OKC is a great team. i dont understand all of this 'cut and run' from anyone. had this been miami, boston, or LA. or a large franchise team, there would be probably little to no discussion of KD or WB leaving. the ESPN commentators and the like would said, 'well they made a great run but just came short. add a few pieces and come back next year.' but its a small franchise, so everyone in the league is like 'see we told you it wouldnt work, time to go to LA'.
no reason to panic at all for OKC. As far as their starting 5, they are only really missing an upgrade from the 2 spot in Roberson. Although he can play solid D, being absolutely a negative on offense was a huge liability in the end. Other than maybe adding a bench player or two that is more reliable, their team was obviously good enough to put GS on the brink of elimination. They just weren't able to do it. You look at the pieces they have. A center that pretty much fits what you need to get from the 5 spot now. Adams improved tremendously in these playoffs. Thats a check. Ibaka the stretch 4 who was fairly consistent throughout the playoffs and came up big in moments against GS. Thats a check. then two of the top players in the league with KD/WB. Its really a matter of some minor moves and whether when it comes down to it are kanter and waiters going to be the main guys off the bench they want to trust. Definitely arguable either way. Upgrading roberson takes precedent over bench imo. Unless he dedicates this entire summer improving his 3 pt shot with increased confidence so he doesn't look so lost in the moment like he did last night.
That's why I said that I believe that Durant will sign a 1 year deal. It gets him the most money and he has a year to evaluate whether he wants to commit longer term. If he believes that he and Westbrook don't fit or that OKC won't be able to afford to keep their core together after next season then he'd leave. It's a valid question because despite Westbrook's greatness, he doesn't prevent Durant from being doubled every time he touches the ball. GS showed that. Double Durant everytime, keep two bigs in the paint to minimize Westbrook's drive's and allow Westbrook to fire away from the outside. GS made Durant work for everything that he got. Westbrook shooting under 40% from the floor and 31% from the arc isn't going to prevent Durant from seeing double teams all night. The flipside is that OKC was close this year. If Durant believes that Presti can make moves to put them over the top and that he can keep the team together then he'd likely stay. A one year deal put the pressure on Presti to make a move to improve the team. Presti will have to figure out quickly what he plans to do with Ibaka, Roberson, Westbrook and Adams who are free agents next year and Waiters who's a free agent this offseason. If there was one team out there that Durant could sign with and be a guarenteed contender then he might do that. Miami has pieces but signing Durant would pretty much guarentee that Whiteside is gone and that might be a dealbreaker. Boston has a lot of assets but simply adding Durant into the mix doesn't make them a contender. That's why I think that he gives it one more year to see what changes OKC can make and to see what other suitors are there next year.
KD and WB need to part ways. Their games don't mesh well. Two players taking turns ISOing won't get the job done in today's league. Durant needs to stop ISOing at the top of the key. It's not his strong suit. Sure, he can break down average defenders once in awhile, but it will never work in the playoffs against an elite defender/defense. We saw this when Igoudala stole his lunch money down the stretch. Durant should only get buckets in 3 ways: fast break, off screens in a motion offense, back down a smaller player in the high post.
The issue with OKC is "who will still be there after next season". They're already much farther over the cap than they want to be and Waiters and Durant are both going to get raises this offseason and next year Ibaka, Adams, Roberson and Westbrook will all cash in too. It's questionable whether OKC will be able to afford that kind of increase when they're already $15M over the luxury tax.
when they were up 3-1 nobody around here was saying any of this. And it was all praise. You can nitpick whatever moments you want but in the end it was about learning how to close out a series which championship teams do. And that is why GS is moving on. But Okc is not far behind at all.
yeah aelliott i was looking at it from the perspective of just next year as far as where they are at now. but yeah tough decisions to come as far as giving it another run or looking at the future instead while being competitive.
I think they should stay the course. Another year of Billy Donovan will purge the hero out of them. They made great strides this year despite a lot of problems. Their offense was beautiful to watch (most of the time) but in crunch time, the old habits kicked in. KD and WB have to change their approach to the game and make sacrifices. #1 is WB should not average 20 ppg. He has other guys that are trustworthy and he has rely on them when the game is on the line. I can't get over how KD really blew game 6. That failure will stay with him his entire career. He took selfishness to another level. Such a shame. This was Donovan's big mistake of the series. Walking off the court after game 5, KD & WB looked like they could barely stand up. I was worried then.
While I kinda sorta agree, I don't think Payne would have been the answer, at the 1. I also don't think Westbrook could defend Thompson - if Roberson wasn't able to (as long as he is), I don't think Thompson would have any trouble shooting over a shorter defender, in Westbrook. OKC's problem really is the lack of a true 1, though. Westbrook and Foye are combo guards that lean more towards being a 2. Payne, given a whole season of development, would probably still have been burned by Barea/Parker/Curry. Conley would be a great fit for this team, assuming Westbrook leaves and Durant stays. Ibaka and Adams are offensively talented enough to PnR with Conley all day, while Durant gets to his position to shoot a high %age shot.
I don't know if Payne was the answer or not either. I do know they would have been better off to go that way and find out though. And you have to remember. Kay has to turn around and defend a Westbrook. He couldn't waste possessions hanging out on Roberson watching the paint dry. You wouldn't have seen a mountain of 3's from Klay this series with Klay having to chase Westbrook. He wouldn't have had the legs or wind to do that.
They definitely should stand pat. So much room to improve within. Durant and Westbrook in their primes. You don't let past injuries scare you with these two, especially since health wasn't an issue for them going this deep so obviously they're fine. Kanter is still a solid piece to have. He'll improve his game under Donovan's system. So what if he didn't get much playing time in some games? Bogut didn't last year in the finals. Doesn't mean he's not essential. Kanter helped them significantly throughout the regular season to get their record and will continue to do so. Steven Adams and Andre Roberson are still so young and will continue to improve. Roberson's outside shot will probably only get better and make him more of a threat to go alongside his great defense. Anyone who's entertaining this thread as if they're missing a key piece is just a classic case of knee jerk. This isn't the Rockets of last year. This team was actually really close. Imagine the Clippers had a better regular season record than them, they could have faced the Warriors in the second round and beaten them hobbled. Or maybe next year they get the number 1 seed and then only have to face one of the Spurs or Warriors in the conference finals.
Well that's yet another reason why Durant likely signs a 2-year deal with a player option for next summer. This offseason, they have to resign Durant and Waiters(and maybe Foye if they think he's valuable). Next summer, they have to hold onto Westbrook, Ibaka, Roberson, and Adams. Retaining all of those players will cost a fortune. Not to say it can't be done with the cap going way up, but I can't see Durant signing long-term with OKC til he knows all of those guys are either sticking around or replacements can be found quickly. BTW, the Warriors have a similar dilemma with Barnes, Ezeli, Barbosa, and Speights all being free agents this summer and then Curry, Bogut, Iggy, and Livingston next summer. Keeping that roster intact will put them in heavy luxury tax territory.
But I think that GS would have defended Westbrook just the same regardless of who is guarding him. There's really no reason to chase Westbrook. Give him whatever he wants from the perimeter and keep Green and Bogut in the paint waiting for him when he drives. That's what GS did this entire series. Its the same way that they play Harden except Thompson is only worried about trying to contest Harden's 3 point attempts. When Harden goes by Thompson then Green and Bogut are waiting. With Westbrook, Thompson doesn't have to worry about the 3 ball as Westbrook is a poor shooter. Defending Westbrook is primarily about not allowing him to get to the rim and GS bigs do a good job.
(Assuming Durant stays) The only thing that OKC needs to add is more and better bench depth. Other than that, stay the course. Certain existing players need to work on their games. For example, Roberson needs to work on his perimeter shot and his free throws...his shooting form is terrible. He was a liability in game 7. Adams needs to improve his perimeter defense and I also think he can develop into a more effective scoring option inside. Waiters just needs to grow up and make wiser decisions in general. Durant and Westbrook play too many minutes and they got tired. More depth (and Donovan being willing to use it) can help with that.
I agree. But in the end if you have to play him you still want to have him with the ball cause he can be dominant 1 on 1, i mean, how good is he off the ball? Not sure but probably not as good as he is with the ball, he's just not a good shooter and he doesn't have the instincts to play without the ball, you can see how useless he is when other guys have the ball...in the end i think it's just that he is what he is, which is really good, but not that good.
What, they beat the Spurs iso'ing, and then they were pretty close to dethroning of the best teams in NBA history they are fine, they just need to fine tune some things and not be complete idiots like they were in game 6
Except besides Durant having a horrible shooting night in game 6, it DID work. If not for that, they would have taken down a 73-win team 4-2.
You build from where they are- they are much closer than the Rockets, no need to do much but continue to play together and if they can find a SF/SG that can make a 3 - they are even better. DD
