Kevin Martin to Minnesota...

[thebigabd]

PG: Ricky Rubio
SG: Kevin Martin
SF: Andrei Kirilenko
PF: Kevin Love
C: Nikola Vucevic

Absolutely no excuse to not get in the playoffs. Of course, it's highly likely that Kirilenko goes somewhere else. If he does, it will be Derrick Williams or Chase Budinger in that spot. Either way, no excuse to not make the playoffs in Minnesota.

 

[bocabull]

Why would that be a playoff roster when none of the above are playoff veterans?

That's a .500 team tops.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I love that lineup.

 

[One More Rebound]

That lineup seems a bit slow...

 

[WTSooner]

Not overly impressive.

 

[WTSooner]

No talk about how this hurts OKC? Do they really think Lamb is ready to step into that role? The other dude.....Jackson, I don't see him as the answer in that role either.

I still think OKC needs to fix their starting lineup. Too many average (Ibaka) and below average (Thabo/Perkins) offensive players out there with KD and Westy.

 

[playmakr]

LOL at giving Martin 7.5 a year. That's embarrassing. But par for the course for that waste of space franchise. Love needs to get out of there, which of course he will.

 

[bocabull]

$7 mil per year is about right for Martin. He's an above average NBA player and that's what those guys make. I don't see it making the T-Wolves any better or the Thunder any worse. He's between a nickel & a dime and no player like that will make or break a team.

The Thunder's initial window closed and they know it. Their best play is to let Lamb and the other young guys develop and give the Heat time to slide. No sense overspending for a few extra wins which will likely result in the same outcome.

They are going to be a 50+ win team even though they aren't legit title contenders. The more time passes the more Durant's career is mimicking Dirk's. He will eventually get his title, just likely won't be part of a dynasty.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

They are going to be a 50+ win team even though they aren't legit title contenders. .

I think there is a good chance the thunder grab the 1 seed again. Do you not consider anyone besides the heat contenders?>

 

[bocabull]

Bulls could be. Clippers could be. Rockets could be (with Howard).

Heat are.

The Thunder will be good but not title good unless they make some significant move. Harden showed us in Houston how good of a player they lost while coming up short. It's hella tough to win an NBA title. Thunder have too many holes right now. Warriors might be closer than the Thunder and their not that close.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

lol you realize that Westbrook will be back right? You would have a point if Westbrook would be out all season. This is hilarious. more gold from boca

 

[Smash Williams]

Adding Martin and getting Love back will really help their offense, but they're also going to take a step back defensively with Martin and without Kirilenko.

42-45 wins if they stay healthy, and if so much of the league is as dedicated to tanking for the 2014 draft as they appear to be

 

[coolm]

actually agree with Boca here. spot on.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Of course you do

 

[coolm]

Of course you do

now that's not fair. I normally don't agree with him.

But when it comes to the Thunder eval here I think he's 100% correct. They REALLY needed Martin to pull off a magic act last season to make it anywhere near the Conference finals much less the NBA finals. They just didn't have the firepower to do it and while RW's injury was certainly a setback - they werent making it there anyway.

Now, with Martin gone, they have even less offense and RW's return is not going to come anywhere close to resolving the problem. I assumed they would make a nice offer and keep him through free agency. No dice. At this point they'd have been better off developing Lamb more.

Then to make NO move on McLemore? Not even the good old college try? To me that's atrocious. We're back to the same point we were at before viewing our Lakers matchup inside ... good record but we won't make it past Memphis or SA or Golden State or maybe even the Clips (who are at least TRYING).

 

[SoonerBounce13]

They needed Martin to pull magic to even get close to the conference finals? Do you realize hiw stupid that is?

Everybody sure is down on the number one western seed. Lol at this analysis

 

[Smash Williams]

Then to make NO move on McLemore? Not even the good old college try? To me that's atrocious. We're back to the same point we were at before viewing our Lakers matchup inside ... good record but we won't make it past Memphis or SA or Golden State or maybe even the Clips (who are at least TRYING).

There were several reports, including at least one from Woj, about OKC furiously trying to move up in the draft, so you can't say that they didn't try.

I don't agree with everything the OKC front office has done (specifically, I thought they could have held off on a Harden trade, as I wasn't a fan of the Lamb/Toronto pick package), but they're obviously working under some financial constraints.

I think you're selling short what they still have. People are reading too much into what happened after Westbrook's injury. Their entire plan is predicated upon their two stars being healthy. With a healthy Westbrook, OKC would have been a big favorite over every team in the West except San Antonio, which would have been a toss-up (probably with OKC as a slight favorite). Next season, they'll be the favorite or co-favorite in the West with San Antonio. Golden State isn't even in the conversation unless they land Howard. Memphis, given their obvious limitations that were badly exposed in the WCF, is still a dark horse unless they go out of their way to address their lack of floor-spacers. I love what the Clippers did in getting Dudley and Redick, but they also have a huge hole to address up front. Jordan isn't a reliable 5 down the stretch, and they have no depth behind him. I have to see how the Clips fill that hole before putting them on the same tier as the Spurs and Thunder.

 

[bocabull]

Smash, there really is no "Thunder model". There is the Kevin Durant Model. Kobe Bryant Model. Dirk Nowitzki Model. Lebron James Model. Tim Duncan Model. Etc. The Ray Allen/Kevin Garnett Model.

Without those guys no model is going to work. Everybody else is just swapping dimes, some more efficiently than others.

 

[WTSooner]

Smash, there really is no "Thunder model". There is the Kevin Durant Model. Kobe Bryant Model. Dirk Nowitzki Model. Lebron James Model. Tim Duncan Model. Etc. The Ray Allen/Kevin Garnett Model.

Without those guys no model is going to work. Everybody else is just swapping dimes, some more efficiently than others.

Exactly.

Doesn't really matter what OKC does, they have one of the best scorers in the game, so they will have a fighting chance. Kind of how the Cavs were pretty good when it was Lebron and a bunch of crap.

Lets not confuse OKC's success with having some kind of working model. Their success is nearly 100% attributable to KD.