Given the Thunder are supposed to be tanking this win isn’t a good thing. But let me make this clear—I hate the very concept of tanking. It runs counter to everything I’m about.
You shouldn’t have to lose by design to be better. There’s nothing wrong with losing honestly as long as you learn from it and it makes you stronger down the road.
But I don’t think premeditated losing is what competitive sports should be about.
So what if the Thunder really don’t need to tank this season?
What if the Thunder won’t be able to move Chris Paul or Steven Adams’ contracts this season?
What if the Thunder with the money they’re going to save from not resigning Jerami Grant and Andre Roberson could keep Gallinari in Oklahoma City on a three year deal which would assure Shai Gilgeous-Alexander he would a have stretch four who can make shots on his team?
Because here’s the thing I’m thinking and it’s a very positive thing—what if Sam Presti has already won the lottery with the acquisition of a silky smooth hybrid guard from Kentucky named Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? What if in essence Presti beat the system per se and got his lottery guy a season earlier than anticipated?
What if Sam Presti now uses his Oklahoma City first round pick and his Denver Nugget first round pick and does the unthinkable and drafts two more players who can actually shoot a basketball to this group he already has in place?
Or maybe I’ve just lost my mind and this is crazy. I don’t know.
But I’m fairly certain I know this…small market Oklahoma City is not the market where you can carry out a long-term death march tank.
I’ll say this for this group of players in Oklahoma City so far…they’ve played hard and they’ve played smart. The dumbest team in the NBA no longer resides in Oklahoma City. That would be Houston at the moment and’s that’s not a snarky cheap shot at Russell Westbrook. That’s a cheap shot at Daryl Morey and Mike D’Antoni for playing this type of bullshit basketball in the first place.
Sevens games into this season and I have to admit I’m not looking to adopt another city’s team right now. Maybe, just maybe, Presti minus Patrick Beverly has this year’s blue collar NBA team which plays hard and plays smart for forty-eight minutes.
Now don’t get me wrong…I’m not going gaga on here and suggesting this Thunder team could be the Washington Nationals or the St. Louis Blues or anything like that, but what I’m saying is these guys are playing hard and playing smart and you have to respect that if you love sports.
I think I’ll start going to some games and sit low as it appears these guys could use some people from Oklahoma City to fill some seats and watch the games in person.
I shudder to close out like this in what should or could be a season of serious tanking, but LET’S GO THUNDER!