I watched maybe seven minutes of this bullshit from the Thunder last night as they went beyond the tanking pale in a pathetic 138-101 home loss to the improved Minnesota Timberwolves.
I just cannot believe people in Oklahoma City pay to attend this bullshit and pretend like it’s legitimate sport of any type.
This isn’t even good G League basketball.
It’s truly horrific. There is no need for this for one simple reason. There’s no reason for these young players to be tanking in this manner. They worked their entire basketball lives with the dream of getting to the NBA for this nonsense.
Even in big city legitimate markets it’s tough to sustain within the boundaries of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
There’s no reasonable adult evidence elite players want to stay here beyond their original rookie scale contract.
Even if the Thunder somehow win the draft rights to Jabari Smith, they’re not winning an NBA championship.
That window closed when Kevin Durant gave up and left. That window closed when Paul George told his agent to get him out of Oklahoma.
The realistic goal in this market is to put a competitive team on the floor and try to make the playoffs every year.
Sustainable should be defined by something which in reality is attainable.
Maybe be good enough to win a Northwest Division title and get to the Western Conference semi-finals here and again.
Two great games last night on the ESPN doubleheader. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls in a barnburner. Then in the late game the Phoenix Suns came back from twelve points down in the fourth quarter to edge the NY Knicks. Great NBA regular season games.
BTW…while all of those Thunder players including Josh Giddey were sitting under the guise of injury…Zach Lavine played hurt on the second night of a back-to-back.
I’m tired of writing this on here. The defending NBA champions are built around four players. None of these four players were drafted any higher than the 15th spot in the first round.
Who’s the highest drafted player on the Miami Heat currently? I don’t think Jimmy Butler was a top six pick, but I’m going to check on that as well.
Giannis…a 15. Jrue…a 17. Khris…a second rounder. Bobby Portis…. I need to check if he was a late first round or second round pick by the Bulls. But unless you only read the Sam Presti/Royce Young influenced Daily Thunder…surely you get the gist of what I’m trying to convey here.
You know what all these contending NBA teams have that the Thunder don’t have?
An NBA level coach who earned the right to have an NBA head coaching job. Imagine that.
Anyway…whatever. It’s mind boggling. You’re in Oklahoma City. Just be grateful you have a team. Period.
Here’s my Top 6 NBA Poll as of last night’s results:
1 Phoenix
2 Milwaukee
3 Miami
4 Philadelphia
5 Golden State
6 Memphis