So here we are in glamorous Oklahoma City which alongside with fabulous downtown Detroit are the two worst teams in the NBA this season just a week before Christmas.
Sam Hinkie-Presti running his tight little anal ship in Oklahoma, while his former protege Troy Weaver who along with Cade Cunnigham have lost thirteen straight games in Detroit.
I loved the part in Boom Town where Hinkie-Presti was like Captain Quig in the manner in which the balls have to be lined up in the ball rack. That in a nutshell is Thunder basketball.
Sam Anderson where are you, dude? Are you having some fun right now contemplating Boom Town II and the nuances of urban renewal beyond Oke City and Detroit?
Yikes…what a couple of trainwrecks. You’ll notice both Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin both forced their ways out of Oklahoma City and Detroit and now play together of all things in Brooklyn after playing for teams close to the Pacific Ocean.
So what does that tell us?
Here’s what it tells me…current NBA stars don’t really want to play in either Oklahoma City or Detroit. I figured that out myself without watching Moneyball again or re-reading Boom Town.
By the way how many World Series have the A’s won with Billy Beane? Or… how many rings have the San Diego Padres won playing near the Pacific Ocean in America’s City?
So maybe having the Pacific Ocean plus Jerry West or having a bright guy like Bob Myers running the show is part of the championship plan as well.
At some point regardless of how hard you tank a franchise/city has to be able to attract some pieces of its roster through free agency or a couple or shrewd trades just before the window closes.
Toronto is the most incredible city in the league, but they never would have won a championship if they hadn’t gambled on one with the Kawhi Leonard small window trade. And then…even with North America’s most incredible city they couldn’t keep Kawhi. The Pacific Ocean again.
You’ll observe the four greatest current NBA players…LeBron, Steph, Kevin, and Kawhi all have had a thing in regards to the Pacific Ocean. LeBron is the outlier though in that he won two of his rings on Miami Beach….and one of his four on the Pacific coastline. LeBron if for no other reason is the GOAT for having won an NBA championship in Cleveland.
Let me help you Oklahomans out a little bit on here. The Pacific or Atlantic Oceans are kind of a thing with rich elite NBA players who aren’t all that fazed by the California state income tax rates. I’m not trying to be snarky on here, but since I was born in San Diego allow me to make a few honest observations on my blog. The Pacific Ocean or even the Atlantic trumps the North Canadian River every time except for with Russell Westbrook and we’ve seen how many rings he’s won. Russell has turned LeBron into a .500 player so that’s a whole other piece on Sam Hinkie-Presti’s shrewdness. See my points.
So as I watch all this tanking by Sam Hinkie-Presti and Troy Weaver it somewhat vexes me.
With all the tanking Oklahoma’s first tanker Sam Hinkie did in Philly…here’s the truth…the Sixers are a .500 team which is going to try to trade one of its tanking treasures headcase Ben Simmons to any team which will give them something of NBA value in return.
Would it stun me at this point to see the sucker who makes that deal be the same guy who acquired Poku the Greek B League phenom?
So after all of that tanking in Philly…what do they have besides a .500 team hanging onto the 8th seed in the East?
I want any and all of you here in Oklahoma to contemplate what I just wrote.
Kevin Durant didn’t pick Oklahoma as his dream NBA destination…he was forced to play here because Portland took Greg Oden.
So instead of wasting the next five years on losing big, why not recalibrate the Doctrine of Sustainability or either move the team to Las Vegas.
And keep this in mind…this comes from a guy who bleeds crimson who finally came to terms with the fact the SEC is in a sense the Pacific Ocean of college football. You go where the good players want to go. And I would say unless Nick Saban moves to UCLA or retires nothing much is going to change in college football.
So Sam Hinkie-Presti either take a job near the Pacific Ocean or talk your ownership group into moving your team to Las Vegas.
But enough of the tanking. Because at the end of the day…you are what you are.
Hello.