So, how many wins next season?

[wizkid27]

on the positive side we've hopefully got development and more crowd support and general energy of the franchise and on the negative side we've got a western conference that seems to keep getting tougher and tougher. we play the majority of our games against west teams, and the majority of those teams are in championship contention mode or on the way there. it will be tough when i would say (as of now) at least 10 of the teams in our conference are HEAD AND SHOULDERS above where we are!

[Fizer]

25-30 wins in that range. Obviously not a great record, but slight improvement due to the improvement by Durant and Green, I'm thinking. Westbrook may hit the rookie wall at some point in the year, but he should certainly get his minutes and perhaps develop further down the road.

[joeshmoe]

35 wins... don't get me wrong, I think our current team would win more like 23 games. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I am banking on Presti making some moves to get us some solid veteran help. With our current roster, we are probably the worst team in the NBA; Miami without a doubt will be much better with Beasley. Trust me I had NBA league pass last season and watched a lot of our games, and we are really bad. We have a lot of potential, but we need some veteran help desperately.

Maybe I'm guilty of it too, but I think a lot of us have too high of expectations because of what the Hornets did.

[Kane2111]

35 wins... don't get me wrong, I think our current team would win more like 23 games. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I am banking on Presti making some moves to get us some solid veteran help. With our current roster, we are probably the worst team in the NBA; Miami without a doubt will be much better with Beasley. Trust me I had NBA league pass last season and watched a lot of our games, and we are really bad. We have a lot of potential, but we need some veteran help desperately.

Maybe I'm guilty of it too, but I think a lot of us have too high of expectations because of what the Hornets did.

I honestly think the team is better than their record indicated last year. They pretty much did everything possible to ensure they had no chance at winning. Playing Durant out of position, terrible coaching, no vet help whatsoever, benching productive players like Wally and Delonte while they were on the team (who went on to be key players on a surprisingly good Cavs playoff team). Plus there was that hovering cloud of uncertainty about the future of the squad. I honestly think they wanted to lose. For 1, it allowed for a potentially high draft pick. For 2, it made it certain that the general public in Seattle wouldn't care about the team leaving (this one is a stretch, but I honestly believe there was something to it).

My thought is that Oklahoma is now focused on winning. Durant and Jeff Green will presumably make leaps. Westbrook has been sensational in summer league. And I still think some other moves will be made with the rest of the roster with players like Watson, Collison, Wilcox and Ridnour. I'd be shocked if they went into the season with this roster intact.

[joeshmoe]

I agree that as an organization they were not trying to win last season. But I think they did this primarily with their roster. After all, they could have had a good team last season if they didn't trade away Allen and re-signed Rashard Lewis. Another example, as you alluded to, were dumping the few quality veterans we did have, West, Szerbiac (sp?), and Thomas. I agree that playing Durant out of position makes him less valueable, but I think that is just a bad coaching decision, there were many, not an attempt to make the team worse.

Durant will be much better, as he showed the second half of the season. And, I'm not completely sold on Green, but he showed a lot of potential toward the end of the season. Westbrook I doubt will be a better option than Watson his first season at the point. I'm not that optimistic. We definitly need to make moves to improve the team. I'm venting a little, I am just so disgusted by all the moves they made last season, and I hope they do something to improve the team now. Ownership will definitely be motivated to win more now that they are in Oklahoma. So that is largely why I think they are going to make some moves.

[Radiohead311]

I agree that as an organization they were not trying to win last season. But I think they did this primarily with their roster. After all, they could have had a good team last season if they didn't trade away Allen and re-signed Rashard Lewis. Another example, as you alluded to, were dumping the few quality veterans we did have, West, Szerbiac (sp?), and Thomas. I agree that playing Durant out of position makes him less valueable, but I think that is just a bad coaching decision, there were many, not an attempt to make the team worse.

Durant will be much better, as he showed the second half of the season. And, I'm not completely sold on Green, but he showed a lot of potential toward the end of the season. Westbrook I doubt will be a better option than Watson his first season at the point. I'm not that optimistic. We definitly need to make moves to improve the team. I'm venting a little, I am just so disgusted by all the moves they made last season , and I hope they do something to improve the team now. Ownership will definitely be motivated to win more now that they are in Oklahoma. So that is largely why I think they are going to make some moves.

What? Carl Landry to the Rockets is about the worst move Presti has made and that one really is not that big of a deal. The Ray Allen trade was a homerun. The Rashard Lewis trade and what he did with those assets was brilliant. Presti hasn't made any bad moves.




Ohh and I expect 20-25 wins and another top 5 pick next June and enough cap space to go after 2 major free agents next July.

[joeshmoe]

The Ray Allen trade was a homerun. The Rashard Lewis trade and what he did with those assets was brilliant. Presti hasn't made any bad moves.

I am going to have to disagree. They were a decent team, with two all-star type players. They just got a once in a generation player. There was no need to totally blow up the team. They could have been competitive last season. Instead, they decided not to compete last season, and now we won't be competitive for another 3 years assuming we draft well. We are not likely going to get another Durant in the draft.

However, given the decision to rebuild, the value he received is debatable.

But would you rather have a team with wins in the 40s fighting to make the playoffs, or the worst team in the Western Conference. I'm hopeful that we can be good down the road with a young team that can grow together. But it would be nice to have a good product to watch now, and we could have had one.

[Radiohead311]

The Ray Allen trade was a homerun. The Rashard Lewis trade and what he did with those assets was brilliant. Presti hasn't made any bad moves.

I am going to have to disagree. They were a decent team, with two all-star type players. They just got a once in a generation player. There was no need to totally blow up the team. They could have been competitive last season. Instead, they decided not to compete last season, and now we won't be competitive for another 3 years assuming we draft well. We are not likely going to get another Durant in the draft.

However, given the decision to rebuild, the value he received is debatable.

But would you rather have a team with wins in the 40s fighting to make the playoffs, or the worst team in the Western Conference. I'm hopeful that we can be good down the road with a young team that can grow together. But it would be nice to have a good product to watch now, and we could have had one.

Even if they had kept Ray Allen and Lewis they would have been lucky to win 35 games. Even 40 wins won't get you into the playoffs in the west. If you're not good enough to make the playoffs you might as well be bad enough to get a top pick. If you are not a true championship contender or heading in that direction you might as well blow it up and start over with high lottery picks, extra picks and clear cap space to be a player in free agency


Ray Allen was getting old and it wouldn't have been right to waste his last couple good years on a lottery team. Presti traded him at the right time getting Jeff Green for a guy clearly at the end of him prime is good value.

He turned Rashard Lewis into a trade exception. Turned the trade exception into Kurt Thomas, the pick that became Serge Ibaka, and a lottery pick in 2010 (yes the Suns will be a lottery team by then.) Then he turned Thomas into another 1st rounder in 09.

3 1st rounders, one of them a lottery pick, for a guy they were going to let go anyway.

[mnkinga23]

Are you all serious about wanting to keep Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis?!? Ray Allen was going to be 32 years old coming off of double ankle surgery. Lewis is a nice player but would you want to be paying him 18+ million a year? Orlando gave him a bad contract so good riddance to him. Presti and ownership made the right decision in rebuilding the team by moving Allen for the fifth pick and cap relief and not getting saddled with the ridiculous Lewis' contract. I wish the team was better now but I would rather the team be on the uptick with a bunch of young talent and cap room than be hovering around the eighth playoff spot for a few years and then just be cap strapped by bad contracts.

[joeshmoe]

Yes, I seriously disagree with Presti turning us into one of the worst teams in the NBA. It was unnecessary. He could have traded our assets and got younger and looked to the future without completely sacrificing the teams ability to compete now. We cannot rely solely on the draft. We are not likely to luck into another Durant. Right now it appears that we are looking 3-4 years down the road before we even become competitive.

Based on Presti's recent press conference, I don't think we are going to make any moves this off season. If we don't, I think we will win 23-25. We are a lock for another top 5 pick, I just hope the next one is more of a sure thing than either Green or Westbrook.

[ljp24]

I honestly hope P.J. Carlesimo is fired. Ugh, that guy sucks.

[mnkinga23]

Yes, I seriously disagree with Presti turning us into one of the worst teams in the NBA. It was unnecessary. He could have traded our assets and got younger and looked to the future without completely sacrificing the teams ability to compete now. We cannot rely solely on the draft. We are not likely to luck into another Durant. Right now it appears that we are looking 3-4 years down the road before we even become competitive.

Now we have a difference of philosophy. You prefer to be a mediocre team for a few years until Durant and company are good enough to compete; and I prefer to bottom out, be one of the worst teams in the league for 2-3 years, and use all of the high draft picks to fuel a resurgence. In your design, the team becomes the Pacers, never bad enough to get a really good player in the draft never good enough to make any serious noise in the playoffs. My design has two possible outcomes, best case the team becomes the Trail Blazers (short term) or the Spurs (long term), worst case the team becomes the Celtics (pre-Garnett and Allen trades). It all comes down to how well Presti and company build the team. I just have faith in the front office. And before you shoot me down ask yourself, what the last major deal or free agent acquisition that the Spurs did?

[JO_CB_FTW]

Hopefully Durant will be 2x better than last year.