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Five biggest needs for the Thunder this offseason

By Casimir Cuffy

Apr 25, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan talks in a pregame press conference before the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Houston Rockets in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 25, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan talks in a pregame press conference before the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Houston Rockets in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 19, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; OKC Thunder forward Nick Collison (4) on the bench during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 19, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; OKC Thunder forward Nick Collison (4) on the bench during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports /

Veteran leadership

As the roster stands heading into this offseason, Westbrook will be the most experienced player on the team. He won’t be the oldest however, as Kyle Singler holds that crown by about six months. Russ does outweigh Singler in that he has four years of experience before Kyle even stepped foot on an NBA court.

This is an area that needs to be magnified. OKC entered this past post-season with the youngest rotation out of the 16 playoff teams. That didn’t get them very far, clearly.

Related Story: Even with a loss, the playoffs were still a plus for OKC

If the next season started today, they would sport an average age of 24.2 years. For comparison, the Philadelphia 76er’s roster currently has an average age of 24 heading into next season. 24.2 years is incredibly low for a team that is not in rebuilding mode.

The contracts of Nick Collison, Taj Gibson, Norris Cole and (to a lesser extent) Andre Roberson are all up this offseason. That is a combined 29 years of experience possibly walking right out the door.

Young = good thing?

It is nice to have a young squad that can grow together with enough time, but time isn’t on the Thunder’s side; Russell Westbrook’s prime years will be gone before we know it. Maximizing his time while he is here and still jumping out of the gym is important. Veteran leadership comes into the picture mainly during playoff time, but it plays a role all season beginning with training camp.

A few extra voices coaching up the many young guys that are on the team is valuable because of how close a team is throughout the season. That’s the way the Sam Presti has always built his teams. Veteran leadership is a huge reason why Russell Westbrook, and others, have the careers they have now and currently OKC only has one player capable of giving that.

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