Sam Presti deserves more national credit for his ability to re-build an OKC Thunder contender in a matter of a year.
We all know what happened on July 4th 2016. Just over a month after Oklahoma City fell in a hard-fought, heart-breaking seven-game Western Conference Finals series to the Golden State Warriors, the franchise’s cornerstone left for the very team that had just beaten him.
Kevin Durant was accepted by NBA experts (and even the people close to him) to resign with the OKC Thunder and finish off their goal and dreams of winning an NBA championship.
But when the big day came Kevin made a different decision. He shocked the world, almost instantly becoming one of the most hated players to ever play the game. We’re not here to talk about that fateful day though.
We’re here to discuss the miraculous re-build that occurred directly thereafter.
Oklahoma City without Durant
Many believed that with Durant gone, Oklahoma City would have to trade Russell Westbrook. If not, he may leave the next offseason and the Thunder would lose two superstars without anything to show for it.
Luckily the exact opposite happened. Westbrook signed a two-year extension before the start of the season, allowing Presti to solidify a plan for the future. Fans, basketball analysts and even players didn’t know what to expect of Oklahoma City, especially without the existence of Kevin Durant.
Russell Westbrook’s Historic Season
The Thunder started off the season hot by winning their first six games, but by the mid-point of the season they were a mediocre Playoff team. It wasn’t all that surprising, except for the historic season Westbrook was having. The future League MVP was averaging over 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and was on pace to average a triple double and break Oscar Robertson’s record for triple doubles in a season.
Playoff time
With the playoffs about to start the Thunder sat in the 6th seed, matching up against a very good Houston Rockets team led by fellow MVP candidate James Harden.
While Oklahoma City played well it wasn’t enough to get past the first round. This was a concern for Sam Presti because he needed to do something to keep Russell Westbrook intrigued with re-signing long-term.
2017 Offseason
Rumors flew that the Thunder may make a trade at Draft time as they did the year before. Fans grew excited hoping and waiting, but Draft night came and passed with no big moves being made. Fans were sad – some even angry – because they knew Oklahoma City needed to give Russell Westbrook help.
And then the Presti magic came to fruition. On June 30th OKC made an incredibly unexpected move and traded for Paul George. While this was a great move to acquire a talented superstar, he would be a free agent the next offseason. George had made it clear many times that he planned to return home and play for the team he dreamed of playing for since he was a kid: the Los Angeles Lakers.
On the flip side, adding George would give Russ help on both ends of the floor. It also allowed for both Westbrook and the entire organization to make a season-long pitch on why he should consider resigning. If you believe the different reports and quotes, that pitch seems to be working quite well.
That might have a little to do with Presti’s other offseason addition.
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
Just before training camp the OKC Thunder made another surprising move in trading for Carmelo Anthony. With the teams new additions Oklahoma City was/is back in talks to be a title contending team, all without significantly lessening their outlook for the future.
Questions moving forward
We’re 59 games in and there are still plenty of questions with this roster. Is the offense efficient enough? How will the crunch-time offense look? Will Carmelo buy into playing hard-nosed defense for 48 minutes?
So far the Thunder have been up and down. Until Andre Roberson’s injury this team looked like a legitimate threat to at least the Rockets. His injury hurts, but it doesn’t cease OKC’s momentum moving forward.
There’s only one way to find out if this team can compete for a Championship. It begins in mid-April.