OKC Thunder Offseason 2017: The Reshapening

[bondom34]

I'm against the blow it up approach (at least initially). So here goes my plan. The intent is to keep most of the roster intact but to add players that could be cheaper options than both Adams and Dipo.

So Kanter would be moved into someone's cap space and I hope I get something of decent value in return. Sabonis can IMO step into Kanters role next season and provide 75% of what he Kanter did

Trade 1- a future second round pick and Christon for Sean Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick skill set is similar to Dipo and as after next season he's a UFA. If he can grow his game and provide 75-80% of what Dipo provides (he might even provide everything that Dipo does).

Trade 2- Singler and 2nd round pick for Dwight Powell. Can powell do what Adams does for 8 million per year?

Draft- Donovan Mitchell. He and Sean Kilpatrick can likely duplicate Dipo's production.

Re-sign Taj, re-sign Roberson.

Yes the tax bill would be massive, but the hope is that whatever you add at C or SG can give you the same production that you get from Dipo and Adams. This would allow you to potentially move one or both at the trade deadline or next summer.

In an ideal world you replace Adams/Dipo/Kanter with similar production for way less than half of what you pay those guys now.

In this scenario you would for sure pay the tax one year, but the plan would be to dump at least one of Dipo/Adams to avoid paying the tax a second time.

Powell could be another player but the idea is the same. I'd also be ok with just targeting one of these areas (prob SG). The goal would be to get the same production (maybe better) than Dipo with Kilpatrick and Mitchell.

You'd then move Dipo for future assets/cap space

I'm sorry, Kilpatrick and Powell are NOT Oladipo or Adams replacements. Kilpatrick's a decent player, but he's closer to Monta than Dipo.

I agree that Powell is a stretch. However I think Kilpatrick and Donovan Mitchell (draft pick) would likely give you almost the exact same production as Dipo and it would be WAY cheaper even after you re-sign Kilpatrick.

I'd vehemently disagree.

[Pillendreher]

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Hopefully it will pay off.

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Let's hope we can work something out.

[bondom34]

I think Kanter's gotta be gone. The rest mostly stay I'd guess, except whatever happens w/ FAs.

[Dn4sty]

I'm sorry, Kilpatrick and Powell are NOT Oladipo or Adams replacements. Kilpatrick's a decent player, but he's closer to Monta than Dipo.

I agree that Powell is a stretch. However I think Kilpatrick and Donovan Mitchell (draft pick) would likely give you almost the exact same production as Dipo and it would be WAY cheaper even after you re-sign Kilpatrick.

I'd vehemently disagree.

In this scenario you would still have Dipo. If it didn't work after year one, you could re-configure. Then you'd be out 2 second round picks and one giant tax bill.

The point of my post was to explore options for adding players to the roster than could in theory be cheaper (and hopefully almost as good or the same as) than Adams and Dipo.

[ThunderBolt]

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Hopefully it will pay off.

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Let's hope we can work something out.

Keep Taj, move Vic. We need some veterans on the floor. Nick is great but he doesn't provide the leadership on the floor due to his age. Taj can do that. It all starts with Dre's contract. Once we kno what's happening with that, we can move forward. I think it's unlikely Taj is here next year but I hope I'm wrong.

[spearsy23]

I agree that Powell is a stretch. However I think Kilpatrick and Donovan Mitchell (draft pick) would likely give you almost the exact same production as Dipo and it would be WAY cheaper even after you re-sign Kilpatrick.

I'd vehemently disagree.

In this scenario you would still have Dipo. If it didn't work after year one, you could re-configure. Then you'd be out 2 second round picks and one giant tax bill.

The point of my post was to explore options for adding players to the roster than could in theory be cheaper (and hopefully almost as good or the same as) than Adams and Dipo.

Regardless, why would Brooklyn trade Kilpatrick for a pick they could buy and the privilege of being the team to cut semaj?

[Dn4sty]

I'd vehemently disagree.

In this scenario you would still have Dipo. If it didn't work after year one, you could re-configure. Then you'd be out 2 second round picks and one giant tax bill.

The point of my post was to explore options for adding players to the roster than could in theory be cheaper (and hopefully almost as good or the same as) than Adams and Dipo.

Regardless, why would Brooklyn trade Kilpatrick for a pick they could buy and the privilege of being the team to cut semaj?

Lots of Net fans are saying they would

[bondom34]

I'd vehemently disagree.

In this scenario you would still have Dipo. If it didn't work after year one, you could re-configure. Then you'd be out 2 second round picks and one giant tax bill.

The point of my post was to explore options for adding players to the roster than could in theory be cheaper (and hopefully almost as good or the same as) than Adams and Dipo.

Regardless, why would Brooklyn trade Kilpatrick for a pick they could buy and the privilege of being the team to cut semaj?

He's old and not that good. You can find better prospects with a second.

[ThunderBolt]

I will say this-part of the reason with my frustration with Oladipo and Adams is because they are thunder guys. I think most would admit that Presti has been far from perfect. One thing he's done well is to find guys that fit here and like it. In a world/league full of jerks, we've got some genuinely good dudes. In the past there have been a few malcontents, but most are happy. Especially on this team. I wish Kanter, Adams and Vic had the talent levels we want because I think their personalities fit perfect alongside Russ. No one wanted Vic to succeed more than me.

I'm sure we could have gotten cousins if we would have wanted. I'm not sure it would have helped in the locker room. We wonder why a roster that's so bad managed to meet and surpass our expectations. Russ was a huge part of it. Guys that love Russ are the part that no one talks about.

[spearsy23]

In this scenario you would still have Dipo. If it didn't work after year one, you could re-configure. Then you'd be out 2 second round picks and one giant tax bill.

The point of my post was to explore options for adding players to the roster than could in theory be cheaper (and hopefully almost as good or the same as) than Adams and Dipo.

Regardless, why would Brooklyn trade Kilpatrick for a pick they could buy and the privilege of being the team to cut semaj?

He's old and not that good. You can find better prospects with a second.

How many second round guys each year ever put up 13/4/2 on solid efficiency? Maybe one or two? How many of them are drafted with pick 50 or later?

[bondom34]

Regardless, why would Brooklyn trade Kilpatrick for a pick they could buy and the privilege of being the team to cut semaj?

He's old and not that good. You can find better prospects with a second.

How many second round guys each year ever put up 13/4/2 on solid efficiency? Maybe one or two? How many of them are drafted with pick 50 or later?

Just the last 4 drafts, after pick 45 I'd take Norm Powell, Felder, Dwight Powell, Clarkson,Neto and James Ennis

[spearsy23]

He's old and not that good. You can find better prospects with a second.

How many second round guys each year ever put up 13/4/2 on solid efficiency? Maybe one or two? How many of them are drafted with pick 50 or later?

Just the last 4 drafts, after pick 45 I'd take Norm Powell, Felder, Dwight Powell, Clarkson,Neto and James Ennis

Jordan Clarkson is the only one of those guys to have ever averaged 10 or more points per game. I'd take Norman Powell over Kilpatrick, but the rest of them really aren't even close to better.

[Thabo Sefolosha]

Late but:

[spearsy23]

I just looked at the per 36 numbers and Kilpatrick averaged more points, rebounds, and assists than oladipo on better efficiency with only a 2% higher usage... 22 million vs 1 million.

[ThunderBolt]

I just looked at the per 36 numbers and Kilpatrick averaged more points, rebounds, and assists than oladipo on better efficiency with only a 2% higher usage... 22 million vs 1 million.

Wow. Why are the nets wanting to move him?

[spearsy23]

I just looked at the per 36 numbers and Kilpatrick averaged more points, rebounds, and assists than oladipo on better efficiency with only a 2% higher usage... 22 million vs 1 million.

Wow. Why are the nets wanting to move him?

Because he's already 27 and they don't want to pay him when they're starting their rebuild. Also, he's not anything special as a player, it just more illustrates that oladipo isn't either.

[bondom34]

I just looked at the per 36 numbers and Kilpatrick averaged more points, rebounds, and assists than oladipo on better efficiency with only a 2% higher usage... 22 million vs 1 million.

Not saying it's the be all end all, but RPM:
Dipo: 7th SG
Kilpatrick: 74th
If they want someone for nothing, just get Belli from Charlotte.

[getrichordie]

Signings:

PG: Shaun Livingston
SG: J.J. Reddick (if we cannot get Livingston, we moved Oladipo to PG and have Reddick take the 2)
PF: James Johnson

That's what I'm realistically hoping for.

Westbrook/Livingston/Oladipo
Oladipo/Livingston/Abrines
Roberson/McDermott
Gibson/Johnson
Adams/Kanter

[spearsy23]

I just looked at the per 36 numbers and Kilpatrick averaged more points, rebounds, and assists than oladipo on better efficiency with only a 2% higher usage... 22 million vs 1 million.

Not saying it's the be all end all, but RPM:
Dipo: 7th SG
Kilpatrick: 74th
If they want someone for nothing, just get Belli from Charlotte.

I'm going to keep saying it until I'm blue in the face: RPM was never intended to be used in this way. It purely estimates expected player value going forward in a player's current role with a similar team and style. There are obvious reasons oladipo is in a better position to succeed (namely Russ and Robes).

That's not to say Kilpatrick is obviously better than oladipo though, I'm just saying that there are a plethora of guys that could give you similar production to oladipo for much cheaper than the 20+ million he's going to make. I believe the only way we'll ever be successful long term is by subscribing to a moneyball style philosophy, we HAVE to find players that are undervalued (either due to oversight or due to the rookie scale) and only spend big money on true difference makers. Right now we're doing exactly the opposite and relying on guys that are overvalued relative to on court production.

45 million dollars is getting us a combined average of 27.2/12/3.7. So basically next year we're getting demarcus cousins value and paying an extra 20 million for it. And that's without touching Kanter's contract.

[spearsy23]

Signings:

PG: Shaun Livingston
SG: J.J. Reddick (if we cannot get Livingston, we moved Oladipo to PG and have Reddick take the 2)
PF: James Johnson

That's what I'm realistically hoping for.

Westbrook/Livingston/Oladipo
Oladipo/Livingston/Abrines
Roberson/McDermott
Gibson/Johnson
Adams/Kanter

In order to sign Redick alone you have to move at least 2 of Adams/vic/enes