I thought with what Milwaukee did today they helped their ball club better as they try to repeat as NBA champions. They gave themselves some depth in their big rotation with a guy who won a ring while at Toronto was a key part in OKC getting to four Western Conference Finals and one NBA Finals.
He’s not a team cancer like both Ben Simmons and Harden. At this point in his career he’ll have a narrow role off the bench to help Giannis and Company prove they’re still the best team in the NBA one year later.
Yet as recently as February 4th…Serge recorded a 20 point, 8 rebound game against the pathetic LA Lakers. He still has some gas in the tank.
So while his season stats are…6 pts, 3.1 rbs and one block a game…there’s proof in a six-game series or so Serge could have a game or two where he could make an impact.
I love what Milwaukee has done with their team. Nothing draconian, yet enough nuanced moves to keep the Bucks as the team still to beat in the East even though I love Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat.
Giannis is the best player in the game. Period. And unlike Durant he never bailed on the city of Milwaukee, but to the Bucks credit also–unlike the Thunder they added key pieces like Jrue Holiday and Bobby Portis to make the supporting cast conducive to Giannis winning rings.
Sam Presti and the Thunder…bless their hearts. I don’t know about these dudes. I really don’t. I hate to write this because I live in the Oklahoma City area, but when you have the naive fanbase in the league with the softest local media covering the team this is what can happen.
My fear for the Thunder is that this summer Shai Gilgeous Alexnader’s agent finally represents his client like a real fiduciary and demands Shai be traded to a legitimate NBA franchise if the Thunder don’t hit Jabari Smith or Paulo Banchero in the draft.
So look what Philadelphia did today. After all those years of tanking under Hinkie they had to trade one candor in Ben Simmons to Brooklyn for another cancer in James Harden to give Joel Embiid the appearance he’s MVP caliber season isn’t being completely wasted by Sixer ownership.
How ironic…the Thunder’s two bigs in Serge and Steven are both on teams in my Top Six odds wise to win the NBA championship this season.
You know why the Thunder didn’t take on salary today with their huge $35 million cap space at the trade deadline? They couldn’t because they couldn’t take the risk of actually making their team a legitimate on the floor product this season in the hopes of landing either Jabari or Banchero.
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for chirpy Little Nick Gallo or Michael Cage to make that point on air.
My top six seeds would go like this if the Playoffs were to start tomorrow;
1 Milwaukee, 2 Phoenix, 3 Golden State, 4 Miami, 5 Nets (if Kyrie gets vaccinated) and 6 Denver (if Murray is at one-hundred percent). Not sure how one values the Lakers at this point besides just being a longshot with a puncher’s chance perhaps if they could somehow mitigate the Russell Westbrook Factor.
Tragically sad for the Thunder on every imaginable front. Lot of angry white people in Oklahoma…that’s for certain. Very sad. I’m not really sure Oklahoma should even have an NBA team at this point. Tragically sad.
Maybe they could sell arena space for Trump rallies to fill the cash flow abyss. Just a thought. Las Vegas would be an excellent NBA market.