Am I the only one feeling like OKC Thunder front office is overrated?

[kdslittlebro]

Most of your problems with OKC lie with ownership, not Presti.

The one bad move Presti made was not trading Russ instead of Harden. Would have been a tough pill to swallow at the time but was the right move long term.

As it is, they are doing the right thing and Presti and his scouts clearly have eye for talent. OKC isn't exactly a FA hotbed.

I'll be the first to say the team had under-performed as a whole until 2016, mostly because that move made the team too rigid, and any setback was fatal (outside of the foot fracture - no KD team is competing there). Since he left, idk what others expected, but I expected nothing until the PG-Clippers trade the org was on the exact treadmill I was expecting, and made for some wack ass yrs as a fan. And if it wasn't for him asking out, the team would still be hoping PG and Russ were gonna break through one of these yrs

This is accurate.



For sure there were some things out of their control but what's been the number one issue with OKC's teams for the last decade? Lack of shooting. Even this year, that squad was relying on Lu Dort to hit corner threes in the playoffs.

For all the talented players Presti's front office is able to find, they never seem to find shooters.

I swear any time someone with a rep of a shooter drops comes to the Thunder their shooting drops, other than Kmart I think. I'm too lazy to check bball ref but from my spotty memory, that seemed to be the case but there have definitely been very very few snipers. Every position outside of the stars has been more of an archetype than a player. Square peg in round hole type shyt he's been replacing Thabo with Thabo for the better part of this decade

 

[Da King]

He’s done a great job especially in a small market

Spurs are in a small market with 5 chips, OKC had Durant, Harden and Westbrook and have nothing to show to show for it

 

[pete clemenza]

Let's see what they do with all those picks. They should have a playoff team or at least have a future star or two from the draft by '22. Tired of the media & certain fans fawning and going coo-coo over draft pick hoarders

 

[Jordan>>LeFrozen]

To be fair, OKC was up 3-1 on the Warriors. One away from a second finals appearance and who knows maybe they would have gotten one

what he does with all these draft picks going forward will be the true test.

 

[FTBS]

It's been a year. They just officially bottomed out after trading CP3. Some of these picks are for 5 or 6 years from now. We can't assess anything in that regard yet. I mean they did just make a playoff run with what everyone assumed was a lottery team.

Are we really suggesting that the Thunder who went to multiple CFs and a Finals weren't contenders? People love talking about the 3 MVPs but then wanna put the faillures on the FO. If Harden plays like and MVP they win in 2012. If KD and Russ play like MVPs they win in 16. KD and Russ both missed a playoff run with injuries. The Harden shyt was stupid in retrospect but they kept the train rolling and were in position to win a chip and the players didn't close the deal. KD has shown he is a different cat. The chose to trade Russ and acquired picks for him AND got just as far without him as they had with him.

 

[RubioTheCruel]

Spurs are in a small market with 5 chips, OKC had Durant, Harden and Westbrook and have nothing to show to show for it

How many chips do the Spurs win if Duncan signs with Orlando in 2000? Cause... that's kinda what happened with OKC.

 

[Da King]

How many chips do the Spurs win if Duncan signs with Orlando in 2000? Cause... that's kinda what happened with OKC.

know your history

 

[RubioTheCruel]

know your history

yeah they win the lockout season and Duncan leaves... then what? nikka I’m 40

 

[Da King]

yeah they win the lockout season and Duncan leaves... then what? nikka I’m 40

It means they maximized the talent they had when they had it, so if Duncan leaves at least they got a banner to show for it

and you being 40 has to do with what?

 

[RubioTheCruel]

It means they maximized the talent they had when they had it, so if Duncan leaves at least they got a banner to show for it

and you being 40 has to do with what?

I was alive and around watching the lockout at that time I didn't have to google what's going on.

OKC should've won in 2016 - Durant wasn't man enough to get his team to the promised land in Game 6. It is what it is. Not much management can do about that.

 

[Da King]

I was alive and around watching the lockout at that time I didn't have to google what's going on.

OKC should've won in 2016 - Durant wasn't man enough to get his team to the promised land in Game 6. It is what it is. Not much management can do about that.

management picked Ibaka over keeping Harden which will still go down as all time dumb

 

[FTBS]

It means they maximized the talent they had when they had it, so if Duncan leaves at least they got a banner to show for it

and you being 40 has to do with what?

Duncan went into the Forum and took that shyt from prime Shaq, despite having a clear talent disadvantage. That's all about Duncan being the all time beast that he was and the Spurs having just enough to support him, not them maximizing anything. KD and Russ had a chance to take that shyt from the 73-9 Warriors and folded. Management can only put dudes in position. They actually have to perform and close the deal.

management picked Ibaka over keeping Harden which will still go down as all time dumb

They picked money over just keeping all of them. Yes it was dumb. That's not on the GM though. Beyond that, it probably doesn't happen if Harden plays like and MVP or at least doesn't shyt the bed in the Finals. And even after that, they were up 3-1 on the Warriors and up late in the 4th in game 6 and up like 16 in game 7. At a certain point, MVPs gotta MVP.

 

[Brozay]

Spurs are in a small market with 5 chips, OKC had Durant, Harden and Westbrook and have nothing to show to show for it

I wonder if the Spurs are an exception to the norm when it comes to small market teams?

 

[KingJay]

I really don't think it's Presti's fault that OKC is a shyt market and their owner was too cheap to pay Harden. Dude drafted 3 MVPs and Ibaka in 3 consecutive drafts. fukking crazy.

 

[Reggie]

At the end of the day they will be known as the franchise that lost 3 future MVP's that they could have locked up together for a long time. But Presti has done the best that he could do considering the owner didn't want to play Harden which along with KD leaving is something he couldn't control as Durant was a free agent. And he was right to trade Westbrook cause we already know what their ceiling was with him at the helms. Now they have to hope they get at least one franchise changing talent with all these picks which is all it takes really in the NBA.