Thunder Offseason Thread Part Deux: Rebuild

[spearsy23]

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?

[Pillendreher]

excitement

Interesting. I have never been less interested in the Thunder since I started following them at the end of the 2010 season. Hell, I don't think I could care less than I do right now.

[spearsy23]

excitement

Interesting. I have never been less interested in the Thunder since I started following them at the end of the 2010 season. Hell, I don't think I could care less than I do right now.

To each their own. I like this team a lot more than the last few year's besides Russ, and don't feel like we live and die with every loss. There's potential for a better brand of basketball, I don't Have to watch Jerami Grant anymore, don't need to listen to dead foots excuses, probably won't have to deal with all of the sky is falling posts on here or the even more ridiculous 'can beat anyone' posts. Just get to enjoy some wins and watch the young guys develop, plus watch a couple of guys I really enjoy in Gallo/cp3.

[Pillendreher]

excitement

Interesting. I have never been less interested in the Thunder since I started following them at the end of the 2010 season. Hell, I don't think I could care less than I do right now.

To each their own. I like this team a lot more than the last few year's besides Russ, and don't feel like we live and die with every loss. There's potential for a better brand of basketball, I don't Have to watch Jerami Grant anymore, don't need to listen to dead foots excuses, probably won't have to deal with all of the sky is falling posts on here or the even more ridiculous 'can beat anyone' posts. Just get to enjoy some wins and watch the young guys develop, plus watch a couple of guys I really enjoy in Gallo/cp3.

I can't get into that as long as Donovan and Presti are still employed. Things won't change structurally the way they need to do until those two are gone.

[ThunderBolt]

Interesting. I have never been less interested in the Thunder since I started following them at the end of the 2010 season. Hell, I don't think I could care less than I do right now.

To each their own. I like this team a lot more than the last few year's besides Russ, and don't feel like we live and die with every loss. There's potential for a better brand of basketball, I don't Have to watch Jerami Grant anymore, don't need to listen to dead foots excuses, probably won't have to deal with all of the sky is falling posts on here or the even more ridiculous 'can beat anyone' posts. Just get to enjoy some wins and watch the young guys develop, plus watch a couple of guys I really enjoy in Gallo/cp3.

I can't get into that as long as Donovan and Presti are still employed. Things won't change structurally the way they need to do until those two are gone.

What changed? I dislike dononvan too and I don’t think Sam is flawless but those guys were here the last few years and you we’re still interested. Despite his faults, Sam can build a good team. Dononvan is a idiot but I don’t anticipate he stays around.

[Pillendreher]

To each their own. I like this team a lot more than the last few year's besides Russ, and don't feel like we live and die with every loss. There's potential for a better brand of basketball, I don't Have to watch Jerami Grant anymore, don't need to listen to dead foots excuses, probably won't have to deal with all of the sky is falling posts on here or the even more ridiculous 'can beat anyone' posts. Just get to enjoy some wins and watch the young guys develop, plus watch a couple of guys I really enjoy in Gallo/cp3.

I can't get into that as long as Donovan and Presti are still employed. Things won't change structurally the way they need to do until those two are gone.

What changed? I dislike dononvan too and I don’t think Sam is flawless but those guys were here the last few years and you we’re still interested. Despite his faults, Sam can build a good team. Dononvan is a idiot but I don’t anticipate he stays around.

Tearing it down has robbed me of the last illusion that any sort of relevant success might be in the future of this franchise. At least with great players, you can overcome crappy coaching/management somewhat. Now that those are gone and we most likely won't see the likes of them for the next decade or even longer, all we're left with is mediocre talent and the people responsible for this mess.

I can't get excited about this anymore. I know now that no matter what happens, right around the corner Donovan and Presti are waiting. This franchise can't escape that unless it rids itself of them. The same mistakes that have lead to this will be repeated over and over again. They are still going to fall in love with kids that can't do anything of relevance but jump really high. They are still going to neglect shooting. They are still going to go out of their way to do things differently just because they think that plays with the "small town crowd".

And re Donovan: He'd probably be replaced with another "We're a small market so we can't hire competent people; let's hire somebody with no experience that toes the company line" guy.

EDIT: I know this sounds doom and gloom, but I'm just not going to do it anymore.

[ThunderBolt]

I can't get into that as long as Donovan and Presti are still employed. Things won't change structurally the way they need to do until those two are gone.

What changed? I dislike dononvan too and I don’t think Sam is flawless but those guys were here the last few years and you we’re still interested. Despite his faults, Sam can build a good team. Dononvan is a idiot but I don’t anticipate he stays around.

Tearing it down has robbed me of the last illusion that any sort of relevant success might be in the future of this franchise. At least with great players, you can overcome crappy coaching/management somewhat. Now that those are gone and we most likely won't see the likes of them for the next decade or even longer, all we're left with is mediocre talent and the people responsible for this mess.

I can't get excited about this anymore. I know now that no matter what happens, right around the corner Donovan and Presti are waiting. This franchise can't escape that unless it rids itself of them. The same mistakes that have lead to this will be repeated over and over again. They are still going to fall in love with kids that can't do anything of relevance but jump really high. They are still going to neglect shooting. They are still going to go out of their way to do things differently just because they think that plays with the "small town crowd".

And re Donovan: He'd probably be replaced with another "We're a small market so we can't hire competent people; let's hire somebody with no experience that toes the company line" guy.

EDIT: I know this sounds doom and gloom, but I'm just not going to do it anymore.

I get it. I felt that way last year because I was more down on russ than others. With his contract, I felt the franchise was more trapped than they are now. Other than Jaren Jackson Jr, Fox and Doncic, shai is one of my favorite young players so that’s been a big lift to me.

I guess my hope is that Presti can eventually get good young talent and because we have so many assets, we will be able to get a complete team at some point. Then instead of throwing draft picks at Dion waiters 2.0, we’ll be able to get a guy like Josh Richardson when we need it. The rebuild is by no means a sure thing but I really didn’t enjoy the last two years thunder basketball.

[spearsy23]

Championships the only measure of relevant success? Because if you don't believe that then that's so overly dramatic.

[ThunderBolt]

Apparently Dre has a new shooting form, per Maddie Lee.

[spearsy23]

The rebuild is by no means a sure thing but I really didn’t enjoy the last two years thunder basketball.

This is the main thing for me. I don't mind a team not being a legitimate contender, but it's frustrating when it feels like they should be close but are underachieving.

[spearsy23]

Apparently Dre has a new shooting form, per Maddie Lee.

Horne posted a video of him shooting free throws. He missed the first two


He did make the next four though.

[ThunderBolt]

Apparently Dre has a new shooting form, per Maddie Lee.

Horne posted a video of him shooting free throws. He missed the first two


He did make the next four though.

Putting team success aside since it isnt paramount right now, I’m hoping Dre succeeds and gets another contract. Imagine if he made a full recovery and you had a defensive lineup of CP3, shai, Dre, Ferguson and Adams.

[spearsy23]

Apparently Dre has a new shooting form, per Maddie Lee.

Horne posted a video of him shooting free throws. He missed the first two


He did make the next four though.

Putting team success aside since it isnt paramount right now, I’m hoping Dre succeeds and gets another contract. Imagine if he made a full recovery and you had a defensive lineup of CP3, shai, Dre, Ferguson and Adams.

After Nick and Russ, Dre is my third favorite player of all time. I'm definitely rooting for him to come back in a capacity that lets him play for several more years. I'm willing to bet that if he doesn't get any better offers we'll give him a minimum offer at least for next year.

[Dadouv47]

I didn't want a rebuild before last playoffs but then I realized we were done. We got very lucky to get so many picks + a future very good young player for PG13. I'm excited about the rebuild because if we draft relatively good players in the next 2-3 years, we could build a really really great team with all our assets.

[Old Man Game]

Listening to Down to Dunk and Cp3 was asked who he’s most excited to play with and he immediately answered “Steven Adams”. Then they said in pickup games Chris always picked Adams first. It would be nice if Paul could raise Adams value on the way out while he is here.

That's interesting. Been thinking Adams is exactly the sort of guy Paul has always thrived playing alongside (Tyson Chandler, Deandre Jordan).

[Old Man Game]

The rebuild is by no means a sure thing but I really didn’t enjoy the last two years thunder basketball.

This is the main thing for me. I don't mind a team not being a legitimate contender, but it's frustrating when it feels like they should be close but are underachieving.

110%. Expectations mean everything. If this team were to mess around and actually make he playoffs just think how exciting that would be. Whereas before just making the playoffs meant nothing and getting stomped out in 5 or 6 games just layered on the misery.

[Pillendreher]

Championships the only measure of relevant success? Because if you don't believe that then that's so overly dramatic.

Well in the end this is all about wining a title. And since I don't think this franchise can ever get that far without putting different people in charge, resignation has finally completely settled in. I'm not going to get excited over picks that might be worth something five years down the line or rookies nobody has ever heard of.

[spearsy23]

Championships the only measure of relevant success? Because if you don't believe that then that's so overly dramatic.

Well in the end this is all about wining a title. And since I don't think this franchise can ever get that far without putting different people in charge, resignation has finally completely settled in. I'm not going to get excited over picks that might be worth something five years down the line or rookies nobody has ever heard of.

Meh, ringz culture is toxic. We should all be able to enjoy the journey

[Pillendreher]

Championships the only measure of relevant success? Because if you don't believe that then that's so overly dramatic.

Well in the end this is all about wining a title. And since I don't think this franchise can ever get that far without putting different people in charge, resignation has finally completely settled in. I'm not going to get excited over picks that might be worth something five years down the line or rookies nobody has ever heard of.

Meh, ringz culture is toxic. We should all be able to enjoy the journey

There's not much to enjoy when the most probable outcome is facing the very same issues we've had for the last decade, but this time without stars.

[ThunderBolt]

Well in the end this is all about wining a title. And since I don't think this franchise can ever get that far without putting different people in charge, resignation has finally completely settled in. I'm not going to get excited over picks that might be worth something five years down the line or rookies nobody has ever heard of.

Meh, ringz culture is toxic. We should all be able to enjoy the journey

There's not much to enjoy when the most probable outcome is facing the very same issues we've had for the last decade, but this time without stars.

I get that but how many franchises are really organizationally elite? Right now, Bob Myers and company look pretty good as do Masai and Jerry West. However it doesn't take much for things to change. You can go from rags to riches and vice versa in the eyes of public opinion very quickly. Morey has made his mistakes too.

Winning a title is hard but I think your dismissing all of the team's success because of frustration with Donovan and Presti. I'm not saying the frustration isn't valid. Presti doesn't have the track record of Jerry West but he's definitely not Ernie Grunfeld. Sam can find talent if we have the picks. I firmly believe that. I also believe that in order to put together a championship roster we will need to be intelligent but also somewhat lucky. Maybe one of his "yes man" type coaches actually ends up being a decent coach. Every championship team has had luck on their side in addition to good management.

I hear people on the general board and others in the media say stuff like "they had Harden, Durant, Westbrook and George and lost them all!" That doesn't tell the true story. There were mistakes made by the organization but they were also tremendous successes. Heck, we actually overcame the loss of Harden by getting Oladipo but we never got a chance to see it materialize. Injuries also screwed us. We've had championship rosters and I think we can again. I also hear it said that Sam will never be able to replicate drafting 3 straight MVPs. So what? That's not a requirement for building a contender.

I think we've got a couple of lean years ahead of us but those years could have some excitement surrounding them too. We've also seen that rebuilds aren't taking as long any more. Look at the Hawks for example. We have the benefit of starting our rebuild with a really nice prospect already in place. Ultimately, how you feel is up to you and its not anyone's job to change it. I guess my point is that even though I share some of the same concerns as you I'm still hopeful.