Thunder Offseason Thread

Post #1 » by **Andre Roberstan** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:39 am

Discuss your ideas here.

Post #2 » by **Dadouv47** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:05 am

Fire Presti
Perkins as head coach
Getting new knees for Westbrook
Trading Adams and finding a way to get some decent wings.

Sinobas · Post #3 » by **Sinobas** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:19 am

You should rebuild. Westbrook is a player that relies on atheticism, so it's better to trade him while he has value. You have two good pieces in Adams and George. Trade RW for a real PG.

Dn4sty · Post #4 » by **Dn4sty** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:19 am

A lot of people will say blow it up, but I think it’s still shortsighted.

I think several things must happen

1) A culture reset. OKC believes they are better than they are. As a result they have a mentality of having arrived, when in fact they are just another good basketball team right now. This mentality shows up with the baby rocking, complaining when fouls aren’t called which correlates to technicals. This culture reset falls at the feet of Russ and PG.

2) Healthy and solid offseason. Russ having surgery a month before the season starts was not good. Unless the surgery became necessary last minute, Russ needed to have it far earlier than he did.

3) Coaching. I think just about every NBA coach knows as much as every other NBA coach, but with Billy the message and ability to implement some sort of cohesive gameplan was missing. The players either didn’t listen or he failed at implementing/communicating it. As a result he needs to go.

4. Roster construction. This one is obvious. OKC is simply behind on the math problem. You simply can’t win unless you can shoot at a good and reliable clip. Further you’ve got a massive tax bill to further complicate this roster. A ton of the roster construction this summer comes down to how much the ownership is willing to pay in tax.

Here are a few ideas

- 2Pat, cash (to offset some of his salary) and a 2nd into someone’s cap space (saves a bunch of tax dollars)
- Ersan and pick 30 into Melo TPE. Bucks do this to bring everyone back and dodge tax.

Dn4sty · Post #5 » by **Dn4sty** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:20 am

Sinobas wrote:You should rebuild. Westbrook is a player that relies on atheticism, so it's better to trade him while he has value. You have two good pieces in Adams and George. Trade RW for a real PG.

Last year the same thing was said of Portland.

Osirus89 · Post #6 » by **Osirus89** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:20 am

Donovan gone
Adams traded
Schroeder gone

Meh.. I legitimately feel like the only way for the team to be able to do anything is to somehow trade for someone that will lower Russ to the teams third option. How to accomplish that would be anyone's guess. It sure would be nice to have a SG that could create their own shot and also wasn't Dennis Schroeder size. That feels like the only pathway for the team to do anything. Oh and a big man that can shoot 3s. That would be great.

Post #7 » by **Dadouv47** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:26 am

Osirus89 wrote:Donovan gone
Adams traded
Schroeder gone

Meh.. I legitimately feel like the only way for the team to be able to do anything is to somehow trade for someone that will lower Russ to the teams third option. How to accomplish that would be anyone's guess. It sure would be nice to have a SG that could create their own shot and also wasn't Dennis Schroeder size. That feels like the only pathway for the team to do anything. Oh and a big man that can shoot 3s. That would be great.

You are very optimistic

Well I love Adams but we need to trade him.

About our offseason, I don't know. First we don't know if Paul George wants to stay or not (I know he's under contract but...). If he wants to leave we better rebuild. If he wants to stay then we need to fire at least Donovan (you can go too Presti) and sign some decent wings. I don't think trading Russ is an option because of his trade value so we need to create the best team that could fit with this old version of Russ.

Osirus89 · Post #8 » by **Osirus89** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:33 am

Dadouv47 wrote:
Osirus89 wrote:Donovan gone
Adams traded
Schroeder gone

Meh.. I legitimately feel like the only way for the team to be able to do anything is to somehow trade for someone that will lower Russ to the teams third option. How to accomplish that would be anyone's guess. It sure would be nice to have a SG that could create their own shot and also wasn't Dennis Schroeder size. That feels like the only pathway for the team to do anything. Oh and a big man that can shoot 3s. That would be great.

You are very optimistic

Well I love Adams but we need to trade him.

About our offseason, I don't know. First we don't know if Paul George wants to stay or not (I know he's under contract but...). If he wants to leave we better rebuild. If he wants to stay then we need to fire at least Donovan (you can go too Presti) and sign some decent wings. I don't think trading Russ is an option because of his trade value so we need to create the best team that could fit with this old version of Russ.

I think the team has given up on him. Both of the last two games he was taken out and the team decided to go small. I just don't think they can make him work with the lack of shooting and he is one of the guys that has some value. Jerami has value as well, but I almost refuse to trade him because of his versatility. Gotta give up something to get something I guess though.

Funcrusher · Post #9 » by **Funcrusher** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:36 am

Osirus89 wrote:Donovan gone
Adams traded
Schroeder gone

Meh.. I legitimately feel like the only way for the team to be able to do anything is to somehow trade for someone that will lower Russ to the teams third option. How to accomplish that would be anyone's guess. It sure would be nice to have a SG that could create their own shot and also wasn't Dennis Schroeder size. That feels like the only pathway for the team to do anything. Oh and a big man that can shoot 3s. That would be great.

ding ding ding, we have a winner!

Post #10 » by **Dadouv47** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:41 am

Osirus89 wrote:
Dadouv47 wrote:
Osirus89 wrote:Donovan gone
Adams traded
Schroeder gone

Meh.. I legitimately feel like the only way for the team to be able to do anything is to somehow trade for someone that will lower Russ to the teams third option. How to accomplish that would be anyone's guess. It sure would be nice to have a SG that could create their own shot and also wasn't Dennis Schroeder size. That feels like the only pathway for the team to do anything. Oh and a big man that can shoot 3s. That would be great.

You are very optimistic

Well I love Adams but we need to trade him.

About our offseason, I don't know. First we don't know if Paul George wants to stay or not (I know he's under contract but...). If he wants to leave we better rebuild. If he wants to stay then we need to fire at least Donovan (you can go too Presti) and sign some decent wings. I don't think trading Russ is an option because of his trade value so we need to create the best team that could fit with this old version of Russ.

I think the team has given up on him. Both of the last two games he was taken out and the team decided to go small. I just don't think they can make him work with the lack of shooting and he is one of the guys that has some value. Jerami has value as well, but I almost refuse to trade him because of his versatility. Gotta give up something to get something I guess though.

I wouldn't trade Grant either.

At this point it's pretty hard to know in which direction this team is going. We don't know if Clay Bennett is willing to keep paying a lot of money in taxes to get humiliated in the first round; if PG13 still wants to stay in OKC etc etc...

Whether it's rebuilding or keeping Russ and PG, I want some big changes about roster construction. coaching etc.
If we keep our duo then we need to surround them with shooters. If we trade PG13 and/or Adams, then let's make a full rebuild and not being a mediocre team that will end up between the 7th and 10th spot.

Oh, and if we want to compete, it's time for our team to be humble. We are not the 2011-2016 OKC team that was contending every year for a title anymore.

anthony00 · Post #11 » by **anthony00** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 7:07 am

Read on Twitter

trade everybody with a negative plus minus and get better management/coaching

Dn4sty · Post #12 » by **Dn4sty** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 7:21 am

Here are some Schroder ideas. Not all of these will be good

Spurs get Schroder and 21
OKC gets Mills 29, 46

OKC gets Batum and 12
Hornets get Schroder, Roberson, and 21

OKC gets Warren and 32
Suns get Schroder and 21

OKC gets THJ and Brunson
Dallas gets Schroder, 2Pat, and a future 2nd

OKC gets Moore and 37
Pelicans get Schroder and 21

Pillendreher · Post #13 » by **Pillendreher** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:23 am

Sinobas wrote:You should rebuild. Westbrook is a player that relies on atheticism, so it's better to trade him while he has value. You have two good pieces in Adams and George. Trade RW for a real PG.

There is the door, pal. Go right through it and don't look back. Bye.

wco81 · Post #14 » by **wco81** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:42 am

Would there be many takers for Westbrook’s super max contract?

Similarly, you might have to attach draft picks to move Adams.

After all the positive sentiments when PG13 renewed, I don’t think they’d break up those two.

When the Thunder were peaking, George was shooting well above career averages and so were some players like Ferguson.

You might have to hope for continued improvement from Ferguson and Grant and maybe add some better shooting, though of course everyone wants 3 and D wings these days.

Really was poor luck that Abrines, after all the time invested in him, left the team.

With the cap situation with 3 big contracts on the payroll, can the Thunder do anything other than run it back with some tweaks?

Kizz Fastfists · Post #15 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:07 am

Dn4sty wrote:Last year the same thing was said of Portland.

If Portland had gotten any other team in the first round their season will be over. They get 5 more games because they won the lottery and got OKC. Just like Utah made easy work of OKC last year then ran into a real playoff team and got smacked in the 2nd round.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #16 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:11 am

Dadouv47 wrote:About our offseason, I don't know. First we don't know if Paul George wants to stay or not (I know he's under contract but...). If he wants to leave we better rebuild. If he wants to stay then we need to fire at least Donovan (you can go too Presti) and sign some decent wings. I don't think trading Russ is an option because of his trade value so we need to create the best team that could fit with this old version of Russ.

Remember, PG said when he resigned that a big reason was he liked playing for Donovan because he let him do what he wanted. If PG wants to stay it is because he has taken on the Russ mentality that doing what he wants doesn't hurt the team or is more important than winning. I can't imagine PG wanting to stay and wanting Donovan gone. Presti has created a massive mess and the only way that it can begin to get cleaned up is firing Presti.

Pillendreher · Post #17 » by **Pillendreher** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:11 am

Kizz Fastfists wrote:
Dn4sty wrote:Last year the same thing was said of Portland.

If Portland had gotten any other team in the first round their season will be over. They get 5 more games because they won the lottery and got OKC. Just like Utah made easy work of OKC last year then ran into a real playoff team and got smacked in the 2nd round.

Seriously. Two years in a row we escorted teams to the 2nd round because we were simply too stupid to play according to their strengths and their weaknesses. Utah is a bad offensive team if you key in on them properly and we defended them just like we defended Portland this season, treating Rubio like he's Curry. And then this year around, we're incapable of attacking a garbage defense. Jokic and Murray will absolutely carve those fools up. While we're sitting at home wondering if there's nobody around that can put an end to this.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #18 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:13 am

Sinobas wrote:You should rebuild. Westbrook is a player that relies on atheticism, so it's better to trade him while he has value. You have two good pieces in Adams and George. Trade RW for a real PG.

Yes, they should rebuild. Although that should have started a few years ago. It is too late to trade Russ for enough for it to be worth it for OKC. They need to keep him as their draw. Trading PG and letting Russ continue to put on his show for the fans is probably the best option. Russ will shoot them into the lottery next year.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #19 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:14 am

wco81 wrote:With the cap situation with 3 big contracts on the payroll, can the Thunder do anything other than run it back with some tweaks?

Nope. Most likely scenario is that they do some minor tweak like trade Schroder for some other bad money and have their propaganda machine try to sell it as they got the missing piece they needed. It will basically be a repeat of last off-season. Then next season they likely end up worse than this year.

Eskobar13 · Post #20 » by **Eskobar13** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:27 am

Westbrook as the teams third option would be terrible. He doesn't play like a third option and doesn't have any type of quality that makes me think he would be good as a third option. How are you going to justify having a supermax player as a third option one your best 5-man lineup when he doesn't shoot well, hasn't cut off ball years and his not a great ball mover (although I guess he could become one)?