Wizards in town tonight sporting a disappointing 21-24 record in a season in which there were supposed to show Kevin Durant he could come back home and win a championship. Wizards are currently in the tenth slot in the East, two and a half games back of Detroit for the eighth spot. I could see Kevin Durant leaving OKC in 2017 after he’s completed his one year option season next season, but Washington D.C. isn’t where I’d see him going. Maybe either LA team, maybe the NY Knicks, maybe with Popovich in San Antonio, maybe back with Harden, maybe even with Pat Riley in Miami, or staying put in Oklahoma City, but not with the Wizards at this point.
Steven A Smith talking again about Durant and Westbrook both heading to the Lakers in 2017. But there’s a problem with that, the Lakers do not have strong or wise ownership with the Buss children as they did previously with Dr. Buss, who knew what he was doing.
I would also ask myself this question if I were Kevin Durant’s surrogate uncle/advisor…if after all these seasons together with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City and only one NBA Finals appearance to show for it—what makes you think going in tandem with Westbrook to any future destination improves your chances of winning a championship? Maybe at that point, it would be better for both to go separate directions. I mean, who’s to say Durant and Harden back together isn’t potentially a better pair suited to win a ring together.
Anyway, it will be fascinating to watch as it unfolds from an NBA historical perspective
Back to tonight. OKC comes in with a little bit of swagger possibly after winning a big game against the Houston Rockets. For the first time in a while, both Durant and Westbrook led by example on the defensive end and temporarily quieted the justified criticism targeted at OKC’s defense.
It’s a big week for OKC with homes games against Washington and Orlando, then the much anticipated Saturday night game at Golden State. From what I read, Cam Payne is a game time decision tonight as far being given a green light from the concussion. Another game to see if Dion Waiters as a starter makes him a consistent player or if this has just been one of Dion’s mini up cycles?
I respect what Andre Roberson brings to the table for OKC, but I firmly believe for OKC to beat the teams like Golden State, Cleveland, and San Antonio in a six or seven game series they need someone to fill the shooting guard position who can actually ‘shoot’ a basketball here and there. So I think it’s a relatively important thing if Dion Waiters can become consistent with the starters these next few weeks. If not, OKC has a problem.
Haven’t looked at the Vegas spread yet, but I’d think OKC -7 would be reasonable.
Waiters is better starting than coming off the bench. As a reserve, he tends to try to take over the action with a lot of isolation, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Basically, he hasn’t played very well coming off the bench.
As a starter, he doesn’t get the ball as much, so he plays within the system. He doesn’t get as many shots (Who would playing with Durant and Westbrook?), but the ones he gets are better shots. Just check out his shooting percentages since starting–small sample admittedly.
I don’t know how Donovan feels about a player losing his starting position because of an injury, but my sense is that Waiters will prove himself the better player on the first team. He doesn’t defend as well as Roberson, but he’s become a good defender. And it appears that he is a much better offensive player.
I agree. Very well stated. With Serge Ibaka being vastly inconsistent and Steven Adams being limited offensively, I just don’t think OKC can play against the elite teams without a genuine shooting guard.