Why trading Russell Westbrook is the Thunder’s best move
By Rich Condon
Why the Thunder Shouldn’t Make This Trade
Umm…it’s Russell freakin’ Westbrook?!?!? Seriously, that’s the only reason, and it’s enough of a reason.
Look, change sucks. And admitting defeat-especially when you’re not actually defeated- is a very hard thing to do.
Luckily for Thunder fans, this decision (which, once again is COMPLETELY HYPOTHETICAL), may be easier to make by the time Russell is eligible to be traded on February 4th. As I mentioned in my schedule review article in the preseason (shamelessly can be found here), the Thunder spend a majority of the month of January on the road, and against some stiff competition at that.
In January, the Thunder will be playing @ Milwaukee, Charlotte, Houston, Chicago, Minnesota, Sacramento, Los Angeles (Clippers), Golden State, Utah, New Orleans, Cleveland and San Antonio. The three home games for the Thunder aren’t much easier as they face the always tough Grizzlies, Denver, and Dallas. Okay, Dallas has been awful this year, but that’s one “easy” game in an entire month.
By February 4th, we should have a definitive answer of exactly who the Oklahoma City Thunder are, and what we can realistically expect from them going forward.
Okay fine this segment wasn’t really about why they should keep Russell Westbrook. There’s one more reason why it makes sense to get rid of him.
By unloading Westbrook, it offers a ton more cap flexibility for the Thunder in the future. In our hypothetical trade, Amir Johnson’s $12 million contract goes away this summer. They would have enough to bring back the low key MVP Andre Roberson and allow this core to continue growing together.
Whoever Presti drafts will be locked in on relatively minuscule rookie deals for five years. When everyone else (Jerami Grant, Cameron Payne, Domantas Sabonis) are up for their own contracts, the Thunder will have the space to bring them back. Give these players 5+ years together and they’ll know each others tendencies more than their own families.
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If the Thunder could build a championship contender around Russell Westbrook, I wouldn’t advise for a trade. But I think Sam Presti understands this. By locking Oladipo and Adams in to big extensions, it made it almost impossible to bring in a marquee free agent with Russ on the roster.
I’m not saying this is Presti’s plan, but it’s not crazy to think he’s learned from his mistakes. He realizes he can’t lose a superstar for nothing (in the off-chance Russ leaves in 2018). He saw what happened to the Lakers when Kobe broke down.
This would be an awful move for the current version of the Thunder. But imagine the year 2020.
A starting lineup of Victor Oladipo-Lonzo Ball-OG Anunoby-Domantas Sabonis-Steven Adams. A bench unit of Jerami Grant, Cameron Payne, whoever they draft in 2018 (two lottery picks!!), Alex Abrines.
My mouth is salivating just thinking about it.
Next: The 'Origin' Story of Alex Abines
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