In the news: OKC Thunder exit interview takeaways

The OKC Thunder exit interviews were held almost a week ago with the TI team diving into the comments and takeaways.

Thunderous Intentions scribe Alex Mcewen has been a busy bee pouring over the exit interviews by the OKC Thunder team. Aside from a few interviews Mcewen compiled a series of articles offering her key takeaways.

As per normal the assembled local media throng served up the usual questions. Typical questions were asked. Among them:

• What the offseason would encompass for the individual.
• Reflection on the past season.
• Highlights and lowlights for the team and season.
• Humorous anecdotes (see Steven Adams – I mean come now – it was expected he would serve up some giggles).
• For players with uncertain futures a deeper dive occurred in the questioning. Items like:
  • What their future may be.
  • Did they want to return to the OKC Thunder.
  • What their next steps would be.
  • How they see themselves fitting in with the Thunder moving forward (should they stay).
  • Other more social questions surrounding plans outside of basketball.

The following is a compilation of Mcewen’s pieces. Take the time to visit each one and watch the video to garner your own opinion.

Carmelo Anthony – the pouting superstar:

Only 24 hours removed from the OKC Thunder oust by the Utah Jazz, Carmelo Anthony took to the podum. In hindsight, Melo may have been better served to wait or thought through his comments instead of being so frank. Clearly, the man Oklahomans embraced as Hooded Melo was unhappy and still reeling from his exclusion in the final two games. Perhaps exclusion is too stark a comment, but the reality was Billy Donovan had no choice but to take Anthony off the court.

In what would be the final game of his season and perhaps OKC tenure, Anthony was a minus -19 in his minutes 26 minutes.

As Mcewen notes the most telling part of the interview came with Anthony’s response regarding next season. More specifically on whether he would consider a reserve role and/or continue with his present catch and shoot role. His response leans to an aging player who refuses to recognize his limitations.

"Yeah, I’m not sacrificing no bench role, so you can — that’s out of the question.I think everybody knows that I’ve sacrificed kind of damned near everything, family, moving here by myself, sacrificed my game for the sake of the team, and was willing to sacrifice anything and everything in order for this situation to work out. So it’s something I really have to think about, if I really want to be this type of player, finish out my career as this type of player, knowing that I have so much left in the tank and I bring so much to the game of basketball."

In hindsight, as TI has touched on following Anthony’s comments this has definitely put the Thunder brain trust into an actionable situation. They cannot be seen to be bending to appease one player over a roster of 14 others (and two G-League 2-way contracts). Nor can they ignore the fact Anthony holds all the cards.

Paul George – open to return:

The man who this offseason will primarily revolve around offered hope for the franchise. His comments seemingly pointed to him being open to a return. Certainly he’s eluded to this throughout the season and there is reason to believe his comments are more than simple fodder.

That said, the Indiana Pacers felt the same way right after they finished last season. At the time, George made similar comments while privately demanding a trade behind the scenes.

Lessons learned by the OKC Thunder just three summers ago also offer insight into dealing with a star free agent. Therefore, take his comments with a grain of salt, at least for now.

"I still feel good. I feel good, again, about what we accomplished here, the relationships I’ve built. Feel good about all that. Going forward, I feel good about what we can accomplish here."

Steven Adams – the rising star:

The resident humorist offered up plenty of insight and comedy. One bit featured his response to when he last cut his hair.  I could offer plenty of other comments, but a Steven Adams interview is meant to be viewed in it’s entirety.

"It’s been a really long time, honestly. It’s growth, it’s growth. It might have been December.Oh, I don’t know. People sell their hair on Ebay? That’s crazy."

Andre Roberson – the healing star:

For the injured defensive standout it’s been a tough road having to watch from the sidelines. As expected Andre Roberson found it particular difficult witnessing the regression in the team’s defense. ARob spoke about his healing process and lessons learned from being a spectator.

"Right now, not really much. I do a lot of form shooting, but right now it’s more of a period of mental state and things I can work on. I’ve been talking with a lot of guys in terms of how to approach things, staying positive and just becoming that leader, vocal leader, some things I’ve always been kind of shy to."

Patrick Patterson – the movie buff:

Key to Patrick Patterson’s first season in OKC was his health. Thus much of the exit interview focused on questions of that nature. Patterson also offered up his belief he’ll be 10 times better next season.

"Definitely. With everything out of the way, coming in healthy, being able to have a training camp, practice, get my legs, my timing, everything, underneath me. I definitely expect it to be 10 times better than my performance this year."

Corey Brewer,  Josh Huestis, Dakari Johnson Kyle Singler:

This group of role players each took to the podium to discuss their contributions this season and offseason plans. Of the four the one who could be headed elsewhere is Brewer who signed a late season contract after being bought out. Although open to returning, the decision on Brewer will likely be put on the backburner until the OKC Thunder have a better gauge of what George is doing and the health of Roberson.

"I would love to come back here, but you never know. It’s the NBA. For me, I’ve been around a lot of teams, so I just hope I’m still playing next year. – Brewer"

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

Sam Presti – the man behind the glasses:

As TI ran today much of what the Presti says can be taken at face value, but the true nature of his interviews comes from what he doesn’t say.

For example he thoroughly defended Carmelo Anthony and his professionalism, but he made it clear there are decisions to be made. Moreover, without being stern he pointed to Anthony needing to decide if he can be on the same page. Clearly, the OKC Thunder aren’t about to bend to Melo (nor should they).

Links to exit interviews:

Carmelo Anthony exit interview – link

Paul George exit interview – link

Steven Adams exit interview – link

Andre Roberson exit interview – link

Patrick Patterson exit interview – link

Brewer, Huestis, Johnson Singler exit interview: link

Sam Presti exit interview: link

Still to come are the takeaways from Russell Westbrook, Nick Collison, Raymond Felton, Jerami Grant, Terrance Ferguson and Alex Abrines’s interviews. Check back with us early this week as TI finalizes this series.