The truth is simple at this point if you’re an adult. The OKC Thunder’s season is somewhat on the brink. I’m not talking about this team winning the Northwest Division, because I pretty much think the Thunder sealed that fate this week with this horrific stretch of basketball of basketball where they have lost five of seven since the win over Toronto.
Also, gone is the notion this Thunder team can win the Western Conference and somehow by divine intervention advance to the NBA Finals as some sort of lure to keep Paul George in Oklahoma City.
Right now, the goal is simple. Either start winning some games or else this season will be a complete disaster.
It’s time to reset the goals button. Just finishing above .500 and making the playoffs period is the new reset. It’s not an acceptable reset, but it’s the only adult reset with any reality attached.
We know now what the Thunder are. What they are is a team pretty much like Portland, Denver, New Orleans, the Clippers, and Utah when Rudy Gorbert is healthy. This Thunder team is nothing special. Nothing borderline exceptional or brilliant.
Don’t look, but heading into this game versus Charlotte the Thunder are but one game in the loss column removed from being the No. 9 seed in the West. Conversely, the Minnesota T Wolves behaved like a team with aspiring goals by now being on the cusp of overtaking the Spurs for the No. 3 seed in the West.
This is what Oklahoma City was supposed to do this week. Win at Phoenix, win at home over Portland, and then redefine the season with a road win in Minnesota.
Instead…the Thunder tanked. All three games the Thunder not only lost, but were routed. All three games had a confused Billy Donovan waving the white flag and emptying his bench early for all the wrong reasons.
So here the Thunder stand, 2-3 in the month of January. This was the month the Thunder had to make a move to make the claim the franchise hasn’t become a joke since the departure of Durant. This was the stretch of games which would not only show Paul George that OKC is a place he could win a championship, but possibly show other free agents in the future that coming to OKC to play with Westbrook and Adams could be an alternative route other than Oakland to play for big things in the West.
But as we wait for this afternoon’s game in Charlotte, none of that is still in place because after this month the schedule gets much more difficult.
The new goal is to simple. Stay afloat. Stay above .500. Stay above the Clippers for the No. 8 seed. This is the reset in Charlotte this afternoon.
Maybe it’s more than OKC’s season being on the brink starting today in Charlotte, maybe it’s more of a marker as to indicate if the franchise is to be taken seriously in the post Kevin Durant era.
As far as Paul George and the deadline, you know he actually grew up being a Clippers fan. You know of course who the special consultant to the Clippers’ board is..it would be the very same Jerry West who whispered into Kevin Durant’s ear on that fateful call to the Hamptons. That same guy. So, moving forward I wouldn’t be looking so close at the dumpster fire Lakers, but I’d keep a close eye on the Clippers not only for the 8th seed in the West, but for franchise stability moving forward.