OKC Thunder reach 10 year milestone: A small market with bright lights

10 years ago today the OKC Thunder were awarded the franchise. OKC struggled to gain National respect, but re-signing Paul George may change perspective.

Sam Presti like the entire OKC Thunder organization is a polarizing. And, as the franchise reaches a benchmark he and the brain trust led into it with a big night to kick off NBA Free Agency.

10 years ago to the day, it was announced the Seattle Supersonics will be relocated to Oklahoma City. Finally, a professional sports team would call Oklahoma home, permanently.

What a decade it has been. However, the seed was planted before then. After a devastating hurricane ravaged New Orleans, the then Hornets needed a temporary home. Oklahoma City stepped up. The City and State opened their arms and allowed the Hornet to play in the then Ford center for two years. It started on a glorious night in 2005.

The support was unbelievable and it proved to the NBA world this city was ready to be big time. After a falling out in Seattle, the team uprooted to Oklahoma City and the rest is history. After a newspaper voting process, and a ton of speculation it was decided the new name would be the Thunder. Thus, the OKC Thunder were born.

Set up with Sam Presti as the teams General Manager, Kevin Durant as the face, and Russell Westbrook ready to display his explosive talent the OKC Thunder were in a good spot. 2008 was a trying year, but it was the only hardship the franchise would face in terms of wins and losses to date.

What Sam Presti and the OKC Thunder accomplished

• 2012 Western Conference Champions
• NBA Finals appearance
• Drafted 3 eventual MVPs
• Finished under a .500 winning percentage once in 10-years
• 4 trips to the Western Conference Finals in 10-years
• 5 North West division titles in 10-years
• Top-5 in wins since moving to Oklahoma City

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/1/2018.

What happened?

On a cold October night in 2012 most Oklahoma sports fans were gathered around their television sets to take in a University of Oklahoma football game. October 27th, 2012. The Sooners were squaring off in a high profile match up with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The game was broadcasted on ABC and no OKC Thunder fan watching that game will ever forget that fact. Coming back from a commercial break, legendary broadcaster Brent Musburger welcomed Sooner fans with the franchise altering news. James Harden was shipped out to the Houston Rockets that night. A move that has long been controversial coming off an NBA Finals run.

Ownership did not want to pay the extra $14-million to keep that young core all in tact. They thought Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka were good enough without the 2011-12 sixth man of the year.

That was a mistake, and one that Sam Presti and company will always have to live with. However, even with that gut-punch in 2012, the organization returned to the Western Conference finals two more times since that trade.

Fireworks and Cupcakes

July 4th, 2016. Another gut-punch that no OKC Thunder fan will ever forget. However, this time the gut-punch was even more unexpected and something out of anyones control.

After the OKC Thunder, led by Kevin Durant blew a 3-1 series lead to the Golden State Warriors who owned the best record in NBA history, KD joined that same Warriors squad weeks later.

No one can forget waking up on what should be a day of celebration and hot dogs to a player tribune article penned by Kevin Durant announcing his move to the Warriors.

Since that day, the national media has tried to paint Russell Westbrook as the bad guy. After having a crazy amount of success together, now Russell Westbrook is the bad guy because Kevin Durant wanted to join the best team of all time? Get serious.

Everyone was planning for Kevin Durant to sign a one year deal with the OKC Thunder, lining himself up so that in the following summer, both him and Russell Westbrook would be free agents. None of that happened. Kevin Durant skipped town a year early, and Russell Westbrook signed two extensions since that day.

Pulling a rabbit out of his hat

Most franchises would panic after losing the second best player in the NBA unexpectedly. Not Sam Presti. He believed in Russell Westbrook, the organization, and the fanbase. He dealt Serge Ibaka for Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis, and Ersan Illyasova. That greatly improved the 2016-17 squad that would eventually end with Russell Westbrook winning the league MVP award, and the OKC Thunder turning in a 47-win season.

Scared money don’t make none

Many general managers would take a victory lap following the 2016-17 campaign. Sam Presti turned a terrible situation into a historic season. However, there is no rest for Presti. On June 30th, 2017 just before Free agency opened, Sam Presti traded for Paul George. He gave up Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis for the what was assumed one year rental. OKC Thunder fans were ecstatic. Another star was paired along side Russell Westbrook. It only took one year for a market like OKC to gain another star.

Then, August happened. The fun was not over yet. The month was hot figuratively and literally. Most days in Oklahoma the temperature gets up to 100 degrees in August. In the front office of the OKC Thunder, Sam Presti kept the heat turned up. In that month, Russell Westbrook signed his max contract extension locking him into the OKC Thunder for an extra 5-years. That was not all, Presti also got Carmelo Anthony.

That news also broke on a Saturday, during another University of Oklahoma football game. Time stopped. Not so much in anticipation of what Carmelo Anthony added on the court, but rather what it meant off the court. Carmelo Anthony was in the big apple, New York City playing for the Knicks. However, he wanted out and he controlled where he would play next due to his no trade clause. The future hall of famer decided to waive that no trade clause and accept a move to “the middle of no where.” A future hall of famer decided on his own to come to Oklahoma City.

No More Parties in L.A.

During the 2017-18 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder dealt with a lot of ups, and mostly downs. From exciting and new, to blow it up, the emotions on the new OK3 were mixed. It did not work. Andre Roberson got hurt, and he was missed more than words can depict. The team improved just one win from it’s 2016-17 total.

All year long, OKC Thunder fans were on edge about the upcoming Paul George free agency. The uneasy feeling came from the hurtful reality that this team could easily lose yet another star. Could Russell Westbrook seriously get left at the alter again?

The kid for California who grew up a Lakers fan and demanded a trade out of Indiana because he wanted to be a Laker so bad, was surely going to L.A. right? Wait, LeBron is going to L.A.? There is no way Paul George turns that down, right?

At every turn “Paul George to L.A.” was pushed down the throats of OKC Thunder fans. “We want Paul!” was chanted by Laker fans at games between the two squads, and even All-Star weekend in Los Angeles.

The Cinderella story continues

The clock struck midnight, but the OKC Thunder did not return to being a pumpkin. Instead, Paul George and Russell Westbrook sat on stage at a house party smoking cigars and talking about their unfinished business.

Paul George agreed to remain in OKC for three more years with an option for a fourth.

Finally, Russell Westbrook caught the bouquet and was now married, with no separation anxiety. Now, the OKC Thunder and GM Sam Presti have the next 3 summers to build around this core of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Steven Adams, and oh yeah Jerami Grant. Wait, surely the OKC Thunder could not retain their Swiss Army Knife Jerami Grant after signing Paul George, right? Wrong, Sam Presti pulled off more magic with the blessing from ownership.

Never good enough

Sam Presti and the OKC Thunder have been the punching bag to the National Media since that October Night in 2012.

Even after the greatest night in OKC Thunder history, it still prompted tweets like this one

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Jokes like this one are not clever, in fact they are idiotic. They are saying that Sam Presti and the OKC Thunder should not try, due to that one mistake. Since they dealt James Harden, just give up and move on from trying to win! Yet even if Sam Presti and ownership decided not to spend the money, and Paul George walked signing in L.A. what would the media say?

The Jokes would then flip to the fact they organization traded Victor Oladipo for a one year rental that ended in a first round exit to the young and scrappy Utah Jazz.

What was the alternative? Not paying Paul George? The ownership just pocketing that money to put a worse product on the floor because “We can’t win a title anyways! Why try?” That is the attitude tanking teams get crucified for, and fined for.

If the OKC Thunder didn’t sign Paul George, Russell Westbrook and a ragtag squad would be fighting for an 8th seed in the Wild, Wild West. Now, with Paul George for 3-years, the organization and fanbase has hope of building a team that can contend for an NBA Title in that span.

NBA Championship odds following PG and LeBron announcements:

Clearly when the OKC Thunder opened NBA Free Agency by re-signing Paul George and Jerami Grant the team jumped up the standing in oddsmakers minds.

Next: Complete NBA Free Agency primer for all 30 teams

Maybe 2018-19 is that year of contention for the OKC Thunder. It sure would be a nice way for George, Westbrook and Grant to celebrate staying together.

OKC Thunder reach 10 year milestone: A Small Market with Bright Lights