Thunder contenders?
AHAH are you kidding thunder are years off the playoffs it takes more then 2 people to put up 20 pts on a crap team a night they need a big man like thabeet to help them inside ! At the moment they have like chris willcox and other &$#%#&@! players.
chris wilcox has been gone idk what your talkin bout but russell westbrook is nice jeff green can average 14-18 points per with 8 rebs. kevin durant is a soon to be all-star if kristic contributes and harden isnt a bust (which i doubt he is) they could be a legit team. Of course theyll need a bench but thats y i said a couple years.
The Thunder arent far off. They have an amazing deep and young core... Get your facts straight before you pretend to know what you are talking about. Wilcox played for the knicks at the end of last year. teams like dallas, san antonio (we have to all admit it), phoenix are all falling and NO and Utah can be overtaken easily. only portland, LAL Denver are for sure there next year all other teams have serious question marks
I just made a article saying what if the thunder trade their top pick Westbrook, Green and a future first for Griffin and Davis contract. That would give LAC young talent around Gordon and company and also save them money. They could draft Rubio and then trade Westbrook and Randolph to a team to get rid of Randolph because they know Westbrook is wanted for a young big and some pieces or just keep Randolph because his contract runs out in a few.
Well the point guard position is basically already established with Westbrook and Livingston.. both good pg's (If Livingston stays healthy)... Durant and Green are good at the SF (even though Green is starting at the 4).. I think that D.J White will be good.. backing up Green at the 4 will be a good role for him and I think he will do it well. That leaves SG and C.. Harden would be perfect for them, but they NEED a true Center.. Kristic is a good 'Inside/Outside Center' but he isn't intimidating as someone like thabeet would be. So if Thabeet is there, I would have to take him, even though he might be a project. Someone with his size and shot blocking ability are very rare.. He just needs to add an offensive game.. If Thabeet gets drafted at 2 then they HAVE to take Harden. Do NOT take Rubio.. as I said the PG spot is taken care of
Im not sure how 2 6'9 forwards and a seven foot center is undersized but ok. and with everyone starter averaging 5 rebounds and up including the point guard i dont see how they would be outrebounded. I do agree that if Kristic doesnt begin to play bigger and step up his game they should give him the boot.
OKC actually was #6 in the league at rebounding differential vs their opponents, so Green at the 4 obviously didn't hurt their rebounding. But I still agree they need to upgrade on Kristic, but I'm not sure Thabeet is the answer. To many question marks around him, while Harden seems like a sure thing as anyone. No reason to take a chance on someone when they have holes in other places still in their lineup.
There's plenty of center out there that are still young, don't take alot of shots, and rebound great like Hawes of sacramento, Kaman of LAC, and Chandler. All of those guys won't take a lot to go get. So they should draft harden. Livingston, Sefolosha, Collison, and White is a really solid bench. By the way GREEN IS NOT UNDERSIZED! HE'S NEAR 6'10 AND WILL AVERAGE 8-9 REBOUNDS THE REST OF HIS CAREER. THAT IS PERFECT FOR A PF!!!!
With the third pick okc should get thabeet b/c they need a defensive presence. I love Harden, but sg is an easy position to fill in the NBA. If they wanna get a sg get one in free agency or in the draft(this year, or next year). There aren't however a lot of 7+ ft centers that actually have a chance of making an impact because most of the time guys that big are so uncoordinated that they trip over their own feet when they run suicide sprints(not saying thabeet is coordinated).
i believe the thunder are real close to getting into the playoffs (probably two seasons away, but possibly this year), and a few years from being dangerous... however, quality wingmen are not very hard to find, but big men who can block shots and rebound are not dime a dozen (especially 7'2" big men)... this is what they need...
WIth all the young talent on this team its hard to not see them as playoff contenders in the next few years.
with the 3 and 25th pick, if they draft smart they could easily make a playoff run in the near future especially in the west where former powerhouse teams Spurs and Suns are beginning to decline.
WIth this starting lineup, I think they will be successful:
PG- Russell Westbrook
SG- James Harden
SF- Kevin Durant
PF- Jeff Green
C- Nenad Kristic
With the 25th pick they could get a shooter and I think they would be a well-rounded young team with 2 or three future stars. Esp. with Kevin Durant already near being worthy of an all-star spot.
Comments?