Sam Presti didn’t make a move at the deadline and I agree with him. He did shed $7 million of payroll and tax when he traded TLC last week to the Bulls for a second round draft choice…which brings the luxury tax ‘down’ to $66 million or so for this season. To me, I see the Thunder much like I see Boston. Presti did enough this summer as did Danny Ainge. He dotted every i and crossed every t. It seems obvious we don’t know all of what is the Alex Abrines situation and I would think a roster spot is being held open for Andre Roberson in the event he gets healthy. So–that will require patience on both fronts.
I hate to be on Billy Donovan and Russell Westbrook’s collective asses, but the best thing Presti could acquire at the deadline would be a union of sorts between Westbrook and Donovan to become a smarter team as the season rolls into March.
Dumb teams which chronically make low reward decisions rarely if ever advance. And to be blunt, I’m pretty happy with the Thunder except for the dumb decision making which still haunts this team at times.
This isn’t on Presti, this is on his head coach and his peacock point guard Wild Thing.
Does even the trekkiest of the Daily Thunder Trekkies really think Wayne Ellington or some other buyout player like last year’s Corey Brewer puts OKC over the hump? I think not. Oh…the Trekkies and the tradeline… it’s like watching The March of the Penguins every February. What gets the Thunder on the hump and maybe over it is for Russell Westbrook to exorcise his worst inner demons in the last four minutes of games against good teams in pressure situations. Can you use a mid level exception for something like this? It seems apparent to me Billy Donovan isn’t going to step out of the part playing the role of a submissive enabling NBA head coach and wring this out of his point guard. So this is on Westbrook and possibly some form of a Bricktown voodoo exorcist.
The Rockets got better by acquiring Iman Schumpert from the Kings and are now clearly my pick as Golden State’s primary hurdle in the West. Add Schumpert with Kenneth Faried and Austin Rivers along with a healthy Eric Gordon, a healthy Chris Paul, and a healthy Clint Capela and all the sudden you could possibly make the argument this Houston roster now is every bit as good the one which pushed the Warriors to seven games last season.
The Sacramento Kings made themselves even more of a playoff contender as they acquired Harrison Barnes from Dallas. Dave Joerger is currently third on my list for NBA Coach of the Year and the Kings have truly been one of the positive stories this season in the league. Good for them and for the good fans in Sacramento. They deserve some loving kindness from the basketball gods.
The Clippers to me were the big story in the West as they unloaded Tobias Harris to the Sixers along with some other payroll and now look ready to sign two starfree agents this summer. One would think Jerry West would covet Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant at the head of that list. It will be time for West to call Durant again this summer and explain to him why he was really only kidding about winning all those rings with Steph and Klay for the rest of his career.
Watching the Clippers this summer reloading their ball club should be fun. They picked up the nice rookie point guard from the Sixers and they still have Jerry West lurking in the shadows.
Dallas picked up Porzingis and he’ll be back in good health by next season as the Mavs once again become respectable in the West.
In the East the Sixers picked up Harris. The Raptors picked up Marc Gasol. The Bucks picked up Mirotic… and the Boston Celtics still have the best roster in the East by standing pat.
So…isn’t it odd…in the West we have OKC’s Thunder with the third best roster in the West underachieving with the college coach from Florida, while we have the Boston Celtics underachieving with the college coach from Butler in the East. Is it just me or is it odd that Sam Presti and Danny Ainge neither one made a move today. In my view the only move both of these GMs need to make is to get their two college coaches to get more out of two of the best four rosters in the NBA currently. At some point in OKC and Boston… we in the basketball world need to see something in return for the leap of faith both GMs made in hiring college coaches.
Maybe Little Nick Gallo could actually do something useful and do this with Westbrook. Why not? This is so Oklahoma.