The OKC Thunder are in a tough spot regarding the future of the franchise. Luckily for them (and us) they have a few teams from the past to model themselves after.
On July 4th, Kevin Durant broke the hearts of Thunder fans by heading to the Golden State Warriors. Everything general manager Sam Presti had worked for over the past 8+ years was gone. The organization was in crisis. Russell Westbrook was going to be a free agent the following summer. Would a team four minutes away from a Western Conference championship be forced to tear down completely and start from scratch?
Exactly one month after Durant made his decision, Westbrook announced he would sign what was essentially a one year deal to test the waters of what would begin a new era of Thunder basketball. We all know what comes next.
The likely MVP averaged a triple-double and carried the Thunder to a respectable 47 win season, a number that could have been a lot more had it not been for various injuries. The Thunder lost to the Houston Rockets in a well-fought five game series that while close, showed OKC has a ways to go to get to back to title contention.
This is now the big question that Presti must figure out. Westbrook is not committed long-term. Assuming he sticks around, how does this team get back to title contention? There are a few major issues that are preventing Oklahoma City from taking that next step.
First of all, it is clear that for various reasons, Oklahoma City is not a marquee free agency destination. With all due respect to Bricktown, there are many other cities that millionaire athletes would rather live. In addition, the Thunder don’t have that much cap room to use.
Westbrook is eligible for the super max deal, and Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams just signed long-term deals. Andre Roberson will most likely be back receiving 12-15 million dollars a year. Assuming the team doesn’t trade Enes Kanter, he’ll be on the books for more than 17 million next year. Even Kyle Singler and his 5 million a year contract for the next two years is hurting the Thunder. All in all, it will be difficult for OKC to improve on its roster externally.
That brings OKC to its next issue. Assuming Westbrook stays, the Thunder will be picking in the low-teens to high twenties of the NBA draft. There have been some great late first round picks over the years (Jimmy Butler, Rudy Gobert, Kyle Lowry), however these players wouldn’t have been able to develop the same way on a win-now team like they would on an average to below-average teams.
So how can the Thunder get back to title contention without a complete rebuild? The best way to look into the future is by going back in the past. This post takes a look at how recent non-superteams have built title contending rosters.