 2013? By this rational since Harden played fantastic in the series before the finals in 2012, but in the 2012 finals did not really show up (kind of expected for such a young player)....then cant we simply suggest the same for 2013? Play fantastic up until the finals? Which means.... no second round knock out? WCF winners? Even using your own steps of logic we can show that they would have been far better off.

3. Im not sure if you noticed, but coaching won the final two games of the finals this year.

4. Im betting we could find a 20 game section of Harden's career with okc where yes, he would have been in the negative. Which is essentially what youre doing with Kanter and exactly why i dislike the whole advanced stats arguments.

[bondom34]

This team had no shot without Russ in 2013, and was actually better than 2012 in the regular season. People talked about that team like they did GSW this season. And FWIW, Kanter has a negative on/off for his career.