How does this OKC team stack up to past ones?

[richboy]

Just to note if Durant had stayed they could have still made the PG and Melo trades. Although chances are they would have traded Kanter to try to sign Al Horford.

I think this might be OKC's most complete team. The past teams were stuck with anchors that limited the potential. Roberson is that guy on this team but with Melo and Ferguson they might not be dependent on him like in the past. I think the best OKC team was the Finals team and the Kevin Martin, Thabo team that won 60 plus games with great SRS.

This is the most complete OKC team I've seen though and most versatile in terms of lineups. If Ferguson can defend and he already can shoot they could have some really versatile lineups on offense and defense. Unlike in the past have lineups that can shoot and you have to respect.

No they couldn't, they would have been hard capped with KD on a max and signing Roberson. The bold is also not true but people will change their mind when they see how the season starts to play out. They were more versatile playing the 2nd best small 4 in the league and Ibaka at the 5. Also you are mentioning Ferg, who is unlikely to get any minutes lol.

OKC has a history of giving young players minutes. Ferg is already an elite spot up stroke. If he decent defensively he will get minutes.

What you said is fine but they traded for PG and Melo. All the pieces they traded for those 2 would have been on the team even if Durant had stayed.

They rarely played Durant at PF and Ibaka at Center. Which is why that lineup never was really that versatile. Maybe with another coach it could have been. In the past they were committed to size. Ibaka and Durant played the 4 and 5 on average less than 4 minutes per game. Just not comparable to if they actually start Melo at PF.

[THE J0KER]

In terms of quality, they are similar to me with Durant-Westbrook Oklahoma AFTER exit of Ibaka and Harden.
That team reached Conference final in 2014-15 where they lose against GSW 3:4... but it is still hard to predict the same scenario for upcoming season because together with "sure bet" GSW, there are several powerful contenders for that other spot in Western Conference final (OKC now joined to HOU and SAS, and even Minnesota have some chances).

[E-Balla]

Honestly don't think they are that great. Could easily see them being a 5-6 seed. Gives me the same fake super team feel that the Nets had when they acquired Pierce and Garnett.

They were 6th seed last year. They dumped Dipo, Taj, and Kanter for George, Patterson, and Melo - all significant upgrades on both sides of the ball. The current roster is:

Westbrook/Felton
Roberson/Albrines
George/Grant
Melo/Patterson
Adams/Johnson

Felton and Albrines aren't even good bench players but Patterson is great (especially on defense), George/Roberson just became the best defensive wing combo in the league over Green/Kawhi, and that frontcourt is scary especially when the league MVP is at PG.

Only issue at this point is whether or not Donovan coaches them because I feel Melo can play well without the ball and Westbrook knows how it is to play with another 2 stars, but I've said for years PG is the biggest ballhog in the league. He'll need to understand he's the 3rd option since Melo is so good off ball.

[NaturalThunder]

Every OKC team (when healthy) from 2012-2016 was better than this team.

However, the fact that two seasons after losing Durant for nothing Presti has put together a very formidable team (on paper), is a hugely pleasant surprise for myself and every other OKC fan. After Durant left in July 2016, I didn't think I'd be sitting here a little over a year later gearing up for an OKC team with a peak Westbrook, prime Paul George, and Caremlo Anthony as our third option.

[NaturalThunder]

Honestly don't think they are that great. Could easily see them being a 5-6 seed. Gives me the same fake super team feel that the Nets had when they acquired Pierce and Garnett.

They were 6th seed last year. They dumped Dipo, Taj, and Kanter for George, Patterson, and Melo - all significant upgrades on both sides of the ball. The current roster is:

Westbrook/Felton
Roberson/Albrines
George/Grant
Melo/Patterson
Adams/Johnson

Felton and Albrines aren't even good bench players but Patterson is great (especially on defense), George/Roberson just became the best defensive wing combo in the league over Green/Kawhi, and that frontcourt is scary especially when the league MVP is at PG.

Only issue at this point is whether or not Donovan coaches them because I feel Melo can play well without the ball and Westbrook knows how it is to play with another 2 stars, but I've said for years PG is the biggest ballhog in the league. He'll need to understand he's the 3rd option since Melo is so good off ball.

The rest of your post is good, but I disagree with Abrines not being a good bench player. If he improves on his performance last season, then he's a very solid floor-stretching bench player. His defense will never be good, so his ceiling is nothing more than an above average player, but he showed last year he can be a near-elite floor stretcher with sneaky good athleticism.

[Scizzup]

Just to note if Durant had stayed they could have still made the PG and Melo trades. Although chances are they would have traded Kanter to try to sign Al Horford.

I think this might be OKC's most complete team. The past teams were stuck with anchors that limited the potential. Roberson is that guy on this team but with Melo and Ferguson they might not be dependent on him like in the past. I think the best OKC team was the Finals team and the Kevin Martin, Thabo team that won 60 plus games with great SRS.

This is the most complete OKC team I've seen though and most versatile in terms of lineups. If Ferguson can defend and he already can shoot they could have some really versatile lineups on offense and defense. Unlike in the past have lineups that can shoot and you have to respect.

No they couldn't, they would have been hard capped with KD on a max and signing Roberson. The bold is also not true but people will change their mind when they see how the season starts to play out. They were more versatile playing the 2nd best small 4 in the league and Ibaka at the 5. Also you are mentioning Ferg, who is unlikely to get any minutes lol.

OKC has a history of giving young players minutes. Ferg is already an elite spot up stroke. If he decent defensively he will get minutes.

What you said is fine but they traded for PG and Melo. All the pieces they traded for those 2 would have been on the team even if Durant had stayed.

They rarely played Durant at PF and Ibaka at Center. Which is why that lineup never was really that versatile. Maybe with another coach it could have been. In the past they were committed to size. Ibaka and Durant played the 4 and 5 on average less than 4 minutes per game. Just not comparable to if they actually start Melo at PF.

trading when you are hardcapped? Also no they don't, look at Cam Payne/Reggie. last year they were devoid of quality shooting and Abrines still only played 15mins (was a good pro in europe) He is likely not going to get more than garbage time mins in playoffs and maybe 500mins or less for the entire RS. They didn't play KD enough at the 4 which was always a black mark but when they did it was the most versatile 4/5 in the league (which is now KD/Dray). The reason they had success vs gsw is because KD/Ibaka at 4/5 not Adams

If they brought back Taj for 12millionthey wouldn't have been able to trade for PG and that's without a likely 30million contract.

[NaturalThunder]

In terms of quality, they are similar to me with Durant-Westbrook Oklahoma AFTER exit of Ibaka and Harden.
That team reached Conference final in 2014-15 where they lose against GSW 3:4... but it is still hard to predict the same scenario for upcoming season because together with "sure bet" GSW, there are several powerful contenders for that other spot in Western Conference final (OKC now joined to HOU and SAS, and even Minnesota have some chances).

Ibaka played for OKC up until last season. They always had Ibaka. Now, Ibaka drastically dropped off his last two seasons in OKC, but he was there through the 2015-2016 season.

[Hindenburg]

It will be interesting to see how it all works out next year for OKC

At worst, they'll be slightly better than last year's Westbrook solo led OKC

At best, who knows maybe they'll give Warriors a good battle in WCF

[Scizzup]

Just to note if Durant had stayed they could have still made the PG and Melo trades. Although chances are they would have traded Kanter to try to sign Al Horford.

I think this might be OKC's most complete team. The past teams were stuck with anchors that limited the potential. Roberson is that guy on this team but with Melo and Ferguson they might not be dependent on him like in the past. I think the best OKC team was the Finals team and the Kevin Martin, Thabo team that won 60 plus games with great SRS.

This is the most complete OKC team I've seen though and most versatile in terms of lineups. If Ferguson can defend and he already can shoot they could have some really versatile lineups on offense and defense. Unlike in the past have lineups that can shoot and you have to respect.

No they couldn't, they would have been hard capped with KD on a max and signing Roberson. The bold is also not true but people will change their mind when they see how the season starts to play out. They were more versatile playing the 2nd best small 4 in the league and Ibaka at the 5. Also you are mentioning Ferg, who is unlikely to get any minutes lol.

OKC has a history of giving young players minutes. Ferg is already an elite spot up stroke. If he decent defensively he will get minutes.

What you said is fine but they traded for PG and Melo. All the pieces they traded for those 2 would have been on the team even if Durant had stayed.

They rarely played Durant at PF and Ibaka at Center. Which is why that lineup never was really that versatile. Maybe with another coach it could have been. In the past they were committed to size. Ibaka and Durant played the 4 and 5 on average less than 4 minutes per game. Just not comparable to if they actually start Melo at PF.

also even they could trade for all these guys lol. They would need to put up a tax bill of 150million.

[Big Mac Biyombo]

It's still worse than any of their 2012-16 rosters. KD is still significantly better than anyone on this roster.

[richboy]

No they couldn't, they would have been hard capped with KD on a max and signing Roberson. The bold is also not true but people will change their mind when they see how the season starts to play out. They were more versatile playing the 2nd best small 4 in the league and Ibaka at the 5. Also you are mentioning Ferg, who is unlikely to get any minutes lol.

OKC has a history of giving young players minutes. Ferg is already an elite spot up stroke. If he decent defensively he will get minutes.

What you said is fine but they traded for PG and Melo. All the pieces they traded for those 2 would have been on the team even if Durant had stayed.

They rarely played Durant at PF and Ibaka at Center. Which is why that lineup never was really that versatile. Maybe with another coach it could have been. In the past they were committed to size. Ibaka and Durant played the 4 and 5 on average less than 4 minutes per game. Just not comparable to if they actually start Melo at PF.

trading when you are hardcapped? Also no they don't, look at Cam Payne/Reggie. last year they were devoid of quality shooting and Abrines still only played 15mins (was a good pro in europe) He is likely not going to get more than garbage time mins in playoffs and maybe 500mins or less for the entire RS. They didn't play KD enough at the 4 which was always a black mark but when they did it was the most versatile 4/5 in the league (which is now KD/Dray). The reason they had success vs gsw is because KD/Ibaka at 4/5 not Adams

If they brought back Taj for 12millionthey wouldn't have been able to trade for PG and that's without a likely 30million contract.

OKC already had made a decision to spend a ton. I talked about it last year prior to Durant leaving and the Dipo trade. I didn't understand OKC moves because they in essence were looking like they were willing to have the biggest payroll in the league. I didn't think they had biggest talent in the league.

This argument is more about name than actual salary. Dipo is scheduled to make more than Paul George. Kanter and DM after the trade kicker will make nearly as much as Melo. The only difference in salary is that OKC doesn't have Durant. If Durant had stayed they were going to have a extremely high payroll.

Any lineup could be versatile but you have to be willing to actual be versatile. OKC for the most part has been meat and potatoes for years. They could have played Durant and Ibaka more as a 4 and 5 but less than 300 minutes is not real versatility when your obviously committed to playing Nick Collison, Stephen Adams, Kendrick Perkins. Games were actually played. Thunder fans didn't see that versatility. Instead they watched the Thunder play lineups that left big advantages to the opponents. Fans wish they saw more like the GS series. Even there you saw mostly Adams and Ibaka.

This is most likely the first year OKC plays a 4 heavy minutes that isn't a limited offensive player that has defensive versatility. Matter of fact 2 years ago Paul George played more PF than Kevin Durant ever played with OKC. Just forget Melo who I think is really a PF but can play SF still. Paul George, Roberson, Grant are some of the most position-less players in the league on defense. I think this will be OKC most versatile team by a large degree. Could we even see Melo at the 5 and PG at the 4 against small ball teams.

Cam Payne was terrible. They completely expected him to play a lot more but he was terrible. If your saying Ferg will be terrible then he will not play. They had James Harden when Reggie Jackson was on the team. No chance of him getting minutes over RW or Harden in that situation. I'm not saying Ferg is getting 2000 minutes. Kevin Durant has talked about OKC willingness to play young players in the past. Sam Presti after the draft specifically liked him because he felt playing overseas made him ready to contribute. That he could come right in and help defend and shoot. If he shows some decent ability he will get minutes. I could see him having a Patrick McCaw like first year.

[Darren]

If you get past the possible chemistry issues, this team has 3 legit all pros. The last time okc had that was when harden was the 6th man poy, and that was a very very very young okc team. But I still think adams has to show the promise he showed 2 seasons ago

Melo hasnt made an All NBA team going onto 5 years now. He is way past being called a legit all pro. Melo is coming off arguably his worst season as a pro, thats usually not a good sign when that happens this late in someones career. But lets say he plays better now being surrounded by Russ and PG, I still dont think he is anywhere close to being considered an all pro talent.

What are the hates for Camelo Anthony? He's still listed as top-64 players among league players. And the OKC unloads Kanter and gets him for a second rounder only. It is too greek to ask for more. Melo's better than most expected. He's been playing for a tanking team last 5 years. So you want him for 5 straight all-star presence? Come on, let's be real.

Getting a fun team to watch with is perfectly fine for fans with the polarized nature of the league nowadays. This trades move OKC past Spurs, Houston and so on. You get an unuseful piece (in PO) for a useful piece. Should you ask for more?

[Cavsfansince84]

If you get past the possible chemistry issues, this team has 3 legit all pros. The last time okc had that was when harden was the 6th man poy, and that was a very very very young okc team. But I still think adams has to show the promise he showed 2 seasons ago

Melo hasnt made an All NBA team going onto 5 years now. He is way past being called a legit all pro. Melo is coming off arguably his worst season as a pro, thats usually not a good sign when that happens this late in someones career. But lets say he plays better now being surrounded by Russ and PG, I still dont think he is anywhere close to being considered an all pro talent.

At the same time Melo's role on the offense is going to be scaled back a lot from what it was in ny so he may excel with his 12-15 shots per game that he will prob get in okc. Not a Melo fan by any means but if he embraces being the third option and tries a little on defense he could give them a nice boost.

[Duke4life831]

If you get past the possible chemistry issues, this team has 3 legit all pros. The last time okc had that was when harden was the 6th man poy, and that was a very very very young okc team. But I still think adams has to show the promise he showed 2 seasons ago

Melo hasnt made an All NBA team going onto 5 years now. He is way past being called a legit all pro. Melo is coming off arguably his worst season as a pro, thats usually not a good sign when that happens this late in someones career. But lets say he plays better now being surrounded by Russ and PG, I still dont think he is anywhere close to being considered an all pro talent.

What are the hates for Camelo Anthony? He's still listed as top-64 players among league players. And the OKC unloads Kanter and gets him for a second rounder only. It is too greek to ask for more. Melo's better than most expected. He's been playing for a tanking team last 5 years. So you want him for 5 straight all-star presence? Come on, let's be real.

Getting a fun team to watch with is perfectly fine for fans with the polarized nature of the league nowadays. This trades move OKC past Spurs, Houston and so on. You get an unuseful piece (in PO) for a useful piece. Should you ask for more?

I dont see how anything I said was me hating on Melo? There is also a huge difference between a legit all pro caliber player and a top-64 player. All I said is Melo hasnt been an all pro player for going on 5 years now and statistically speaking arguably just had his worst year. Thats statistics, thats not hate. Do I think he is going to help OKC? Of course, do I think he can still be a stud offensive player especially when surrounded by Russ and PG? Yes. Do I think he is anywhere close to being an all pro talent anymore? No I dont.

[Young_Star11]

Not sure they are any better than any of the 2011/12 - 2015/16 teams.