Westbrook team rebuild

[thor19]

I think if okc dont win this Utah series PG will go to LA, and melo could stay or go, we need to build a team for adams and westbrook. Make your westbrook and adams team

[thor19]

A formula that is working is gsw , houston and sixer with a lot of shooters, other things is use more the pick and roll and screens on the shooters, we put the shooters on a corner and is like their feet are glue to the floor they dont move

[Dadouv47]

1. Hire a new coach
2. Pray for Melo to leave (not happening)
3. Sign a couple of role players who are good 3 point shooters.

[Osirus89]

1. Hire a new coach
2. Pray for Melo to leave (not happening)
3. Sign a couple of role players who are good 3 point shooters.

To be perfectly honest, excluding a full rebuild, George and Melo being off the team next year is probably the best thing that can happen for this team.
1. It gets rid of all the expectations and probably makes the team more fun to watch.
2. It lowers the cap number for a team that proved that it wasn't contending anyway so screw it.

Problem is if Donovan is retained, none of this matters anyway. Its hard to rebuild/ retool the team with both Russ and Donovan. One of them has to go and if Russ goes then Donovan should probably go too because I don't trust him being the developmental coach for young players. He is too inconsistent with rotations and his "schemes" both offensively and defensively are a joke. Like seriously... look at what happened when Dre went down and tell me there is an actual scheme besides: go over on every pnr and don't cover the corner 3 like a dumdum.

To go with your premise, you need shooters, but also guys that can run in transition. Jerami Grant is fine, but you need to sign an actual big man to go along with him so this team doesn't get run over by twin giants lineups like SA and Utah deploy. If Lebron stays in Cleveland, I would be thrilled if there was a Carmelo & Kevin Love swap. Alternatively, if Lebron wants to stay in Cleveland but also wants to play with George, you can see if there is a way to get the Brooklyn pick if it stays in the 8-9 range and draft Mikal Bridges to be the Dre replacement if he doesn't come back the same. If Andre does make a strong recovery, this team could have the scariest wing defensive combo in the league. See if we can sign a Derrick Rose type to be the sixth man on the team and see what happens.

[thor19]

If Kevin Love can play like in Minnesota ok, but Love look the same way Melo look

[Kizz Fastfists]

There is no building around Russ. PG leaves and Melo opts in and OKC is still in the tax. They have the taxpayer's MLE to sign someone like Mbah a Moute or Lance Stephenson and then just the vet minimum. Melo is not going to be traded for anyone that is decent at this point. His decline has been on full view for everyone all year. No one is taking that contract, unless you are taking back a longer bad contract.

[ThunderBolt]

I would suggest Presti ask Adam Silver for permission to lower the rim 4 inches for all thunder games. Then maybe russ’ shots would get over the rim and he would quit missing dunks.

On a more serious note golden state and Houston have point guards that don’t suck at shooting. Adams and Russ are two non-floor spaces. Throw in Roberson and grant and it gets worse. Regardless of who re-signs or leaves, I don’t think it’s possible to change the roster quickly enough to build around Russ.

[thor19]

Grant should be the 6 or 7 man on the rotation we need a sg that can shoot not roberson. Houston have Harden and Paul and a lot of shooters , sixers have ben and a lot of shooters . If we trade russ we should trade him to a team that can compete and can give us something good in return like picks

[Kizz Fastfists]

Grant should be the 6 or 7 man on the rotation we need a sg that can shoot not roberson. Houston have Harden and Paul and a lot of shooters , sixers have ben and a lot of shooters . If we trade russ we should trade him to a team that can compete and can give us something good in return like picks

Grant will likely be gone due to the cap/tax situation unless he is going to be on a taxpayer's MLE sized contract. Grant is actually the type of player that is terrible on a Russ led team. He is as bad a shooter as Roberson without the defense that Roberson brought before the injury.

Russ should be traded for youth and picks. There are a few teams that would make sense, but no where near as many as did last year. A year ago Boston was ideal because of the amount of assets they had and their need at PG. They got Kyrie and won't send out the rest of their assets for another PG. NOLA could make some sense, but their pick return would depend on what a 3rd team would give up for Jrue. Minny could also make sense, but again you'd need a 3rd team to give up assets for Wiggins and/or Teague. Denver is an interesting option with Murray and some other young pieces and picks. Phoenix could make a decent offer if they are willing to try to go for it instead of continuing to build through the draft. Philly could make a nice offer, but I don't see how Simmons and Russ fit together. Cleveland doesn't make sense with LeBron there for the same fit issues. Sacramento is a VERY good 3pt shooting team, but are they going to give up something like Heild, Fox and Skal along with picks for Russ and negate some of their 3pt shooting and thus the potential fit?

[slick_watts]

rebuilding with westbrook seems impossible unless sam presti can somehow flip adams for a george-replacement and luck out on a cheap big man to reaplace adams. that just seems too unlikely and there's no more future to mortgage in order to make it happen.

the problem is i'm not sure what team would take soon to be 30yo westbrook making 32mm. we're definitely not getting a brinks truck return on him. but it's probably worth it regardless since bottoming out gets better picks. the lottery changes notwithstanding.

also i'm not sure sam can get clear of westbrook after all the hoopla. imo the only way westbrook is traded and a full rebuild is enacted is if sam is fired.

[QPR]

If Melo opted out would he even get a contract anywhere? I don't see what he offers a contender or a developing roster at this point.

[mccluskey]

I would suggest Presti ask Adam Silver for permission to lower the rim 4 inches for all thunder games. Then maybe russ’ shots would get over the rim and he would quit missing dunks.

On a more serious note golden state and Houston have point guards that don’t suck at shooting. Adams and Russ are two non-floor spaces. Throw in Roberson and grant and it gets worse. Regardless of who re-signs or leaves, I don’t think it’s possible to change the roster quickly enough to build around Russ.

rebuilding with westbrook seems impossible unless sam presti can somehow flip adams for a george-replacement and luck out on a cheap big man to reaplace adams. that just seems too unlikely and there's no more future to mortgage in order to make it happen.

the problem is i'm not sure what team would take soon to be 30yo westbrook making 32mm. we're definitely not getting a brinks truck return on him. but it's probably worth it regardless since bottoming out gets better picks. the lottery changes notwithstanding.

also i'm not sure sam can get clear of westbrook after all the hoopla. imo the only way westbrook is traded and a full rebuild is enacted is if sam is fired.

agree with both of these posts.

saying OKC needs to run more of a GSW/Hou ball movement offense doesn't take into account that those schemes don't fit Russ. The Thunder run so much PnR and iso because that's what Westbrook is best at doing.

I think if you're gonna build around Russ and Adams, the only way to do that is to put three guys on the court with them who are bigger 3 and D specialists who rebound and who don't need the ball in their hands much on offense. Al Horford would've been the perfect 4 for that kind of team, and guys like Otto Porter, Trevor Ariza, Wes Matthews, Justise Winslow, etc. are the types you need for the wings. Then offensively you have them stand back and hit shots while Westbrook runs the show, and defensively you have the kind of guys who can cover for Russ's bad D and have success dealing with 4-on-5 situations on that end.

I still like Billy D but I agree at this point he needs to go - I think it will take a special coach to be able to make a Russ-led team into a real contender, but Donovan has shown he's not that guy. However, I think he gets a little too much blame and the roster construction doesn't get enough - Presti's gambles seemed great at the time, but these guys' play styles never meshed well together, and there wasn't enough size or shooting (or defense after Roberson went down). You can't fire the players but you can fire the coach, though, so Billy's gotta go and maybe someone else can find the magic dust to make this thing work.

[Andre Roberstan]

rebuilding with westbrook seems impossible unless sam presti can somehow flip adams for a george-replacement and luck out on a cheap big man to reaplace adams. that just seems too unlikely and there's no more future to mortgage in order to make it happen.

See if you can bamboozle Thibs into taking Adams for KAT.

(I'm only half joking.)

[Andre Roberstan]

I broke next year's cap down in a tweet thread:

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[ThunderBolt]

rebuilding with westbrook seems impossible unless sam presti can somehow flip adams for a george-replacement and luck out on a cheap big man to reaplace adams. that just seems too unlikely and there's no more future to mortgage in order to make it happen.

See if you can bamboozle Thibs into taking Adams for KAT.

(I'm only half joking.)

What’s the motivation for minny?

[Andre Roberstan]

rebuilding with westbrook seems impossible unless sam presti can somehow flip adams for a george-replacement and luck out on a cheap big man to reaplace adams. that just seems too unlikely and there's no more future to mortgage in order to make it happen.

See if you can bamboozle Thibs into taking Adams for KAT.

(I'm only half joking.)

What’s the motivation for minny?

Adams is a Thibs guy.

It's not realistic, but I do think if Thibs remains basketball ops president, they're going to make some questionable decisions.

[slick_watts]

minor quibble: melo has an ETO, not a player option. so if he picks up the option, that technically means he's picking up / exercising his option to terminate the contract.

[ThunderBolt]

See if you can bamboozle Thibs into taking Adams for KAT.

(I'm only half joking.)

What’s the motivation for minny?

Adams is a Thibs guy.

It's not realistic, but I do think if Thibs remains basketball ops president, they're going to make some questionable decisions.

I agree but how would that even be possible with salaries? We would need to add value too. Even if he were willing, I don’t see a way. Westbrook makes more sense.

[ThunderBolt]

I wondered if Boston would want adams but I think the pieces we would want back are too high in value now. Jaylen Brown has looked so good in the playoffs.

[Andre Roberstan]

minor quibble: melo has an ETO, not a player option. so if he picks up the option, that technically means he's picking up / exercising his option to terminate the contract.

I know that, but I didn't want to have to explain ETO too.