Flawed roster

[BigFlorida]

Well obviously the team is young and has a lot of problems, but also their two "best" players play the same position. It never made sense when Seattle traded Ray Allen and drafted Jeff Green and it still doesn't make sense. Moving Kevin Durant to shooting guard was ridiculous. Thankfully Durant is finally playing his true position. But now you have Jeff Green playing out of position as an undersized power forward, a couple other average PF's in Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox... and no capable true center. Plus they have a crappy starting SG (Wilkins) and a couple of mediocre/below average point guards (Westbrook and Watson).

The team needs to make a trade. They need to clear up some of the mess on that roster and bring in position-defined players. I remember hearing Sam Presti last year talk about his vision to basically have a bunch of 6'9 players on the floor... a team full of small forwards, basically. They talked about it like it was some visionary "new NBA" idea. It sounded stupid from the start. Do something like trade Jeff Green + Wilcox (or Mason) for Chris Kaman. Then at least you have a legit center. Or... trade Jeff Green + Wilcox (or Mason) for a true shooting guard. Maybe a guy like Ben Gordon or something. Whose available?

[sonic-ben]

SAM IS A LOT better GM than in the past....

but there is a problem... just look at record

[london sonic]

I think when the Sonics put the Ray Allen trade together I believe they wanted Conley But Memphis beat them to the punch and took who they felt was the best avaliable player hence drafting Jeff Green.I agree Jeff Green is a luxury now that Durants moved back to SF. Dont be surprised if jeff is moved to aquire a starting center or shooting guard especially as OKC are in a great position now 1-14 to get Blake Griffin a far better PF prospect than jeff hes averaging nearly 20pts and 20 boards a game.

[wizkid27]

You guys really think they'll make significant changes before the season is over? I could see them pulling something like Green for a nice lottery pick in addition to their own, and hopefully be able to pitch it that they've got Durant and Westbrook joined by 2 new lottery players and maybe a FA aquisition...

I really just don't see much happening until then though... maybe be a fairly small move, but nothing franchise altering.

[Cracked Fingers]

You guys are missing two things that I see. A shooting guard but probably more importantly someone that will crash the boards. Wilcox isn't a bad inside option but he isn't the hustler that is going to get you extra possessions.

You guys could really use someone like a David Lee.

As for last nights game, I thought the last play should have been in Westbrook's hands. Pick and roll with Durant in the corner if his man comes to help.

[BadWolf]

wasn't it in Westbrook's hands? I only watched the recap on nba.com, but it sure seemed like Westbrook shooting.

[Great]

SG needed.

A center to play center.

[immuhguy]

flawed roster, flawed coaching staff, flawed logo. flawed name, flawed colors. It just isnt a good start. And i feel terrible for Durant because they drafted jeff green who like you guys said plays the same position lol. Why? who knows...its all flawed

[wizkid27]

I'm really optimistic for the future, just not really happy with the present. The Hawks brought in several SFs over the past few years (and were heavily criticized for it... some justly so), and they have put together a great team. I really think that our current rebuilding plan looks a lot more like theirs than that of the Blazers (which most would argue has been more successful).

We've got a couple of the athletic, good all-around player types that ATL had a couple of years ago. We have to find our Joe Johnson to overspend on (as it was seen at the time). Then draft an Al Horford (Griffin, Mullens, etc.), and find a Mike Bibby type guy to come in and run the offense. I know there are a lot of ifs in this, but none of them really seem that impossible. I would say the one with the biggest doubt is the diamond in the rough Joe Johnson type find...

[realfung]

Need some shooters.

[TheOGJabroni]

If you believe that Jeff Green is the future PF, then draft Hasheem Thabeet (must be tough to draft a center with so many busts at center on your team, but this kid is a huge presence that makes up for many of OKC's shortcomings down low this year.) If you don't feel that Green is the future PF, draft Griffin. Tremendous scorer down low, no explanation needed really. Then trade Green and some of the bench for a good shooter at the 2. And your team suddenly looks like this...

C: Sene/Swift/Petro(free agent maybe?)
PF: Griffin
SF: Durant
SG: (Shooter)
PG: Westbrook

with your bench...

Sene/Swift/Petro?
Wilcox/Collison/White
Mason
Wilkens
Watson

obviously thats too many players but some of these players may have some trade value to add better pieces to your starting line up to fill in the 2 and 5 spots.

[Patches Pal]

Wilcox will be leaving as a free agent at the end of this season. Probably with no compensation to the Thunder. The owners are not going to pay CW the $10M that he will want and will fall in love with the local guy Griffin. Collison will go FA next year. Green can backup both forward spots. Maybe they get something out of Serge Ibaka and Devon Harden down the line. This leaves the team pretty much unimproved for the next couple years. They could really use some outside shooting and a legit SG. The budget will keep them from going after any free agents. The best case is they improve just enough to be mediocre in a couple years. Will the fans maintain their interest? I doubt it.

[GJense4181]

I'm just wondering what happens if you get Blake Griffin? He's another F tweener.
#4 Westbrook
#2 Durant
#5 Green
#1 Griffin
?

[wizkid27]

I think if that's the case (as I've stated previously, they have to take him for PR reasons... even if I don't want them to), then I think they've got to trade Green for either a true center or a true scoring shooting guard.

Green has been pretty impressive lately, and I would guess he could fetch a pretty penny on the trade market. Heck, I'm not the biggest Durant fan in the world, is it possible that we could swing him for some big time player or a good SG and a good C? I know it's crazy and getting rid of Durant never really gets mentioned, but thought I'd throw it out there for discussion

[88' Draft Pick]

someone mentioned that this team wony go after free agents because of the budget. isnt this team far under the cap? especially once wilcox is gone?

[wizkid27]

I think that the budget comment is meant more as a precaution that generally with smaller markets and not super-rich owners, there is a concern about staying in the vicinity of the salary cap (varying depending upon teams and situations). It's not so much that they wouldn't be able to pay guys (or even willing), but the assumption that with the economic downturn and the small market that they're watching the bottom line.

I don't know anything in either direction, however I would point critics to [controversial] comments from when the team was still in Seattle, saying that the first priority was to get competitive basketball in OKC to increase the city's appearance on a Natl scale... and to make a profit secondarily to this.

Usually any successful business person's point of view is to make money, which would most likely be used as a counter-point to the above. But on the other side, I would have to remind posters who aren't as familiar with OKC's economy, that the ~8 primary owners of the Thunder own most of the large business in OKC... therefore they benefit from the success of OKC as a city greatly beyond the budgetary success of the Thunder. This changes the economics of splurging on a Free Agent much in the way that Lebron choosing NY for less money over Cleveland for more makes sense.