Mercifully, the Oklahoma City Thunder at 20-45 with 17 games remaining only have one more month of tanking in front of them this NBA season.
I had the Thunder at 22-60 when the season began…so I’m alive on that bet.
If the Thunder with a league high cap space amount and plentiful young prospects galore can’t begin playing legitimate games again…then the NBA model in place in Oklahoma is not one which is sustainable.
Don’t confuse what I’m writing on my blog, I think Sam Presti is a smart general manager. What I’m saying is if the Thunder can’t pivot after this summer’s draft, then serious consideration should be given to moving the team back to Seattle.
I think if you examine all thirty current NBA markets in the league, it would be fair to say Oklahoma City, is the most cultural outlier in a league which is made up mostly of cities which are culturally blue and more tolerant towards issues of race.
You might have a point in listing Utah, Houston, and Dallas as other outlier cities, but Houston and Dallas are both legitimate major league cities. Utah and Oklahoma City are what I would describe as somewhat a cultural fit with each other, but not the league as a whole.
Regardless of who the Thunder draft this summer, they should have a team which next season at the least competes for a playoff spot at the bottom of the playoff rung.
I’ve been amazed the Thunder fans who’ve shown up this season are actually as positive as they’ve been given the product on the floor the past two seasons.
To me…it’s very simple, be straight up with the fanbase and tell them the model in Oklahoma City isn’t sustainable and move the team to a market which has a broader margin for attracting NBA talent. Or start playing basketball seasons where the intent is to win games versus losing games with the hope Kevin Durant II falls your way again.
But that’s not really sustainability, that’s luck.
That’s Portland taking Greg Oden as well.