Fall of 2020-21 OKC Thunder Offseason Thread- Rebuild or Maintain?

[ThunderBolt]

There's no way we get rid of Presti with all of the draft capital he has at his fingertips. He struck gold in the lottery every time we were there and with this many chances again I don't see why that doesn't happen again.

He "struck gold" three times more than a decade ago and has not drafted anything of value since Steven Adams in 2013.

It truly is amazing how ancient successes tend to define a person's reputation when it comes to the Thunder, regardless of what has happened since then. It's the equivalent of going back to Billy Donovan being up 3-1 on the 73 wins Warriors four seasons ago.

He traded for Sabonis on draft night.

[itzmrgigglez]

https://oklahoman.com/article/5671223/okc-thunder-50-candidates-to-replace-billy-donovan-as-coach

Lots of options

[mr570]

There's no way we get rid of Presti with all of the draft capital he has at his fingertips. He struck gold in the lottery every time we were there and with this many chances again I don't see why that doesn't happen again.

He "struck gold" three times more than a decade ago and has not drafted anything of value since Steven Adams in 2013.

It truly is amazing how ancient successes tend to define a person's reputation when it comes to the Thunder, regardless of what has happened since then. It's the equivalent of going back to Billy Donovan being up 3-1 on the 73 wins Warriors four seasons ago.

If you want to argue that he's been bad in the bottom half of the draft and the late lottery, fine. I won't dispute that.

I think this year Bazley was a huge hit. He traded for Paul George when OKC was on the edge of blowing everything up and THEN got him to re-sign. When you don't have much to work with I'd say that's a stunning turnaround from a generational talent walking away to go join a superteam just a year before.

[Sea2003]

2007 (#2 pick in draft) – Kevin Durant
2008 (#4 pick in draft) – Russell Westbrook
2009 (#3 pick in draft) – James Harden
2010 (not in lottery) (their top pick went #18 – Eric Bledsoe)
2011 (not in lottery) (their top pick went #24 – Reggie Jackson)
2012 (not in lottery) (their top pick went #28 – Perry Jones)
2013 (#12 pick in draft) – Steven Adams
2014 (not in lottery) (their top pick went #21 – Mitch McGary)
2015 (#14 pick in draft) – Cameron Payne
2016 (not in lottery) (no 1st round picks)
2017 (not in lottery) (their top pick went #21 – Terrance Ferguson)
2018 (not in lottery) (no first round picks)
2019 (not in lottery) (their top pick went #21 – Brandon Clarke; who they traded to Memphis in echange for Darius Bazley, who was taken with the 23rd pick)

So here are OKC’s five lottery picks since Presti’s been the GM:

Kevin Durant
Russell Westbrook
James Harden
Steven Adams
Cameron Payne

Have to give Presti an A+ for this


Not to mention the Thunder also drafted Eric Bledsoe, Reggie Jackson, Terrance Ferguson and Darius Bazley.

That has to be at least a solid A- for non-lottery 1st rd picks by Presti

[getrichordie]

Question. Has Presti ever drafted anyone who had a ton of tattoos or any tattoos heading into the draft?

[ThunderBolt]

Question. Has Presti ever drafted anyone who had a ton of tattoos or any tattoos heading into the draft?

Perhaps there is a thunder espn body issue that can answer your question.

[spearsy23]

Question. Has Presti ever drafted anyone who had a ton of tattoos or any tattoos heading into the draft?

Perhaps there is a thunder espn body issue that can answer your question.

It's just pictures of Serge in various poses.

[getrichordie]

Only rookie picture I could find with tattoos was Cam Payne's.

[Pillendreher]

He traded for Paul George when OKC was on the edge of blowing everything up and THEN got him to re-sign.

And then figured that the likes of Ferguson and Brewer were NBA level wing players. As always, he just stopped building the roster once he got his star player. Getting the splashy name is not enough if you don't acquire the pieces to surround it with.

When you don't have much to work with I'd say that's a stunning turnaround from a generational talent walking away to go join a superteam just a year before.

Come on. The argument pro Presti can't be "He lost the best draft core in NBA history and his biggest accomplishment is the Nick Collison jersey retirement, but hey, at least they still got to lose in the first round for four more years". That just absolves him from his past failures without there being any reason for doing so.

[slick_watts]

i'd prefer to keep presti. as must as it seems justified to 'punish' him for past errors, kd leaving knocked some sense into him imo. even the schroder trade looks good now, in hindsight.

[ThunderBolt]

Sam actually did get a competent roster after the Harden trade. Oladipo would have been perfect as a sixth man. If the rumors of having Horford were true, that would have been the best roster in the league, imo. Plus we would have still had Sabonis to develop or use as an asset.

[jake_swivel]

Gosh, it's really gonna be fun watching the Rockets implode over the next few seasons. 98 million invested in Harden, Westbrook, and Gordon next year. 105 million the next year. 112 the year after that with all of them being 34 years old. It's gonna be a disaster. Just gotta hope we don't miss out on protections.

[ThunderBolt]

Gosh, it's really gonna be fun watching the Rockets implode over the next few seasons. 98 million invested in Harden, Westbrook, and Gordon next year. 105 million the next year. 112 the year after that with all of them being 34 years old. It's gonna be a disaster. Just gotta hope we don't miss out on protections.

I didn't watch the game but seeing Russ' interactions with Rondo's brother makes me embarrassed for him. I'm not sure Houston could get John Wall at this point.

[jake_swivel]

I didn't watch the game but seeing Russ' interactions with Rondo's brother makes me embarrassed for him. I'm not sure Houston could get John Wall at this point.

Love Russ. But those dudes with all-world athleticism and egos to match, when the athleticism goes and the ego stays....yeesh....it's gonna be a damn trainwreck. It'd be sad if the Thunder didn't directly benefit from it. But they do, so

Gonna have all that money tied up in 3 dudes under 6'5. Westbrook never could shoot. Gordon seemingly can't anymore. D'antoni is likely gone or will be soon, with no cash to get a decent big or 3-point specialists. They're locked into a model based on outside shooting with one effective outside shooter.

[getrichordie]

Read on Twitter

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[mr570]

He traded for Paul George when OKC was on the edge of blowing everything up and THEN got him to re-sign.

And then figured that the likes of Ferguson and Brewer were NBA level wing players. As always, he just stopped building the roster once he got his star player. Getting the splashy name is not enough if you don't acquire the pieces to surround it with.

When you don't have much to work with I'd say that's a stunning turnaround from a generational talent walking away to go join a superteam just a year before.

Come on. The argument pro Presti can't be "He lost the best draft core in NBA history and his biggest accomplishment is the Nick Collison jersey retirement, but hey, at least they still got to lose in the first round for four more years". That just absolves him from his past failures without there being any reason for doing so.

You just want to burn the whole thing down dude. You didn't deserve to watch Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook from 2008-2016 lol

That kind of success has made you spoiled and raised your expectations WAY too high for a small market NBA team.

[mr570]

Read on Twitter

?s=21

Read on Twitter

[Pillendreher]

He traded for Paul George when OKC was on the edge of blowing everything up and THEN got him to re-sign.

And then figured that the likes of Ferguson and Brewer were NBA level wing players. As always, he just stopped building the roster once he got his star player. Getting the splashy name is not enough if you don't acquire the pieces to surround it with.

When you don't have much to work with I'd say that's a stunning turnaround from a generational talent walking away to go join a superteam just a year before.

Come on. The argument pro Presti can't be "He lost the best draft core in NBA history and his biggest accomplishment is the Nick Collison jersey retirement, but hey, at least they still got to lose in the first round for four more years". That just absolves him from his past failures without there being any reason for doing so.

You just want to burn the whole thing down dude.

I want accountability. There is none when it comes to Presti.

You didn't deserve to watch Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook from 2008-2016 lol

Yes, yes. I was just waiting for this mantra to be regurgitated. The Thunder are just a small market team and even being in the NBA should be fun enough. Let the Big City folks worry over championships, am I right?

That kind of success has made you spoiled and raised your expectations WAY too high for a small market NBA team.

Yawn.

[ThunderBolt]

Accountability comes in different ways. It doesn’t always mean losing your job. Sam having Durant leave for GS was him being held accountable for roster issues.

[QPR]

So here are OKC’s five lottery picks since Presti’s been the GM:

Kevin Durant
Russell Westbrook
James Harden
Steven Adams
Cameron Payne

Have to give Presti an A+ for this


Not to mention the Thunder also drafted Eric Bledsoe, Reggie Jackson, Terrance Ferguson and Darius Bazley.

That has to be at least a solid A- for non-lottery 1st rd picks by Presti

He also drafted Ibaka at #24 in the 2008 draft. However, not sure you can really give him Durant, given there were two blue chip prospects in that draft and he had the second pick.

Payne was a terrible pick but to be fair not that much went after him.

The irony is probably that he hasn't really had any high picks to work with as a direct result of him nailing his early picks.