Other than the almost fight between Robin Lopez and Jerami Grant there wasn’t much to watch inside Chesapeake Energy Arena on Monday night as the Thunder did what they wanted over a horrid Chicago Bulls team which will go down as one of the worst in Bulls history. Off the top of my head I can’t remember how many games the Bulls won during the season which eventually gave them the draft passage to Michael Jordan, but I know this Bulls team is horrific. One could possibly even make the argument that fired coach Fred Hoiberg’s Elite Eight Iowa State team had more pop than this Bulls team.
The final was 121-96 and for the grace of god the Thunder has ‘almost’ completed its run of games versus the worst four teams in the NBA this season in Phoenix, Cleveland, Chicago, and Atlanta.
No pun intended towards Wild Thing, but there’s no more cupcakes left on the OKC schedule minus one remaining games versus the Suns.
I have a very simple axiom in team sports, which states, numbers are relative as per to the level of competition you’re doing it against. That’s why to date I’ve been much more into Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray than Russell Westbrook and Paul George. The latter two are getting ready to get my undivided attention in about two weeks.
These games mean nothing except they do in fact mean something as far as the Western Conference seeding positions. Let’s put it this way the Thunder are 19-10 overall, but 9-8 versus teams in the West with three of those wins coming against the Suns. I would challenge even the trekkiest of the Daily Thunder trekkies or Russell Westbrook’s Stepford Wife Nick Gallo to dispute those numbers. It is what it is. I still feel good about having the Thunder pegged as the No. 4 team in the West for these two simple reasons:
1. I’d take LeBron over the Westbrook-Paul George combo even with LeBron’s current cast.
2. I’d take Harden, Chris Paul, Clint Capela, and Eric Gordon over Westbrook, George, Adams, and Dennis Schroder.
I’m not even bothering to list Steph and Klay because I would hope that’s obvious enough.
The questions with Oklahoma City are obviously simple, that being, does Russell Westbrook have it within himself to be a championship point guard? Can he avoid the meltdowns? Can he play within the group? Can he do these things against good teams with good players and good coaches consistently through three rounds and twelve wins? Can Sam Presti find a player to take the Alex Abrines spot on the roster and give the Thunder a dependable three point specialist?
Otherwise, I think Sam Presti has done all he can do for Russell Westbrook. This season isn’t on Sam Presti, this season will be a judgement of Russell Westbrook when the smoke has cleared.
Here’s how I see it. Durant left because he didn’t think he’d ever win a ring with Westbrook. He’s now won two with Steph and Klay in two tries…Cupcake or not.
Sam Presti then went to work. He traded Serge Ibaka for in essence what became Paul George and Jerami Grant. Absolutely brilliant. You can bitch all you want about the Harden deal, but there’s not a center in the league I’d trade Steven Adams for and I can’t see how Harden and Westbrook would have ever co-evolved.
Presti then made the horrible mistake of taking Carmelo, but made up for it by bringing in Dennis Schroeder. He literally stole a one year rental of Nerlens Noel and looks very smart with the addition of Hamidou Diallo. Terrence Ferguson is coming around, but again we haven’t seen enough of Ferguson against elite guards to know what he really is bringing to the Andre Roberson role.
Patterson and Abrines have been disappointing. For OKC to be special those two can’t both be inconsistent. That’s not on Presti, that’s on those two as well paid professionals. That’s why general managers make trades during a season. That’s why the Red Sox bolstered their bullpen. That’s why you have a trade deadline.
Sam Presti needs another dependable three point shooter to help Russell Westbrook’s decision making process easier. This will be on Presti.
The rest will basically be on Russell Westbrook. How does Westbrook want to go down in basketball history in the modern era?
Does he want to be an NBA point guard with a ring or go down along with Steve Nash, John Stockton, and Allen Iverson as a group of the four best NBA point guards never to win a championship?
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