2018–2019 OKC Thunder Playoffs General Thread

[ThunderBolt]

Time to rebuild. Actually it’s past time. This season has been the season of Westbrook cringe-worthy moments. I knew back in January when we barely beat the Anthony Davis-less pelicans at home that this team was too undisciplined to go anywhere. Dononvan sucks but popovich couldn’t fix this.

Perfectly stated, wonder what we can get for Westbrook and PG? Hopefully high draft picks and young talent to develop.

Not a lot of places that Russ would fit. Lakers? Maybe. I could see Orlando taking him but I doubt we get much back. His contract makes things very difficult. If Kemba leaves, maybe Charlotte. George on the other hand could bring back some very nice assets.

[Thundershock88]

Time to rebuild. Actually it’s past time. This season has been the season of Westbrook cringe-worthy moments. I knew back in January when we barely beat the Anthony Davis-less pelicans at home that this team was too undisciplined to go anywhere. Dononvan sucks but popovich couldn’t fix this.

Perfectly stated, wonder what we can get for Westbrook and PG? Hopefully high draft picks and young talent to develop.

Not a lot of places that Russ would fit. Lakers? Maybe. I could see Orlando taking him but I doubt we get much back. His contract makes things very difficult. If Kemba leaves, maybe Charlotte. George on the other hand could bring back some very nice assets.

As much as I want a blow up, let's face it, it ain't happening. We'll never get a star free agent to sign here again if we ship these guys off. The entire roster outside of Westbrook and George needs to be reconfigured. Even Adam's needs to be moved. We need shooters in every position around these guys.

[Dadouv47]

Time to rebuild. Actually it’s past time. This season has been the season of Westbrook cringe-worthy moments. I knew back in January when we barely beat the Anthony Davis-less pelicans at home that this team was too undisciplined to go anywhere. Dononvan sucks but popovich couldn’t fix this.

Perfectly stated, wonder what we can get for Westbrook and PG? Hopefully high draft picks and young talent to develop.

Not a lot of places that Russ would fit. Lakers? Maybe. I could see Orlando taking him but I doubt we get much back. His contract makes things very difficult. If Kemba leaves, maybe Charlotte. George on the other hand could bring back some very nice assets.

Well it may be the best offseason to trade Russ and get a relative good value for him. 4-5 big markets teams are going to have a ton of cap space and some would miss the top free agents. For example if a team like the Clippers can only get Jimmy Butler and a big like Cousins, they could trade some assets for Westbrook.

Don't really see why teams like Orlando or Charlotte would take Westbrook's salary.

[ThunderBolt]

Perfectly stated, wonder what we can get for Westbrook and PG? Hopefully high draft picks and young talent to develop.

Not a lot of places that Russ would fit. Lakers? Maybe. I could see Orlando taking him but I doubt we get much back. His contract makes things very difficult. If Kemba leaves, maybe Charlotte. George on the other hand could bring back some very nice assets.

Well it may be the best offseason to trade Russ and get a relative good value for him. 4-5 big markets teams are going to have a ton of cap space and some would miss the top free agents. For example if a team like the Clippers can only get Jimmy Butler and a big like Cousins, they could trade some assets for Westbrook.

Don't really see why teams like Orlando or Charlotte would take Westbrook's salary.

Jerry West isn't taking Russ. There is a reason he traded Blake right away.

[ThunderBolt]

Perfectly stated, wonder what we can get for Westbrook and PG? Hopefully high draft picks and young talent to develop.

Not a lot of places that Russ would fit. Lakers? Maybe. I could see Orlando taking him but I doubt we get much back. His contract makes things very difficult. If Kemba leaves, maybe Charlotte. George on the other hand could bring back some very nice assets.

As much as I want a blow up, let's face it, it ain't happening. We'll never get a star free agent to sign here again if we ship these guys off. The entire roster outside of Westbrook and George needs to be reconfigured. Even Adam's needs to be moved. We need shooters in every position around these guys.

We are never going to sign free agents here regardless of what happens with russ.

[NetsWorld]

Perfectly stated, wonder what we can get for Westbrook and PG? Hopefully high draft picks and young talent to develop.

Not a lot of places that Russ would fit. Lakers? Maybe. I could see Orlando taking him but I doubt we get much back. His contract makes things very difficult. If Kemba leaves, maybe Charlotte. George on the other hand could bring back some very nice assets.

As much as I want a blow up, let's face it, it ain't happening. We'll never get a star free agent to sign here again if we ship these guys off. The entire roster outside of Westbrook and George needs to be reconfigured. Even Adam's needs to be moved. We need shooters in every position around these guys.

The NBA draft exists for a reason and yes there may absolutely be some truth to this and we may never get another star, but if what you have does not work, you rebuild or retool. Westbrook is 30 and not getting any younger or evolving as a player. I would rather develop and build talent via the draft and just starting all over again. Utah, Milwaukee and Denver know what its like to find star players via draft and scouting is a big part of it. I am sure we can get tons of draft picks and in the process create cap space by ridding of PG13 and Westbrook's contracts. You don't need to rely on Free Agency to acquire talent anymore and in fact today's NBA is so hard to predict that Free Agency is overrated nowadays. The new model to build is to follow the teams I mentioned in this paragraph.

[ThunderBolt]

Not a lot of places that Russ would fit. Lakers? Maybe. I could see Orlando taking him but I doubt we get much back. His contract makes things very difficult. If Kemba leaves, maybe Charlotte. George on the other hand could bring back some very nice assets.

As much as I want a blow up, let's face it, it ain't happening. We'll never get a star free agent to sign here again if we ship these guys off. The entire roster outside of Westbrook and George needs to be reconfigured. Even Adam's needs to be moved. We need shooters in every position around these guys.

The NBA draft exists for a reason and yes there may absolutely be some truth to this and we may never get another star, but if what you have does not work, you rebuild or retool. Westbrook is 30 and not getting any younger or evolving as a player. I would rather develop and build talent via the draft and just starting all over again. Utah, Milwaukee and Denver know what its like to find star players via draft and scouting is a big part of it. I am sure we can get tons of draft picks and in the process create cap space by ridding of PG13 and Westbrook's contracts. You don't need to rely on Free Agency to acquire talent anymore and in fact today's NBA is so hard to predict that Free Agency is overrated nowadays. The new model to build is to follow the teams I mentioned in this paragraph.

I had wondered about doing a rebuild of young guys while keeping Russ so presti can keep the loyalty feather in his hat. However the way we currently play will not allow any players to develop. If we drafted Zion we would just try to turn him into a stretch four that didn't nothing but shoot threes. This doesn't get fixed without a complete tear down. If there isn't a complete tear down then we will likely start missing the playoffs next year and any talent we get in the draft will be shoe horned into a specific role.

[NetsWorld]

As much as I want a blow up, let's face it, it ain't happening. We'll never get a star free agent to sign here again if we ship these guys off. The entire roster outside of Westbrook and George needs to be reconfigured. Even Adam's needs to be moved. We need shooters in every position around these guys.

The NBA draft exists for a reason and yes there may absolutely be some truth to this and we may never get another star, but if what you have does not work, you rebuild or retool. Westbrook is 30 and not getting any younger or evolving as a player. I would rather develop and build talent via the draft and just starting all over again. Utah, Milwaukee and Denver know what its like to find star players via draft and scouting is a big part of it. I am sure we can get tons of draft picks and in the process create cap space by ridding of PG13 and Westbrook's contracts. You don't need to rely on Free Agency to acquire talent anymore and in fact today's NBA is so hard to predict that Free Agency is overrated nowadays. The new model to build is to follow the teams I mentioned in this paragraph.

I had wondered about doing a rebuild of young guys while keeping Russ so presti can keep the loyalty feather in his hat. However the way we currently play will not allow any players to develop. If we drafted Zion we would just try to turn him into a stretch four that didn't nothing but shoot threes. This doesn't get fixed without a complete tear down. If there isn't a complete tear down then we will likely start missing the playoffs next year and any talent we get in the draft will be shoe horned into a specific role.

Good point, and this is where a good coaching staff comes into play. Find the right coach, and get rid of Westbrook and George. But I am not sure what Presti plans on doing and is unpredictable considering how most of us expected George to leave last year and he ended up returning.

[slick_watts]

sam's been better since the kevin durant summer. that event shattered him. is alex abrines his fault? andre roberson/ this team would be a whole lot better with those two healthy. i think in general if you're blowing it up you need to get rid of sam but i don't think he's been that bad since kd left. he just has had limited resources.

[Dadouv47]

When is draft night? Could see PG13 being traded to the Lakers if they don't get any top 3 pick.

[ThunderBolt]

When is draft night? Could see PG13 being traded to the Lakers if they don't get any top 3 pick.

Please no. The lakers assets suck. George could net a much better return than anything the lakers have.

[Dadouv47]

When is draft night? Could see PG13 being traded to the Lakers if they don't get any top 3 pick.

Please no. The lakers assets suck. George could net a much better return than anything the lakers have.

give me an example of a good trade package for PG13?

They could still get a relatively high draft pick this year. Would be a nice start even if their young players are terrible.

[ThunderBolt]

When is draft night? Could see PG13 being traded to the Lakers if they don't get any top 3 pick.

Please no. The lakers assets suck. George could net a much better return than anything the lakers have.

give me an example of a good trade package for PG13?

They could still get a relatively high draft pick this year. Would be a nice start even if their young players are terrible.

SGA and Miami pick from LAL.

[Andre Roberstan]

sam's been better since the kevin durant summer. that event shattered him. is alex abrines his fault? andre roberson/ this team would be a whole lot better with those two healthy. i think in general if you're blowing it up you need to get rid of sam but i don't think he's been that bad since kd left. he just has had limited resources.

That's where I'm at with it. The team's gotten a little worse over time because...well...all capped out teams that are trying for contention do. Your roster starts to get thin cause your team is spending their resources on immediate contributors and your pipeline has lower-quality picks. And stuff happens—like Abrines and Roberson.

I think Adams is gone, just because of depth. And I think you have to adjust the roster with more shooting if you want to maximize Westbrook. They can't have him play lead dog if no one can shoot.

[slick_watts]

sam's been better since the kevin durant summer. that event shattered him. is alex abrines his fault? andre roberson/ this team would be a whole lot better with those two healthy. i think in general if you're blowing it up you need to get rid of sam but i don't think he's been that bad since kd left. he just has had limited resources.

That's where I'm at with it. The team's gotten a little worse over time because...well...all capped out teams that are trying for contention do. Your roster starts to get thin cause your team is spending their resources on immediate contributors and your pipeline has lower-quality picks. And stuff happens—like Abrines and Roberson.

I think Adams is gone, just because of depth. And I think you have to adjust the roster with more shooting if you want to maximize Westbrook. They can't have him play lead dog if no one can shoot.

losing durant for nothing was a big hit, then losing another starter for nothing to injury, then a key bench player for nothing. how much sam should be held responsible for those is up for debate but there's just no way to make up for losing that much talent so quickly. where would the team be right now had sam not essentially flipped serge ibaka for paul george post-kd? that whole sequence has kept the thunder a playoff team, at least, and sam deserves credit for it. even though i still wish they would have tanked. and even that said, this team with 'dre and abrines last year had 5-6+ srs potential.

my main gripe with sam is going too far all-in and trading melo for the thin schroder value grab possibility. future mortgaged too much on that one, for me. but other than that he's done what he could post-kd.

how tradeable is adams? adams for batum or something? will sam give up more picks and dig sideways?

[Andre Roberstan]

how tradeable is adams? adams for batum or something? will sam give up more picks and dig sideways?

His Trade Board value seems quite low, but few of the people I actually trust for that are really weighing in. Contract's a little high, but the coach-type people I know like him a lot. I'd bet he gets valued higher than public opinion when push comes to shove.

I think that's your only path forward at this point, cause they're not trading Westbrook. He's not Giannis, nor will he ever be, but putting him on a team this cramped and expecting him to produce is pushing it. You've got to do what the Bucks did. That's gonna take a LOT of work.

I do wonder if Boston might entertain something around Horford or Hayward, depending on what happens with Davis. Doubt the Thunder have the value but they've been trading partners before and I don't know how Ainge would value Adams.

[slick_watts]

I do wonder if Boston might entertain something around Horford or Hayward, depending on what happens with Davis. Doubt the Thunder have the value but they've been trading partners before and I don't know how Ainge would value Adams.

ainge owes sam for abdel nader.

[Revived]

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[Pillendreher]

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I never wanted a random tweet to be true as much as this one.

[Dadouv47]

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I never wanted a random tweet to be true as much as this one.

Well I want this to be true but if we are rebuilding I would prefer to keep Presti for a couple of years.

Best case scenario would be to get rid of Presti/Donovan and keep WB/PG13 (and trading Adams even if he's my second favorite Thunder player ever)