Thunder exit interviews were earlier this week. This is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who is the best player on the Thunder roster currently.
I actually think the Thunder 1-12 are not horrible and that doesn’t include the two top fifteen picks they’ll add to their team this summer in the NBA draft.
I think what I’ll do this weekend between NBA playoff games is rank the value of the top twelve players and the two draft picks as in their asset value to the Thunder franchise moving forward.
Right now, if I had to rank the Thunder with those two picks, their significant cap space, and their performance when they were allowed to put a legitimate team on the floor…I’d rank the five promising young teams in the West in this order… 1 Memphis, 2 Minnesota, 3 OKC, 4 New Orleans, and 5 San Antonio.
Minnesota this past season went from 23 wins to 46 wins in one season. Memphis appears to be a legit contender.
If the Thunder stop with the tanking, I could see the team maybe winning 38-40 games if Presti just adds another veteran piece to the mix. Not a star, but just another stabilizing player to begin the process of playing to win every night instead of losing by design.
We know this for certain, Shai should be fully rested because he’s only played 35 and 56 games the last two seasons.
Think of those numbers and then think back to how hard both Durant and Westbrook were played in their younger years.
To tank or not to tank will be the question for Sam Presti next fall.
I don’t see how he tanks again in a small market city like Oklahoma City if he’s serious in projecting some sort of legal good faith relationship with the fanbase in Oklahoma.
A fanbase which ranked 28th in NBA attendance this past season.