The OKC Thunder Have One Major Problem

The OKC Thunder Have One Major Problem

the Thunder lost in the second round but who cares they jump from the play to the number one seed runner-up MVP and Rookie of the Year in coach of the year what could go wrong well they have been here before and messed it up no wonder GM Sam presty says we want this thing to continue to not skip steps we’ve managed our salaries to give us a lot of flexibility down the road which is true but that’s from 2010 right before it all blew up so no matter what they do or how smart they are one thing could take it all down again but I have to take an L for doubting the Thunder before the season I predicted they would be a playin team again but people like Bill Simmons were right he said this was the year they would take a jump and they got the third most wins in franchise history then they go into the playoffs sweep the Pelicans in round one yes they blew a 17-point lead game six to the Mavericks but sheay GIS Alexander proved one thing he his game translates to the playoffs there’s a few things you usually need to win a chip a top 10 defense and a top five player and OKC number four defense the ringer says top five players right now Nicole yic LCA donic Giannis SGA and Joel embiid hard to argue with that SGA will become the first NBA player to earn a million dollar per game on his next contract due got first team all NBA that’s 81 plus million much deserved so outside of Health what could possibly go wrong well one thing that could have helped this year is interior help for defense and rebounding but prey refused to make that big trade at the deadline so the Mavericks got Daniel gaffard instead which would have been amazing for them but pry doesn’t want to skip steps he wanted to throw all of his young guys out there to see what they got which told us Josh giddy ain’t it look he is a good player but he doesn’t fit with this team Josh was so bad on defense Dallas shot 60% with him as the primary Defender that is awful on offense he struggles shooting and the Mavs could sag off him and pack the paint so finally coach Mark dagnal benched giddy in game five and it made sense if sgaa is handling the ball what is giddy do he’s better off on a different team running his own show but outside of that their potential big three is SGA Chad hren and Jaylen Williams all 25 years old and younger weirdly similar to 2012 when they were in an even better position than now game one of the finals they beat Miami’s big three then game two they barely lost 101 to 96 this close to going up 20 in the finals but the Heat won the final three games in Miami and everyone said Oh They’ll be back Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook 23 years years old James Harden and serg Baka were 22 it’s a sure thing but here’s how it played out in 2013 they traded Harden and Russ got hurt 2014 the champion Spurs dominated the Conference Finals 2015 they missed the playoffs because KD broke his foot 2016 back to the Conference Finals but blew a 3-1 lead to the 73- win warriors with game 6 clay by 2017 it was all over Kevin Durant left in free agency oh it was a guarantee they’d be back to the finals but 12 years later they haven’t been back since that’s how quickly things can go south and why there are no guarantees a big problem then was choosing to pay Ibaka over Harden but they won’t make that same mistake this Thunder team has a different problem right now they are set up to trade for another star the common philosophy is you build to a point where a big trade can put you over the top and okay C has more draft picks than anyone to deal so whatever star comes available is theirs the Cavs did this they pounced when Donovan Mitchell came on the market but OKC is operating differently I mean they already have a top five player and can build out around the edges what would another star do they have a stretch five in ched a two-way Wing in Jay dub nasty defender in lud Dort and good role players like Isaiah Joe Kayan Wallace and Aaron Wiggins one thing we saw in the MAV series though was a secondary playmaker can take the pressure off SGA Dallas ke on Shay and Josh giddy was no help that was actually the point of the Gordon Hayward trade but that failed they also need more paint defense and rebounding with Chad but here’s where it gets tricky OKC has a small window to get that star and keep the whole team intact like the Cavaliers got Donovan Mitchell they had to give up lri Markin and Colin seon and picks no this is like when the Warriors kept their guys together and added Durant look I know you don’t want to skip steps but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity no other team can do this but why well it’s because they are so ahead of schedule that two of their top three players are still on rookie contracts ched homri makes 10.8 million a year jdub just 4.7 million compare that to the top three of other contenders like the Celtics are paying Tatum and brown 35 and 50 million porzingis is at 29 Drew holiday it’s 30 the nuggets have yic at 51 Jamal Murray and mpj at 35 so the Thunder can afford to bring in someone with cat space and not trade a single dude and they’ve got this window for two more years that is how long Chad and jdub will be on the rookie deals before they get big contracts so what’s the problem well they don’t want to mess up this chemistry I mean what if they get like a Trey young that messes with the entire Dynamic of their offense what about the Brooklyn mistake getting Ben Simmons Thunder can’t afford to mess this up so they could use the cap space instead to resign their own guys early like Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins but pass up this opportunity if OKC makes this trade they’ve got 13 first and 22 second round picks to deal the next seven years so who could they get well the Thunder get Deonte Murray the Hawks get Dorian finny Smith and two first round picks the Nets get Giddy and two first Deon is a much better fit over giddy because he can playmake and score at will a defense can’t double team sgaa in the back court with Murray to deal with the Nets want two picks for DFS who is a perfect defensive fit in Atlanta who also get two potential lottery picks this is also a good fit salary-wise because Deon only makes 25 mil a year or what about the thunder getting Jared Allen the Cavs get Josh giddy kenrich Williams Jaylen Williams and two first OKC’s big weakness was rebounding and Allen grabbed 11 boards a night with 17 points ched hren is amazing stretch five for spacing but his Youth and in experience would benefit from an All-Star Jared Allen on the Cavs kenr Williams is a two-way forward and Jay will is the perfect backup big they need for Evan Moy now the Thunder do get the best player in this trade so maybe it takes more picks but look obviously you’d love to be the Oklahoma City Thunder like they’ve got a lot going for them perfect position but they could mess it up in two different ways they could make the trade but get the wrong guy who screws everything up or they could pass on the trade and miss a golden opportunity at All-Star Talent either way OKC has done great so far but they are not some done deal Dynasty now there is a similar problem going on in New York the Knicks are all set up to trade for Star it’s built all the way to this right when things are looking great it might not happen after all which is why their new plan is in samee

The Thunder lost in Round 2 but it was an amazing year for the young team. There is one problem on the horizon that could take them down however and this is a look at the issue.