Just three years ago the team formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics were a horrible team and where sold to an owner who wanted to move them to Oklahoma City. After a huge court fight the team was moved to OKC and changed their name to the Thunder. Now three years later the Thunder will finish in the top four of the western conference and will be in the race for a NBA title… or are they?
The Thunder are the real wild card team in the western conference. Teams like the Spurs and Lakers are real championship contenders while the Thunder are a borderline championship team.
Yes the Thunder title chances are as iffy as the Mexican Border control (sorry anyone who is offended).
The West really sizes down to any team having a chance at beating the Lakers. The Thunder are the one team that can beat the Lakers in the west… just not this year. Sorry Thunder Fans. Please don’t bitch and complain like LeBron.
Let me explain before you go Mel Gibson and go crazy on me… ok I sound dumb now but what else is new? Still give me a chance to explain.
The Thunders trade for basically Jeff Green for Kendrick Perkins (Nate Robinson and Nenad Kristic where just throw in guys) was good and bad for the Thunder but more good, only because they got a contract extension done with Perkins (something the Celtics couldn’t do). They bad side of the trade is Perkins isn’t someone who can create his own shot, or score at all really. Green can create his own shot and hit many clutch shots for the Thunder at the end of games when teams double team Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
The reason the Thunder were so ready to let Green go is because they weren’t going to give him a huge extension before locking up Westbrook long term. Plus the size factor killed the Thunder. A starting front court of Green at power forward and Kristic at center can’t stop even a high school’s front court on defense. With the emergence of former sixth man Serge Ibaka the Thunder now have probably the best defense front line in the NBA. Ibaka is a shot blocking machine and Perkins is probably the best low post defender not named Dwight Howard.
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| Serge Ibaka blocks Lakers Andrew Bynum's shot. |
Only problem with have the two great defensive minded big man is there isn’t a low post scoring threat. Is anyone really capable of scoring 20 points in a game if Durant and Westbrook are both having off nights? No there isn’t! James Harden may be a possible 20 point a game scorer but he isn’t that consistent enough. The Lakers (the only team better than the Thunder in the west in my opinion) have four guys who can drop 20 points on any night. Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom off the bench are all possible 20 point a game scores. Kobe and Gasol are always going to get there shots and points but that consistent third option in either Bynum or Odom is needed.
The Thunder like their matchups on defense against Gasol and Bynum, they can throw up to five guys at the twin big man of the Lakers. Now still that doesn’t mean the Thunder are going to beat the Lakers but it gives them a chance to stop them on defense. Now granted the Thunder do have the scoring champion and top of the top 15 best scoring player in the NBA on their roster while the Lakers have two in the top 30.
The last point I have is the experience and the clutch factor. The Lakers have probably the best closer in the game today on their roster but Kevin Durant isn’t far behind. But the Lakers are back to back champions and have been to the NBA finals three years in a row while the Thunder have only four players who have ever made it past the first round of the NBA playoffs (Perkins, Robinson, Nazr Mohammed, and Daequan Cook) all of which just join the team this year.
Don’t forget the old man running the Lakers show, head coach Phil Jackson has won 11 NBA titles. He has three sets of three-peat and is working on his fourth. The only players who have won all five Laker titles with Phil Jackson is Bryant and Mr. Clutch himself (no not Robert Horry, he’s big shot Bob) Derrick Fisher.
Fisher may not be a great player and he isn’t flashy or very talented like the young point guards of today but he still is a Hall of Fame player in my eye. Fisher has hit many big time shots when teams have double teamed Kobe in the past. Everyone remembers the clutch shot Fisher hit with .4 second left on the clock against the Spurs.
So in order for the Thunder to claim the West as their own they must become more like the Lakers. They have their great 1-2 punch with Durant and Westbrook and their defensive big man with Perkins and Ibaka. Now they need to find a young big man who can score the ball and find a big time clutch veteran like Fisher. Plus also knowing the Celtics won’t have the money to sign Green to a long term deal he may want to return to OKC to be with his bros and play the sixth man scoring role off the bench, despite not getting the max deal he can get playing for a crappy team with a lot of cap space like the Nets or Timberwolves.
