RealGM

It seems as if the thunder are done making moves this offseason...we now have 5 mil let to spend on a free agent which really does not make a splash...we also have an extremely extremely FULL roster....

As we all know, each team is allowed to have 15 players on their roster, 12 of these players can be active, and usually only 9 of these players are really in the rotation (or really get any minutes)...

Last years 9 man rotation consisted of:

Russell Westbrook/Eric Maynor
Thabo Sef/James Harden
Kevin Durant
Jeff Green/Nick Collison
Nenad Krstic/Serge Ibaka

*Again these were not the only players who played, but they were the players who took a large majority of minutes...(Ollie, Thoman, White, Weaver, and Mullens would also see spotted minutes when they were currently on the 12 man roster, and active.)

My question is, what will this years 9 man rotation, 12 man roster, and 15 man roster look like...

I think we can all agree on about 7 players that are definantly in the 9 man rotation...

1. Kevin Durant
2. Russell Westbrook
3. Jeff Green (cross your fingers for no trade)
4. James Harden
5. Serge Ibaka
6. Thabo Sefalosha
7. Eric Maynor

That leaves two spots in the 9 man roster (which are going to have to be two big men)

In the race we have...

Aldrich
Mullens
Collison
Krstic
DJ White
Any Summer league star

That means only two out of that group will have the ability to play significant minutes....

Now the 12 man active roster is another whole story...
Keeping the big 7 on the roster as a lock, there should be 5 more spots for active players on the roster....and only 8 from this list can even be on the team..

Players in this running include...

Mo Pete
Cook
Kyle Weaver
Aldrich
Collison
Krstic
Mullens
DJ White
Mustafa Shakur
Kevin Ollie
Etan Thomas
Latavious Williams
Magnum Rolle
Ryan Reid
or ANY SUMMER LEAGUE STAR

^^^In other words...2 from the above list can play significant minutes in the 9 man rotation, 5 can be active on the roster, and 8 can make the squad....

Who is on your 9 man rotation?

Who is on your 12 active list?

Who is cut from your roster all together?

1. Durant
2. Westbrook
3. Green
4. Harden
5. Ibaka
6. Sefolosha
7. Maynor
8. Aldrich
9. Collison
10. Krstic
--------------------
11. Mo Pete
12. Cook
--------------------
13. Mullens
14. White
15. Weaver

1. Kevin Durant
2. Russell Westbrook
3. Jeff Green
4. James Harden
5. Serge Ibaka
6. Thabo Sefalosha
7. Eric Maynor
8. Nenad Krstic
9. Nick Collison
10. Cole Alrich (I dont think he will get a TON of Min's this season, but he will play almost every game)
11. Morris Peterson
12. New Point Guard (every team needs to carry 3)
_________________
13. Cook
14. Mullens
15. White

9 Man (Bumped up to 10 to decrease Green's playing time a bit)

PG: Westbrook, Maynor
SG: Sefolosha, Harden
SF: Durant, Cook
PF: Green, Ibaka
C: Aldrich, Krstic
____________________________________
Green, Thabo, Cook will split minor minutes at the 3. Cook could play the 2 when Thabo becomes an offensive liability and Harden needs a rest. If Cook doesn't prove himself early in the season, he will lose this spot to Peterson.

With Ibaka and Aldrich on the court at any given moment for rebounding and defensive purposes, I'd probably let Collison sit on the bench unless Krstic becomes completely ineffective (which would likely happen a lot).
____________________________________
Active players

11. Collison
12. Rotation of Mo Pete and Weaver (if he isn't cut)
____________________________________
Inactive players

13. Mullens (D-League)
14. White
15. Weaver/Peterson

Balkman32 wrote:12. New Point Guard (every team needs to carry 3)

Good point. Yet another reason why Weaver could get cut.

I will copy-paste my thoughts on this from elsewhere

I think some minor tinkering has to happen for these reasons:

- Scott Brooks prefers a nine man rotation.

Cole Aldrich, Nenad Krstic, Jeff Green, Nick Collison, and Serge Ibaka will all be fighting for PF / C minutes. Brooks has shown that he would prefer playing his rotation players 40 minutes rather than extend his rotation, so the notion that he will adopt a 10-man doesn't seem realistic. None of the listed players should be end-of-the-bench DNP-CD fodder. So a move has to be made to consolidate the front court, in my opinion.

We spent a lot of dough on Aldrich so he has to play, Nenad Krstic is in a contract year and would pitch a fit if he did not play, Nick Collison is a valuable backup also in a contract year so he's gotta play, the whole OKC internet fanbase would riot if Jeff Green did not play, and Serge Ibaka obviously deserves to play. Not enough minutes to go around, and as I said, we're unlikely to adopt the 10-man.

- We do not have a third PG.

Sam Presti went through a lot last season to make sure this team kept three point guards on the roster at all times. Mike Wilks 10-day, Shaun Livingston... eventually even sacrificing our cap space far from the trade deadline (the ideal time to use it) to acquire Eric Maynor and solve that problem once and for all. Unless he feels Kyle Weaver is a PG, which he is not, I think something will be done to fill this spot. Probably with a veteran.

Maybe a simple trade would suffice. Such as Nenad Krstic and Daequon Cook to the Pacers for T.J. Ford and a future 2nd rounder. Ford is our veteran backup that never plays, and we fix our problem in the front court. The problem with this type of move is that we sacrifice useful talent (Krstic) for nothing.

I don't know exactly what will happen, but I'm positive the roster as it exists currently won't look the same by the end of August.

sucks to here that ron is leaving he's a great asst coach but, i do like the tj ford idea slick

That 9-man rotation works as long as everyone is healthy, but what if someone gets injured. Do you bring in a guy to play 25-30 minutes who barely ever plays? I dont think so.
Thats why I believe it is good to have a core 10-11 man rotation.