Let's Make a Deal: Thunder Trade Targets

[Balkman32]

Trade George and Anthony. Then tank. And fire Donovan. Bring Kevin Ollie.
Trading Kanter for Anthony was a mistake, that is obvious now.

Because Kanter would be so good against GSW and the Rockets.

[Balkman32]

Cavs said they're not trading the pick (check sporting news). Don't want bad contracts back. Better letting him expire than taking bad money

Here's the best I can do Bondom: Brooklyn 1st, JR, & Shump for PG & Singler. JR's last year is only guaranteed for $3 million, and frankly, he's a pretty good fit next to Westbrook. Both teams buyout or stretch Shump & Singler next summer (unless OKC wants to hold onto Shump's expiring contract to see what offers come along).

No thanks.

[Balkman32]

We're at a crossroad here where you either have to go for it or start selling. If George leaves in FA then we're out of shots at contention. I commend Presti for unloading his ammo this season even though it seems to have backfired horrendously, but we are to the point where we have to make a change. If Lee (or whoever) can help us this year then we make that move even if it screws us down the road, either that or it's about time to start selling. Either way we aren't contenders 3 years from now.

I think you have to push all your chips in (hopefully they could keep Ferguson) and hope that with the addition of Lee (who is definitely the player I want to trade for) it somehow clicks. I don’t think you can have it both ways at this point. If you had to give up Ferguson maybe you can get the Bulls 2018 2nd back.

I wonder what the Knicks would want for Lee

Push all your chips in for what? The 7th seed? Lee doesn’t help russ finish layups and make free throws. If we were the four seed, then yeah I might see it.

I rather be the 8th seed and play the Warriors in the first round. If we won't have home cord advantage might as well go through them in the first round rather than the 2nd or 3rd rounds when the swept 2 teams and play 4-8 games while we played 7-14 games in the same amount of time.

[Pillendreher]

So you have a plan then to improve without acquiring players

Yes, I do.

-Stop taking so many pull ups when our 'Big 3' are on the floor together. It's terrible shot selection.
-Get Anthony to operate behind the 3-pt line. Him always drifting back to the midrange area might hurt our spacing more than Robereson.
-Give Patterson way more run.
-Use more screening to free up guys. It is viable for a team that doesn't run a lot of stuff like us.
-Get rid of Grant and get a backup Center.
-Let Melo run the bench. That's better than with George.
-Stop freezing out George. There are way too many quarters with him not even being a part of the team's offense.
-Enough with the Felton-Westbrook lineups. There's no use whatsoever for them.
-Constantly look for Adams. He's the only guy who has been able to give us 15+ on 60+ TS% on a somewhat consistent basis.
-Push, push, push the pace! We take way too long to actually do something on offense. Sometimes Russ walks the ball up the floor and only reaches the opponent's 3pt line with 14-12 seconds to go. That's insane.
-Don't stop playing basketball once you think that you've got your opponent in a stranglehold.
-Russ has to stop hunting for TDs. I don't want to engange this narrative, but he plays differently once he gets close to it. Especially against Philly it looked like he thought 'OK, so now that I've got most of the rebounds and assists out of the way, I'm gonna get my points'.

That's out of the top of my head. We've certainly talked about (way) more over the last couple of weeks. So please don't give me the 'Without getting an SG upgrade, there's no chance we could get better' hyperbole nonsense. You know better than this.

Its about as likely Robes starts sitting his 3s at a 40 percent clip that this stuff happens.

Eh, no, it is not? Robes becoming a volume 3pt shooter on a very good % is borderline impossible at this point. This team being better by making adjustments is not.

You can't go around and claim 'Only trading for a better SG is gonna make a difference' and when I point you to various areas we could do better in by simply adjusting a couple of things, you claim that won't happen. Why? And if so - isn't the obvious change to get somebody who will make the necessary adjustments?

If we can't make simple changes to the way we play on the court, getting another SG isn't gonna do **** either.

[bondom34]

Yes, I do.

-Stop taking so many pull ups when our 'Big 3' are on the floor together. It's terrible shot selection.
-Get Anthony to operate behind the 3-pt line. Him always drifting back to the midrange area might hurt our spacing more than Robereson.
-Give Patterson way more run.
-Use more screening to free up guys. It is viable for a team that doesn't run a lot of stuff like us.
-Get rid of Grant and get a backup Center.
-Let Melo run the bench. That's better than with George.
-Stop freezing out George. There are way too many quarters with him not even being a part of the team's offense.
-Enough with the Felton-Westbrook lineups. There's no use whatsoever for them.
-Constantly look for Adams. He's the only guy who has been able to give us 15+ on 60+ TS% on a somewhat consistent basis.
-Push, push, push the pace! We take way too long to actually do something on offense. Sometimes Russ walks the ball up the floor and only reaches the opponent's 3pt line with 14-12 seconds to go. That's insane.
-Don't stop playing basketball once you think that you've got your opponent in a stranglehold.
-Russ has to stop hunting for TDs. I don't want to engange this narrative, but he plays differently once he gets close to it. Especially against Philly it looked like he thought 'OK, so now that I've got most of the rebounds and assists out of the way, I'm gonna get my points'.

That's out of the top of my head. We've certainly talked about (way) more over the last couple of weeks. So please don't give me the 'Without getting an SG upgrade, there's no chance we could get better' hyperbole nonsense. You know better than this.

Its about as likely Robes starts sitting his 3s at a 40 percent clip that this stuff happens.

Eh, no, it is not? Robes becoming a volume 3pt shooter on a very good % is borderline impossible at this point. This team being better by making adjustments is not.

You can't go around and claim 'Only trading for a better SG is gonna make a difference' and when I point you to various areas we could do better in by simply adjusting a couple of things, you claim that won't happen. Why? And if so - isn't the obvious change to get somebody who will make the necessary adjustments?

If we can't make simple changes to the way we play on the court, getting another SG isn't gonna do **** either.

I mean if I'm being totally honest I agree. But I agree that neither are happening and nothing will change. Guys will have a stretch where shots start to fall and they'll maybe win for a few games, but overall nothing changes and they hover around .500.

[Pillendreher]

Its about as likely Robes starts sitting his 3s at a 40 percent clip that this stuff happens.

Eh, no, it is not? Robes becoming a volume 3pt shooter on a very good % is borderline impossible at this point. This team being better by making adjustments is not.

You can't go around and claim 'Only trading for a better SG is gonna make a difference' and when I point you to various areas we could do better in by simply adjusting a couple of things, you claim that won't happen. Why? And if so - isn't the obvious change to get somebody who will make the necessary adjustments?

If we can't make simple changes to the way we play on the court, getting another SG isn't gonna do **** either.

I mean if I'm being totally honest I agree.

I win

But I agree that neither are happening and nothing will change. Guys will have a stretch where shots start to fall and they'll maybe win for a few games, but overall nothing changes and they hover around .500.

It's up to the coaching staff to actually make adjustments. Normally I'd argue that being a .500 team after more than two months should be enough of a wake-up-call for this squad, but apparently it isn't. So often it looks like they just assume it will work if they just keep at it. At some point, you're just running against a brick wall every time. Gotta make some changes if your way isn't working.

[bondom34]

Eh, no, it is not? Robes becoming a volume 3pt shooter on a very good % is borderline impossible at this point. This team being better by making adjustments is not.

You can't go around and claim 'Only trading for a better SG is gonna make a difference' and when I point you to various areas we could do better in by simply adjusting a couple of things, you claim that won't happen. Why? And if so - isn't the obvious change to get somebody who will make the necessary adjustments?

If we can't make simple changes to the way we play on the court, getting another SG isn't gonna do **** either.

I mean if I'm being totally honest I agree.

I win

But I agree that neither are happening and nothing will change. Guys will have a stretch where shots start to fall and they'll maybe win for a few games, but overall nothing changes and they hover around .500.

It's up to the coaching staff to actually make adjustments. Normally I'd argue that being a .500 team after more than two months should be enough of a wake-up-call for this squad, but apparently it isn't. So often it looks like they just assume it will work if they just keep at it. At some point, you're just running against a brick wall every time. Gotta make some changes if your way isn't working.

Its up to coaching you say?
Well thats reassuring.

[slick_watts]

it's up to more than coaching. some aren't ready to admit it, yet. anyone see darnell on twitter over the weekend? the truth is just over the horizon.

[bondom34]

When in doubt

[Pillendreher]

it's up to more than coaching.

Of course it is. Rotations, gameplan, etc. are part of the coaching staff's job tho.

some aren't ready to admit it, yet. anyone see darnell on twitter over the weekend? the truth is just over the horizon.

That it's not working? Yeah, I think we're seeing that.

[slick_watts]

it's up to more than coaching.

Of course it is. Rotations, gameplan, etc. are part of the coaching staff's job tho.

some aren't ready to admit it, yet. anyone see darnell on twitter over the weekend? the truth is just over the horizon.

That it's not working? Yeah, I think we're seeing that.

don't be coy, pille.

lets put it this way. if billy donovan was fired today and replaced with the coach of your choice--would you expect anything significant to change for the team offensively? i wouldn't.

[ThunderBolt]

it's up to more than coaching.

Of course it is. Rotations, gameplan, etc. are part of the coaching staff's job tho.

some aren't ready to admit it, yet. anyone see darnell on twitter over the weekend? the truth is just over the horizon.

That it's not working? Yeah, I think we're seeing that.

don't be coy, pille.

lets put it this way. if billy donovan was fired today and replaced with the coach of your choice--would you expect anything significant to change for the team offensively? i wouldn't.

It’s quite possibly that dononvan sucks as a coach and Westbrook isn’t that good. Why does it exclusively have to be one or the other?

[Pillendreher]

it's up to more than coaching.

Of course it is. Rotations, gameplan, etc. are part of the coaching staff's job tho.

some aren't ready to admit it, yet. anyone see darnell on twitter over the weekend? the truth is just over the horizon.

That it's not working? Yeah, I think we're seeing that.

don't be coy, pille.

I have to admit - I knew where this was going

lets put it this way. if billy donovan was fired today and replaced with the coach of your choice--would you expect anything significant to change for the team offensively? i wouldn't.

Yes, I most certainly do. We would not jump to Top 3, but we certainly would be above average offensively. Donovan is basically getting the least amount of offense out of this roster imaginable.

[Pillendreher]

Of course it is. Rotations, gameplan, etc. are part of the coaching staff's job tho.



That it's not working? Yeah, I think we're seeing that.

don't be coy, pille.

lets put it this way. if billy donovan was fired today and replaced with the coach of your choice--would you expect anything significant to change for the team offensively? i wouldn't.

It’s quite possibly that dononvan sucks as a coach and Westbrook isn’t that good. Why does it exclusively have to be one or the other?

Good point.

[slick_watts]

Of course it is. Rotations, gameplan, etc. are part of the coaching staff's job tho.



That it's not working? Yeah, I think we're seeing that.

don't be coy, pille.

lets put it this way. if billy donovan was fired today and replaced with the coach of your choice--would you expect anything significant to change for the team offensively? i wouldn't.

It’s quite possibly that dononvan sucks as a coach and Westbrook isn’t that good. Why does it exclusively have to be one or the other?

donovan is at a disadvantage for sure having no nba clout. he's also not that great. but if we're playing the blame game, may as well be thorough.

[bondom34]

I mean if we're thorough Melo is old and stagnated on offense. PG is too passive, and Robes can't hit the broad side of a barn. Adams is about the most blameless of the bunch. Oh and the bench is iffy. Not dreadful but iffy.

[ThunderBolt]

I think you have to push all your chips in (hopefully they could keep Ferguson) and hope that with the addition of Lee (who is definitely the player I want to trade for) it somehow clicks. I don’t think you can have it both ways at this point. If you had to give up Ferguson maybe you can get the Bulls 2018 2nd back.

I wonder what the Knicks would want for Lee

Push all your chips in for what? The 7th seed? Lee doesn’t help russ finish layups and make free throws. If we were the four seed, then yeah I might see it.

I rather be the 8th seed and play the Warriors in the first round. If we won't have home cord advantage might as well go through them in the first round rather than the 2nd or 3rd rounds when the swept 2 teams and play 4-8 games while we played 7-14 games in the same amount of time.

You think this team as the 8th seed will beat the warriors?

[slick_watts]

I mean if we're thorough Melo is old and stagnated on offense. PG is too passive, and Robes can't hit the broad side of a barn. Adams is about the most blameless of the bunch. Oh and the bench is iffy. Not dreadful but iffy.

lets get back on topic.

what's a realistic haul for the thunder if we decided to blow it up and make westbrook available next fall?

[Pillendreher]

Of course this all starts with Russ. He is 2nd in touches per game and 4th in USG%. He MUST play better, no doubt about it. So if you look at him and disregard his teammates for a second, you gotta ask yourself this: Is this just him, is it just the coaching or is it both? I think it certainly is the latter. His decision making is all over the place. He has the offense humming one quarter and shoots us out of it the very next quarter. Yet the coaching staff also needs to do a better job to get everybody involved and scheme around him.

If Russ keeps this recent 36 USG/46 TS trend up, then no coach in the league will be good enough to realize our potential offensively. That is obivous.

[Pillendreher]

I mean if we're thorough Melo is old and stagnated on offense. PG is too passive, and Robes can't hit the broad side of a barn. Adams is about the most blameless of the bunch. Oh and the bench is iffy. Not dreadful but iffy.

lets get back on topic.

what's a realistic haul for the thunder if we decided to blow it up and make westbrook available next fall?

If he finishes the season as a Wizards Jordan/post achilles injury Kobe Bryant mix, not as much as we'd hope.