Thunder In the news: Despite no deals, trade deadline may affect OKC future

While the OKC Thunder were inactive at the trade deadline ironically another teams’ moves may affect the teams future.

OKC Thunder fans are so used to Sam Presti pulling rabbits out of hats many felt a trade would occur at the deadline. I spoke to numerous peers and fans who weren’t worried. The expectation was a report would come out just prior to the 3:00 p.m. cutoff. However, the deadline came and went with nothing but silence from OKC.

At issue though is the team who did make more than a third of the deals and may inadvertently have hurt OKC ‘s chances of retaining their key free agent this summer – Paul George.

Changing landscaper of trade deadline:

The new state of the NBA did make trades this deadline more difficult to navigate. Gone are the days where trading away draft picks like candy occur. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement also plays into the inactivity. Not to mention teams cognizant of taking risks on the middle tier of players.

As an example, last season the OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti made a deadline deal to add depth. Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott were acquired to provide defense up front and shooting off the bench. Both players are gone. Taj didn’t re-sign which may have been partially because Gibson desired to reconnect with Tom Thibodeau and Jimmy Butler. The other option is Gibson may have been too expensive to re-sign given the other moves made to land Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.

Or in another example the Raptors added PJ  Tucker at the deadline which cost them two second round draft picks.  Masai Ujiri’s intention was to bring back Tucker, but PJ elected to sign for less money in Houston.

Due to this combination of decisions it made Patrick Patterson available for Presti to snare at what could be considered a steal (although you would never know it by how little Donovan plays him).  My point is the incoming TV money and max contracts has changed the landscape of the NBA. And, while the new CBA was supposed to reward all players at all levels, other than the initial free agency summer of TV money that has not been the case.

Max contracts, draft picks play bigger role at deadline:

A few teams can attempt to build super teams of two to four superstars.  Scanning the league the obvious teams which fall into that category are the Warriors, Rockets, Thunder and Celtics (when Gordon Hayward returns). To a lesser extent an argument might be made for the Cavaliers, Spurs, Raptors, Wizards, Pelicans (pre Cousins injury), Blazers  and now Pistons fall into the two stars column depending on how you view their roster.

Building through the draft has lead to teams like the 76ers, Nuggets and Jazz having success. In this case and as those youngsters gain experience the belief is they will challenge the upper tier.

While the Wolves, Celtics and Raptors may fall into the upper category they also represent a unique middle ground. These clubs combine stars with young talent to deliver secondary production via their draft picks.

Eventually teams who draft top tier talent will need to decide on whether they retain those players as their core. The prospect of paying a top talent max money has entirely new implications in this modern NBA era.  Stars can consume 35 percent of a teams’ salary. This leaves less maneuverability, particularly when other max players are added.

This is why teams have let the likes of DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Kyrie Irving go. Although the latter two players requested trades. More than ever the middle tier talent is pivotal for elite squads. Moreover, developing youth to contribute immediately is essential for teams who don’t want to (or can’t afford to) pay luxury tax. What the Raptors bench and Nuggets youngsters are doing speaks to the success of the latter process. In fact, this template will potentially be the standard for the future.

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Cavaliers feature 10 players of 28 who were traded:

The Thunder are recognizing just how difficult it can be to navigate without depth having chosen to go the superstar route. The loss in LA was a prime example of this.

And in review of the trade deadline the fact Cleveland parted with six players and brought in four (with Kendrick Perkins rumored to be joining the squad) speaks to how precarious a teams future can be. Nor is there certainty the chemistry will work with the new additions who have all of 29 games to do so. Plus they’ll be without Kevin Love at least until the beginning of March and up to the middle of March. It took the OKC Thunder a full training camp, preseason and approximately 30 games to find their chemistry and that was with three core players still playing on the starting unit.

These moves made by Altman remove all but four players who won the championship two seasons ago. Remaining are LeBron James, Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith and Kevin Love. So, this new crew minus Love for close to half of the remaining games will need to find chemistry and fix the glaring issues on defense without much practice time.  Seven games are yet to be  played on the opposite coast (including at OKC) and 15 in all on the road.

With 10 of the 28 players who moved on this day either coming or going to Cleveland it will be interesting to see how the Cavaliers navigate this time frame. Unlike the Thunder who were solid all season defensively, the Cavs will need to discover offensive chemistry and fix their defense at the same time.

OKC Thunder knows all about figuring out chemistry:

Thunder fans can relate to being concerned about a star returning, but the Cavaliers just over hauled their entire team, yet have no guarantees their super star will return. Worse, they may have just cleared the cap space for an opponent (the Lakers) to allow Magic Johnson to sign James and another star this summer. And, (cough) that other star is currently wearing an OKC Thunder jersey.

Still, for as much as the OKC Thunder took a while to find their groove and have work to do, it feels like the Cavaliers may have too much to fix in too little time. At the end of the day the one definitive positive for Cleveland is they got younger and kept the Brooklyn pick.

Does Cavalier deal inadvertently affect OKC?

At least one scribe feels the moves made by Cleveland opened the door for Paul George to leave OKC. Barry Tramel of New OK seems to feel the Cavaliers move increases the chances of George leaving.

"But when front-office dysfunction wounds a franchise not even involved in the trade, that stings. And the Cavs’ trade makes it more likely that Paul George leaves the Thunder for the Lakers.I know, PG13 has said all the right things about staying. Talked about brotherhood and chemistry, talked about Russell Westbrook as a great teammate and the Thunder as a class organization. But words don’t mean much. Action is the winning ticket, and until the ink is dry on a George/Oklahoma City contract, George-to-the-Lakers remains a serious possibility."

Losing to the Lakers last night may also have worked for or against the Thunder retaining George. Did George consider the loss as look how great this young core is? Or did having to do so much without Westbrook and Anthony remind George of how much pressure would be on him to perform in LA as potentially the top dog (a position he’s not entirely comfortable with).

Sam Presti can still hit buy-out market:

For the OKC Thunder, fans will now await hearing who enters the buy-out market to see if Sam Presti can add a player to address the loss of Roberson and or reserve depth.

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Thunder Nation can empathize with what Cavalier fans  will embark on through the remainder of the season. However, the focus will remain closer to home with hopes of a deep playoff run  amid the roster Presti constructed and for Paul George to return next year.

Presti and Westbrook have shown where they stand via their actions. So, if LeBron James and Paul George decide to go to La La land after everything each of their current franchises has done to retain them, that is their choice.

From a personal perspective I’ll say this. If I’m a player and just witnessed Kyrie Irving leave a team the year after winning a title it gives me pause. Moreover, watching James not give full effort in games recently to send upper management a message is noteworthy. Particularly when the existing Cavalier roster was comprised based on many of his requests or suggestions. And, those middle ground players (Thompson, Smith) were paid large sums based on James encouragement. Copious leaks from the locker room and obvious media planted stories with expertly crafted social media comments by the King’s camp would make me extremely wary of aligning with James as his secondary man.

George isn’t a player who likes drama. Clearly based on PG’s acknowledgement of Westbrook’s All-Star rant speaks to PG’s appreciation for being valued and respected.

So, if he walks in the summer, there was never anything that was going to stop him anyway. I’ll remain optimistic he stays. But, ultimately, there are no guarantees in life or in basketball.

Well, there might be one, Westbrook won’t go down without a fight. And, perhaps that fact alone should appease Thunder Nation