I know it is the offseason..

DontH8TheBrody · Post #1 » by **DontH8TheBrody** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 6:32 pm

BUT.. this forum is dead right now. Lets pick it up start talking about the upcoming season a little bit, I am deprived of some good Thunder talk with real OKC fans!

Sports Illustrated just came out with there top 100 players list for 2014/2015, Durant #2, Westbrook #4, and Ibaka at #19. That is our big 3 in the top 20 players in the league. We have to finish the deal with these guys entering there primes. How do you guys feel our chances are looking heading into this year?

Post #2 » by **bondom34** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 6:43 pm

Can't wait. I think the chance is as good as ever, woulda loved maybe a move for a big man but I'm not gonna argue. At this point, if Perk's minutes drop enough and Adams is good to go, its gonna be a really interesting season. The last 2 have been lost to injuries to me, I'm really hoping this is the year. If Adams keeps improving and there's any production from the SG they're there. Hoping Lambo put in some defensive work in the offseason.

Post #3 » by **wizkid27** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:17 pm

I think some of the deadness is just that there really isn't much disagreement within the board... We're all good with SF. PG, PF see some great hope at C and SG is a bit of a wildcard.

I think we've got the best shot of anyone in the league by a bit. Maybe 40% chance we win it all in my book.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #4 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 2:00 am

We had a LOT of discussion heading into the draft and FA. It's just that dead time. Throw in the start of football season and the NBA is on the back burner for a few more weeks. When the preseason gets started we'll probably start talking about the back of the rotation and end of the bench, but there isn't anything else to really talk about.

We know KD, Russ and Ibaka are going to start. We can argue Adams vs Perkins at center, but I think we pretty much all agree Adams should start, but Perkins will start. We can argue who will start at SG, but I'm not sure it matters between Lamb, Morrow and you could make a case for PJ3 if his defense plays well there. Semaj vs Telfair as the #3 PG, but is the #3 PG really going to matter much? There just isn't much to talk about right now that hasn't been said repeatedly during the off-season already. Give Lamb and PJ3 more playing time. Get McGary in the rotation. Limit Perkins' minutes and preferably only play him against a team with a big man for him to defend, i.e. Houston, Clippers, Memphis, etc.

I like their chances better than I did going into last season. I like them about the same as I did in the 2013 playoffs, before Russ got hurt. If OKC has a healthy year and they get some more moderate growth out of Reggie, Lamb, PJ3 and Adams this team is going to be very hard to beat. However, it always takes some luck as we have seen. OKC become a trivia question answer when Russ went down as the team with the highest point differential in the regular season to ever not win a championship. They have the pieces, but between Russ and the rest of the injuries last year it just didn't come together. Hopefully, they can all stay healthy and don't go into the playoffs with a rotation that had only play something like 6 games together in the regular season due to injuries, no back-to-back for Russ, Thabo and Perkins being hurt, and the late addition of Butler.

HeartSouloma · Post #5 » by **HeartSouloma** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:26 am

What Kizz said. Noting much to talk about till the up coming season...

We still need another piece to put us over the top. I thought Arron Afflalo or Pau Gasol would've been a perfect fit for this team. Just have to wait and see what this current OKC team can do first before Presti can make any moves.

Post #6 » by **bondom34** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:35 am

I don't know if they need another piece. I think everything's in place, the last 2 seasons have both had injury issues at terrible times. If they literally get any production from the SG they can win it. Thabo was nonexistant and they almost did it last year. Anything better than that may be enough.

KD35Brah · Post #7 » by **KD35Brah** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 6:03 pm

I'm really expecting Lamb, Reggie, and Jones to make the big jump. It's a good thing that Reggie strives to be more efficient this season. Lamb and Reggie need to get to the line more though.

I just hope they can get a fair share of minutes.

PJ3 is really the unsung hero in all of this speculation. One of the most versatile players in the league, can play great defense and knock down 3s at a good rate.

Perk should be DONE. I don't want him taking valuable minutes from McGary and Adams.

2Mas · Post #8 » by **2Mas** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:38 pm

KD35Brah wrote:I'm really expecting Lamb, Reggie, and Jones to make the big jump. It's a good thing that Reggie strives to be more efficient this season. Lamb and Reggie need to get to the line more though.

I just hope they can get a fair share of minutes.

PJ3 is really the unsung hero in all of this speculation. One of the most versatile players in the league, can play great defense and knock down 3s at a good rate.

Perk should be DONE. I don't want him taking valuable minutes from McGary and Adams.

Idk if McGary should take his minutes yet. OKC done a good job of transitioning college players into pros, but this is the year they havta break out.

Westbrook - Jackson
Morrow - Lamb
Durant - Jones
Ibaka - Collison
Adams - Perk

Lots of young improving players in house. Morrow is undoubtedly be that sure shooter you guys need. If Westbrook can evolve some, you guys should be the favorites. Last year Westbrook was coming down shooting quick selfish shots when the Spurs were swinging side to side for open 3's.

From a non okc fan (like you guys but a c's fan) -- OKC is the favorite. Westbrook works on his pg game a bit & the young guys grow up a bit & you have a stackeddd team.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #9 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 5:14 pm

I could see Westbrook getting benched some if he takes early shot clock 3s this year. Given the weapons on offense and the skill sets I could see most of the rotation players shooting 40%+ from 3. KD, Reggie, PJ3, Lamb, Ibaka and Morrow all have the ability to shot 40%+ from 3. Before anyone says they don't keep in mind that Lamb and PJ3 shot 36% last year from 3, Reggie shot 39% in the playoffs after shooting over 40% in March and April and Ibaka shot 38%. If you don't think KD or Morrow can shot 40% from 3, again, you need to stop pretending to be a basketball fan.

Russ is the only non big man that doesn't shoot the 3 ball well. He needs to take it out of his game and focus on getting to the rim and line along with the drive and kick and continue improving his elbow jumper. Russ could become a 15-15, pts-ast, guy if he wanted to. Drive and let the defense collapse and kick it out to a shooter in the corner for an open 3.

HeartSouloma · Post #10 » by **HeartSouloma** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:49 am

Kizz Fastfists wrote:I could see Westbrook getting benched some if he takes early shot clock 3s this year. Given the weapons on offense and the skill sets I could see most of the rotation players shooting 40%+ from 3. KD, Reggie, PJ3, Lamb, Ibaka and Morrow all have the ability to shot 40%+ from 3. Before anyone says they don't keep in mind that Lamb and PJ3 shot 36% last year from 3, Reggie shot 39% in the playoffs after shooting over 40% in March and April and Ibaka shot 38%. If you don't think KD or Morrow can shot 40% from 3, again, you need to stop pretending to be a basketball fan.

Russ is the only non big man that doesn't shoot the 3 ball well. He needs to take it out of his game and focus on getting to the rim and line along with the drive and kick and continue improving his elbow jumper. Russ could become a 15-15, pts-ast, guy if he wanted to. Drive and let the defense collapse and kick it out to a shooter in the corner for an open 3.

Are you Gregg Popovich? Wish u would coach this team...

KD35Brah · Post #11 » by **KD35Brah** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 2:05 am

Does anyone else feel that Adams being such a hard Roller is going to open up the offense even more along with the 3PT shooting of Lamb, Morrow, and Jackson?

Perkins not being a good "roller" hurt the offensive flow of this team. Also the fact that you can't always just dump it off to him in a pick and roll situations and expect him to finish it quickly and above the rim like Adams(in the playoffs) and Collison do in these situations.

KD35Brah · Post #12 » by **KD35Brah** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 2:11 am

Also to all the post in this subforum.

Why don't we just use this thread for ANY random thoughts you have about the team and the players. ANYTHING. just post whatever comes to mind.

A dead subforum for your favorite team sucks.

Post #13 » by **bondom34** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 2:19 am

That works for me man, I'm around a lot, but post on the trade board quite a bit. I usually figure its dead b/c noone's around

.

I agree on Adams and think just the fact that he's competent offensively and doesn't just fumble the ball out of bounds half the time will open things up. Let's be honest, the playoffs was 3 on 5 on offense. Even if you add one offensive possibility, the D has to respect it.

Also, semi random but the thought came up in a trade on the board, and it seemed to be viewed as fair by fans of neither team, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but Perk, Lamb, RJ for Hibbert and CJ Watson. Watson's a good defensive backup PG on an expiring, Hibbert's a huge upgrade and would expire in 2 years. If the team didn't know if they could keep Reggie, I'd love it. I also think he's by far the best trade chip.

Thabo Sefolosha · Post #14 » by **Thabo Sefolosha** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 12:35 pm

How come Orlando just traded Arron Affalo for just Evan Fournier and a pick? We offered something better with Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb and possibly a 1st round pick. Did we like not offer it or something?

HeartSouloma · Post #15 » by **HeartSouloma** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 5:00 pm

Phydeounix wrote:How come Orlando just traded Arron Affalo for just Evan Fournier and a pick? We offered something better with Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb and possibly a 1st round pick. Did we like not offer it or something?

Salaries didn't match.

Post #16 » by **bondom34** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:27 pm

Phydeounix wrote:How come Orlando just traded Arron Affalo for just Evan Fournier and a pick? We offered something better with Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb and possibly a 1st round pick. Did we like not offer it or something?

Orlando wanted cap space. We didn't have that to offer, Denver did. They shed a bunch of salary w/ the actual trade.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #17 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:39 pm

Phydeounix wrote:How come Orlando just traded Arron Affalo for just Evan Fournier and a pick? We offered something better with Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb and possibly a 1st round pick. Did we like not offer it or something?

Orlando did not want Perkins or a late first round pick. OKC had to give up either all three of Lamb, PJ3 and Reggie or one of KD, Westbrook or Ibaka in order for a trade to work for Afflalo due to CBA restrictions on salary balance in trades. There was just no realistic option for the teams to work out a trade for Afflalo. If OKC could have offered Lamb and a early 2nd and had done so I would really have been interested in seeing which offer Orlando took. I still think they would have taken Denver's offer. I think Fournier fits in more with what they want long-term out of that roster spot and Denver was offering a higher draft pick than OKC would have been able to. I'd also rather have Perkins, Lamb and McGary (the first round pick) along with Morrow than one year of Afflalo.

The reason they wanted a 2nd instead of a first is because 2nd round picks are not guaranteed roster spots and are more valuable under the current CBA than low first round picks. With this draft there was very little fall off between picks 25 and 55. Which is why as shocking a pick as Huestis was it wasn't bad from a pure talent stand point because there was almost no difference between taking him and another college player at that point and they knew he would go to the D-League without issue. If they could have traded that pick for a top 15 pick in the 2nd round they probably would have, but those 2nd round picks are more valuable.

Post #18 » by **wizkid27** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 2:28 am

bondom34 wrote:Also, semi random but the thought came up in a trade on the board, and it seemed to be viewed as fair by fans of neither team, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but Perk, Lamb, RJ for Hibbert and CJ Watson. Watson's a good defensive backup PG on an expiring, Hibbert's a huge upgrade and would expire in 2 years. If the team didn't know if they could keep Reggie, I'd love it. I also think he's by far the best trade chip.

Ehh, not sure I'd be too happy with this. I mean, I guess if you go with the mindset that we won't keep Reggie and are trying to get value for him then it works. However, to me Lamb's value is still a decent bit higher than Watson's and Reggie has a lot more value than Hibbert if we keep him. I live in Indy and watch more Pacers games than most OKC fans. The guy just really completely fell apart in the latter parts of this last season. He's still got some value if put in the right system, but he also has the potential to go full-Perk with a bigger contract. Reggie on the other hand is really young, full of potential, and doesn't really have any big downsides other than not being worth the contract he may end up getting. But even if he gets a crazy contract, it will be less than Roy's.

Post #19 » by **bondom34** » Wed Sep 24, 2014 3:02 am

wizkid27 wrote:
bondom34 wrote:Also, semi random but the thought came up in a trade on the board, and it seemed to be viewed as fair by fans of neither team, I'd do it in a heartbeat, but Perk, Lamb, RJ for Hibbert and CJ Watson. Watson's a good defensive backup PG on an expiring, Hibbert's a huge upgrade and would expire in 2 years. If the team didn't know if they could keep Reggie, I'd love it. I also think he's by far the best trade chip.

Ehh, not sure I'd be too happy with this. I mean, I guess if you go with the mindset that we won't keep Reggie and are trying to get value for him then it works. However, to me Lamb's value is still a decent bit higher than Watson's and Reggie has a lot more value than Hibbert if we keep him. I live in Indy and watch more Pacers games than most OKC fans. The guy just really completely fell apart in the latter parts of this last season. He's still got some value if put in the right system, but he also has the potential to go full-Perk with a bigger contract. Reggie on the other hand is really young, full of potential, and doesn't really have any big downsides other than not being worth the contract he may end up getting. But even if he gets a crazy contract, it will be less than Roy's.

True, and yea that was the mindset. I wouldn't mind just b/c I see Hibbert as an upgrade no matter what, and I think he'd be better w/ a strong locker room. One thing I give Brooks cred for is that, I think he'd be fine, but just me.

KD35Brah · Post #20 » by **KD35Brah** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 6:19 pm

This is great News.
[tweet]https://twitter.com/royceyoung/status/515183570911248384[/tweet]

As well as this, sorry Perk.
[tweet]https://twitter.com/royceyoung/status/515177018452086784[/tweet]

Does this mean more time for Adams,McGary, and Jones?