After the 2010-playoff series against the
Lakers, the Thunder looked destined to win multiple championships. Its strong
young core of Durant, Harden, Westbrook and Ibaka seemed as if it would be a
force for many, many years. They made the Western Conference Finals in 2011
losing to the eventual champs and then lost to Miami in the 2012 NBA finals.
These results all proved to NBA fans that they were ready to be a true
contender. That was until the 2012-13 offseason came along.
In the 2012 offseason, Thunder General Manager Sam Presti had to make an interesting choice. Will OKC be better off with Ibaka or Harden or was it possible to keep both? He chose Ibaka and paid him 48 million over 4 years. A lucrative deal that many see as the wrong decision. Ibaka no doubt is a talented player and a defensive beast but James Harden has proven he is a legitimate star; he is the type of player you can build a whole team around.
In the 2012 offseason, Thunder General Manager Sam Presti had to make an interesting choice. Will OKC be better off with Ibaka or Harden or was it possible to keep both? He chose Ibaka and paid him 48 million over 4 years. A lucrative deal that many see as the wrong decision. Ibaka no doubt is a talented player and a defensive beast but James Harden has proven he is a legitimate star; he is the type of player you can build a whole team around.
Sam Presti didn’t even want to wait until
the offseason to decide how he would approach the Harden situation; maybe
Harden would’ve signed for less. However he wanted to make sure the Thunder
received something for him and in haste traded him for Kevin Martin, Jeremy
Lamb and picks (turned out to be Steve Adams). At first glance it seemed as if
they had enough compensation to still compete at a high level. They did however
give up a closer who was so impressive throughout most of the 2012 playoffs.
Harden can make plays for others and create his own shots whereas Martin is long-range
shooter. This gave more responsibility to Westbrook and Durant
Fast-forward to this year’s playoffs:
Westbrook tore his meniscus and the Thunder were lucky to get passed the
Rockets in 6 games. They then go on to lose to the Grizzlies in 5 games. They
went from what seemed to be such a young promising team to one that is in
danger of falling away from being a contender at all. What is even worse is that Kevin Martin
has been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves as to avoid luxury tax- another poor decision by OKC to not
fight hard enough to keep him. If OKC have to rely on Reggie Jackson or Jeremy
Lamb to fill the offensive void left by Harden and now Martin they will not be
successful.
Oklahoma Thunder have not make any splashes this offseason, they are rumoured to be favourites for Mike Miller but he is only a role player and cannot be expected to contribute a large amount. The bench now looks very thin and it all comes down to Sam Presti making haste decisions at terrible times. As it stands right now I think the Thunder will be lucky to finish 4th in the West this season. The West continues to get stronger yet OKC is going backwards. Can they turn it around?
Oklahoma Thunder have not make any splashes this offseason, they are rumoured to be favourites for Mike Miller but he is only a role player and cannot be expected to contribute a large amount. The bench now looks very thin and it all comes down to Sam Presti making haste decisions at terrible times. As it stands right now I think the Thunder will be lucky to finish 4th in the West this season. The West continues to get stronger yet OKC is going backwards. Can they turn it around?
Like us on FB:
Thank you for this informative, controversially opinionated article on the Oklahoma Thunder! It's really great and, honestly, I don't think they can turn it around especially if they only count on Mac Miller for their games.
ReplyDeleteI'm an avid reader of your articles on the blogger, blogspot blog about NBA.
Keep writing and carry on
- Vivian Darkbloom