The Western Conference is going to be brutal next season. Minnesota added Jeff Teague to go along with Jimmy Butler, Karl Anthony-Townes, and Andrew Wiggins. Houston added Chris Paul. Utah added Ricky Rubio, but lost George Hill. Blake resigned with the Clippers. The Spurs are the Spurs. And of course, there’s the Nike West Coast All-Stars, but who no longer have Jerry West consulting as he’s now doing that for the Clippers.
I hate to bitch on the same night when Sam Presti just added Paul George, but I have three things on Sam Presti’s Must Do List in the coming days.
1 Get a quality backup point guard. The Warriors have Livingston. The Spurs just resigned Patty Mills. A quality backup point guard is a must.
2 Resign Andre Roberson. I know…the free throw shooting, but to beat these Warriors and these Rockets perimeter defense is a must. I just keep thinking to myself one of these days I’m going to see Andre Roberson be to this team what Shawn Marion was to the Suns and Mavs.
3 Acquire a stretch four. Enes Kanter at $17 million plus is not playable against the Warriors and Rockets. That’s just not going to work. It’s just simple financial common sense. You can’t waste $17 million in payroll on a player who’s not playable against your two primary rivals in the West. I’m not a huge Rudy Gay guy, so I’ll just think to myself what the Thunder can do there. But if Gay is the best stretch four available then maybe that’s what you do and pray he plays out his ass alongside Westbrook and Paul. I’m assuming Taj Gibson doesn’t resign here, so I really don’t have Taj in my equation.
4 The rotational players so far… Russell, PG, Steven, Andre (defense wins championships), Jerami Grant, Alex Abrines, and Doug McDermott. That’s seven. Sam Presti needs three more rotational players.
Great night for Thunder Nation. Beats the hell out of last July 4th for sure. After Durant’s departure to Oakland… if you asked me who were the four players I’d most covet Presti get to team with Russell I’d have gone 1 Kawhi Leonard, 2 Paul George, 3 Klay Thompson, and 4 Jimmy Butler.
Amazingly, Sam Presti somehow pulled this off only giving up Victor Oladipo and Domas Sabonis.
Is it a gamble? Not really. Because if Presti hadn’t shown Russell Westbrook the Thunder is in the business of contending for NBA championships there’s no reason for Russell to stay here. You lose Westbrook you’re done as in D-O-N-E. Done.
So really there’s no risk involved.
Think about the length and athleticism of a starting lineup of Westbrook, George, Adams, Roberson, and Rudy Gay. I’m sure Sam Presti has.