Thunder Offseason Thread Part Deux: Rebuild

[Galloisdaman]

It's just preseason excitement, but wouldn't it be fun to make one last surprise playoff run, have Paul and Steven's trade value increase, and maybe see Houston/Russ win a championship?

Last year around this time many people including myself (and Vegas oddsmakers) had very low expectations of the Clippers. They shocked a lot of people. I could see that possibility in OKC as well if CP3, SGA, Adams, and Gallo play well and have healthy seasons. All 4 of those guys are capable when on their games.

[Dadouv47]

It's just preseason excitement, but wouldn't it be fun to make one last surprise playoff run, have Paul and Steven's trade value increase, and maybe see Houston/Russ win a championship?

Last year around this time many people including myself (and Vegas oddsmakers) had very low expectations of the Clippers. They shocked a lot of people. I could see that possibility in OKC as well if CP3, SGA, Adams, and Gallo play well and have healthy seasons. All 4 of those guys are capable when on their games.

we won't risk losing our first round pick (top 20 protected) for a potential first round exit.

If Gallo and CP3 are playing well, at least one of them will be traded.

[ThunderBolt]

It's just preseason excitement, but wouldn't it be fun to make one last surprise playoff run, have Paul and Steven's trade value increase, and maybe see Houston/Russ win a championship?

Last year around this time many people including myself (and Vegas oddsmakers) had very low expectations of the Clippers. They shocked a lot of people. I could see that possibility in OKC as well if CP3, SGA, Adams, and Gallo play well and have healthy seasons. All 4 of those guys are capable when on their games.

we won't risk losing our first round pick (top 20 protected) for a potential first round exit.

If Gallo and CP3 are playing well, at least one of them will be traded.

We can watch some good team basketball until the deadline and then shift our focus to the draft and playoff development.

[DoubleJ13]

Biggest things that stuck out during the blue/white scrimmage were SGA even in the scrimmage setting looked smooth & in control, Hami was going about 600 mph, & Muscala was making a bunch of 3s.

[Galloisdaman]

It's just preseason excitement, but wouldn't it be fun to make one last surprise playoff run, have Paul and Steven's trade value increase, and maybe see Houston/Russ win a championship?

Last year around this time many people including myself (and Vegas oddsmakers) had very low expectations of the Clippers. They shocked a lot of people. I could see that possibility in OKC as well if CP3, SGA, Adams, and Gallo play well and have healthy seasons. All 4 of those guys are capable when on their games.

we won't risk losing our first round pick (top 20 protected) for a potential first round exit.

If Gallo and CP3 are playing well, at least one of them will be traded.

You could be exactly right. The irony is several Clippers fans said the same thing last season but the Clippers made the playoffs and gave up the pick anyway.

[Dadouv47]

Last year around this time many people including myself (and Vegas oddsmakers) had very low expectations of the Clippers. They shocked a lot of people. I could see that possibility in OKC as well if CP3, SGA, Adams, and Gallo play well and have healthy seasons. All 4 of those guys are capable when on their games.

we won't risk losing our first round pick (top 20 protected) for a potential first round exit.

If Gallo and CP3 are playing well, at least one of them will be traded.

You could be exactly right. The irony is several Clippers fans said the same thing last season but the Clippers made the playoffs and gave up the pick anyway.

yeah but we have no hope of signing any good free agent. Two very different situations.

[Galloisdaman]

we won't risk losing our first round pick (top 20 protected) for a potential first round exit.

If Gallo and CP3 are playing well, at least one of them will be traded.

You could be exactly right. The irony is several Clippers fans said the same thing last season but the Clippers made the playoffs and gave up the pick anyway.

yeah but we have no hope of signing any good free agent. Two very different situations.

Before this offseason how many all star free agents had the Clippers ever signed in their history? The coach and owner believed winning made them more attractive to FA than a draft pick. I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just pointing out similar things were said last offseason in LA.

[ThunderBolt]

Biggest things that stuck out during the blue/white scrimmage were SGA even in the scrimmage setting looked smooth & in control, Hami was going about 600 mph, & Muscala was making a bunch of 3s.

Is that a good 600 mph or out of control 600 mph?

[ThunderBolt]

You could be exactly right. The irony is several Clippers fans said the same thing last season but the Clippers made the playoffs and gave up the pick anyway.

yeah but we have no hope of signing any good free agent. Two very different situations.

Before this offseason how many all star free agents had the Clippers ever signed in their history? The coach and owner believed winning made them more attractive to FA than a draft pick. I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just pointing out similar things were said last offseason in LA.

Teams like the clippers and nets were always sleeping giants because of their market. Okc will never have those advantages.

[Galloisdaman]

yeah but we have no hope of signing any good free agent. Two very different situations.

Before this offseason how many all star free agents had the Clippers ever signed in their history? The coach and owner believed winning made them more attractive to FA than a draft pick. I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just pointing out similar things were said last offseason in LA.

Teams like the clippers and nets were always sleeping giants because of their market. Okc will never have those advantages.

Maybe but teams like SA and GS were not considered big TV market teams and they had FA come there way after winning. OKC could have a different mindset than LAC. I just hope the team does not view this season as a tank. I like all teams to compete.

[ThunderBolt]

Before this offseason how many all star free agents had the Clippers ever signed in their history? The coach and owner believed winning made them more attractive to FA than a draft pick. I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just pointing out similar things were said last offseason in LA.

Teams like the clippers and nets were always sleeping giants because of their market. Okc will never have those advantages.

Maybe but teams like SA and GS were not considered big TV market teams and they had FA come there way after winning. OKC could have a different mindset than LAC. I just hope the team does not view this season as a tank. I like all teams to compete.

The Bay Area is absolutely a big market. I’ll give you the SAS but I don’t think their situation is identical to okcs at this time. Okc can get free agents. We’ve already proven that with Melo waiving his NTC, George re-sigining and with reportedly Horford willing to join. However you can’t go all in every year. It just doesn’t make sense to do so this year. You can only compromise the future by going for it in the present for so long.

[Dadouv47]

Before this offseason how many all star free agents had the Clippers ever signed in their history? The coach and owner believed winning made them more attractive to FA than a draft pick. I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just pointing out similar things were said last offseason in LA.

Teams like the clippers and nets were always sleeping giants because of their market. Okc will never have those advantages.

Maybe but teams like SA and GS were not considered big TV market teams and they had FA come there way after winning. OKC could have a different mindset than LAC. I just hope the team does not view this season as a tank. I like all teams to compete.

I think tanking at least 2-3 years is the only chance we have if we want to have an elite team in the next 5+ years. We have a very good young prospect and tons of picks. Drafting 2-3 good young guys and trading future assets/picks for good players seems like the best solution for a small market team like us.
Don't want to do a very long rebuild like the Sixers did. That's why I was really happy about the PG13 trade (even if MVPG was a lot of fun)

[Galloisdaman]

Teams like the clippers and nets were always sleeping giants because of their market. Okc will never have those advantages.

Maybe but teams like SA and GS were not considered big TV market teams and they had FA come there way after winning. OKC could have a different mindset than LAC. I just hope the team does not view this season as a tank. I like all teams to compete.

The Bay Area is absolutely a big market. I’ll give you the SAS but I don’t think their situation is identical to okcs at this time. Okc can get free agents. We’ve already proven that with Melo waiving his NTC, George re-sigining and with reportedly Horford willing to join. However you can’t go all in every year. It just doesn’t make sense to do so this year. You can only compromise the future by going for it in the present for so long.

The Bay area is a money filled area but before this decades Warriors did Golden State the have the kind of TV ratings that other big market teams had? Were they a big attraction to all star FA?

[ThunderBolt]

Maybe but teams like SA and GS were not considered big TV market teams and they had FA come there way after winning. OKC could have a different mindset than LAC. I just hope the team does not view this season as a tank. I like all teams to compete.

The Bay Area is absolutely a big market. I’ll give you the SAS but I don’t think their situation is identical to okcs at this time. Okc can get free agents. We’ve already proven that with Melo waiving his NTC, George re-sigining and with reportedly Horford willing to join. However you can’t go all in every year. It just doesn’t make sense to do so this year. You can only compromise the future by going for it in the present for so long.

The Bay area is a money filled area but before this decades Warriors did Golden State the have the kind of TV ratings that other big market teams had? Were they a big attraction to all star FA?

On most occasions, even a big name market needs to be good at basketball. They warriors were bad for a long time. The Knicks got Melo and LAL got James without being great. However those franchises have also been rebuffed by more allstar free agents than have signed with them when they were bad. Would aldridge have gone to the spurs if they had been bad like LAL? Of course not.

Although OKC hasn’t been bad, they don’t have in place the talent or coaching staff to convince someone like a Bradley beal to come join up with Chris Paul in free agency. Small market teams almost always have to rebuild. Sam has made comments that rebuilds don’t take as long anymore. I think we will do our best to accelerate it like the pacers did however I don’t think Gallo and CP3 are in the longterm plans.

[spearsy23]

The Bay Area is absolutely a big market. I’ll give you the SAS but I don’t think their situation is identical to okcs at this time. Okc can get free agents. We’ve already proven that with Melo waiving his NTC, George re-sigining and with reportedly Horford willing to join. However you can’t go all in every year. It just doesn’t make sense to do so this year. You can only compromise the future by going for it in the present for so long.

The Bay area is a money filled area but before this decades Warriors did Golden State the have the kind of TV ratings that other big market teams had? Were they a big attraction to all star FA?

On most occasions, even a big name market needs to be good at basketball. They warriors were bad for a long time. The Knicks got Melo and LAL got James without being great. However those franchises have also been rebuffed by more allstar free agents than have signed with them when they were bad. Would aldridge have gone to the spurs if they had been bad like LAL? Of course not.

Although OKC hasn’t been bad, they don’t have in place the talent or coaching staff to convince someone like a Bradley beal to come join up with Chris Paul in free agency. Small market teams almost always have to rebuild. Sam has made comments that rebuilds don’t take as long anymore. I think we will do our best to accelerate it like the pacers did however I don’t think Gallo and CP3 are in the longterm plans.

We did get a commitment from Al Horford prior to Durant leaving. We did get George to re-sign. We won't ever attract star talent without already having a good team in place, but I don't think the situation is quite as hopeless as it's made out to be.


The problem with attracting players at this juncture is that it's not a good basketball situation going forward, even if we snuck into the playoffs this year.

[spearsy23]

Robes not even being able to play in the scrimmage 20+ months after his injury just drives home how badly we've screwed his career.

For reference Shaun Livingston was playing in regular season games <20 months after coming close to losing a leg.

[kdthunderup]

Not much to take away from the scrimmage tbh. Very scrappy, passes were going astray and mistimed but each team was playing decent defense.

SGA was a standout and is going to be an absolute baller, played with a lot of confidence which is great to see from a young player. He absolutely needs to start at the 2 with CP3.

I suspect we will look back on the PG13 trade in 2-3 years and laugh about how well we made out.

[DoubleJ13]

Biggest things that stuck out during the blue/white scrimmage were SGA even in the scrimmage setting looked smooth & in control, Hami was going about 600 mph, & Muscala was making a bunch of 3s.

Is that a good 600 mph or out of control 600 mph?

Oh he was out of control

Both "teams" were sloppy with the ball so it felt like every 2nd trip down the floor it would get picked off & ran the other way so a lot of guys were playing quick. Hami just seemed to be going quicker than everybody else.

[Old Man Game]

Robes not even being able to play in the scrimmage 20+ months after his injury just drives home how badly we've screwed his career.

For reference Shaun Livingston was playing in regular season games <20 months after coming close to losing a leg.

Is it really necessary to lay blame there? Obviously everyone agrees it sucks but its not altogether clear its anyone in particular's fault. Sometimes dudes just have bad luck.

[spearsy23]

Robes not even being able to play in the scrimmage 20+ months after his injury just drives home how badly we've screwed his career.

For reference Shaun Livingston was playing in regular season games <20 months after coming close to losing a leg.

Is it really necessary to lay blame there? Obviously everyone agrees it sucks but its not altogether clear its anyone in particular's fault. Sometimes dudes just have bad luck.

When you admit to an aggressive rehabilitation plan that results in multiple setbacks it's fair to blame you for the results. Even if Robes was the one pushing the timetable, you have a responsibility as a organization to protect your players.

Also, fool me once...