****Official 2012/2013 Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball Thread****

[dankrutka]

No time to panic folks...Best record in the toughest conference...Just lost a top 7 player early in the playoffs and lost to a 5 seed in the 2nd round of the playoffs

Solid year and definitely enjoyable

Indeed. I have concerns, but the Thunder are without a doubt a top 5 team in the league next season.

[HOT ROD]

Im not sold on KD as you are;

Far too many jumpshots and not enough basketball IQ. If you need a reference, recall the last Thunder offensive play of the last game, and the game before that. ... I completely disagree with your opinion that KD played the best of any player in this year's playoffs - not even close. It was ridiculous of him to have 5-21 on an elimination game (when most of those 21 shots were jumpshots and not enough to the hole. ...)

Yep, I am someone who watched every game - if you disagree then maybe my reception up here in Seattle isn't as good as yours because that is what I and my wife observed. I did give KD props as #2 in the league, but I also clearly pointed out why he is not in the same league as LeBron and it is no surprise KD did not get the MVP because he is not there yet. Apparently KD agrees with me in that he said he has lots to improve on and I know exactly what that is.

[Bill Robertson]

Hot Rod, maybe your reception isn't so good. No, KD isn't as good without Westbrook. They play off each other. Neither would be as good without the other. Jordan would not have been as good without Pippen, LeBron would not have be as good without Wade and the list goes on and on. You bring up two plays KD flubbed. OK he didn't have a good game 5. What he did do was lead the average points per game in the playoffs with 30.8 points. 3.1 points better than number 2 Carmelo Anthony. He hit 45.5% from the field and 83% from the line. I'll take that any game. He pretty much carried the team since except for a few spots Martin, Ibaka and Fisher couldn't find the basket.

[TaoMaas]

KD was worn down to a nub by this last game. Trying to judge him by the last game or two is crazy.

[dankrutka]

After Westbrook went down KD's production went up as he maintained his efficiency. You're all focusing on his only bad game of the postseason because it was his last one. You could definitely make a case that KD has the highest basketball IQ in the NBA. He gets to the rim with consistency.

All your points are anecdotal, HOT ROD. KD's numbers speak for themselves. Look at his PER and advanced stats for the playoffs. KD has had the best playoffs of anyone. The team suffered from Westbrook's absence, but KD stepped up big time. The problem was that our other players didn't.

[OKCisOK4me]

If Perkins is amnesty'd, I've been researching for the last hour or so, who would replace him...based on their current salaries and PER (Player Efficiency Ratings) lowest to highest via PER rankings. They are as follows:

Elton Brand 15.19
Marreese Speights 17.35
Carl Landry 17.60
Samuel Dalembert 18.60
Tiago Splitter 18.72
J.J. Hickson 19.71
Paul Millsap 19.89
Andray Blatche 21.98

As far as PER ratings go, Kendrick Perkins is currently rated at 8.20, Kevin Durant at 28.35 and our favorite, Lebron James at 31.67, to put these guys on a scale.

Blatch is currently the lowest paid and Millsap the highest paid. What would it take to bring one of these guys in?

Don't get me wrong, I love Perk but if he goes the way of amnesty then these are the candidates I would like to see brought in. I hope Presti would be on the same page but I'll let him judge the intrinsic values of each player to decide who might be the perfect fit for the 2013-14 Thunder season.

[Mississippi Blues]

What I've gathered from the Brooklyn games I've watched, Blatch is a pretty solid player.

[Teo9969]

If Perkins is amnesty'd, I've been researching for the last hour or so, who would replace him...based on their current salaries and PER (Player Efficiency Ratings) lowest to highest via PER rankings. They are as follows:

Elton Brand 15.19
Marreese Speights 17.35
Carl Landry 17.60
Samuel Dalembert 18.60
Tiago Splitter 18.72
J.J. Hickson 19.71
Paul Millsap 19.89
Andray Blatche 21.98

As far as PER ratings go, Kendrick Perkins is currently rated at 8.20, Kevin Durant at 28.35 and our favorite, Lebron James at 31.67, to put these guys on a scale.

Blatch is currently the lowest paid and Millsap the highest paid. What would it take to bring one of these guys in?

Don't get me wrong, I love Perk but if he goes the way of amnesty then these are the candidates I would like to see brought in. I hope Presti would be on the same page but I'll let him judge the intrinsic values of each player to decide who might be the perfect fit for the 2013-14 Thunder season.

I sincerely doubt Perkins gets amnestied, but I still think OKC should use their MLE to go after another Big. If OKC can't nab Greg Oden, I'd go with Splitter (though I think SA is going to re-sign him), and I like what I've seen from Blatche. I think bringing in any of those guys gives us what we need off the bench, but any of those guys could easily get an offer that is more than we can sign.

[dankrutka]

Perk is not getting amnestied and I don't think they'll go after anyone in the offseason either. I think they're going to see what our rookies can do to help the team, but we're not going into the luxury tax ( at least early in the season, maybe at trade deadline) for Blatch or Splittter. It's more likely the team just tries to roll with Ibaka at center more than anything else. The team is likely to try to grow within first.

[Teo9969]

Perk is not getting amnestied and I don't think they'll go after anyone in the offseason either. I think they're going to see what our rookies can do to help the team, but we're not going into the luxury tax ( at least early in the season, maybe at trade deadline) for Blatch or Splittter. It's more likely the team just tries to roll with Ibaka at center more than anything else. The team is likely to try to grow within first.

OKC will be really really close to the tax just signing their draft picks. That doesn't factor in a contract for Kevin Martin that at the very minimum would be ~$6.5/year, but probably closer to $8.5/$9.

The MLE is use it or lose it...And if we don't use it this year, then the level of contract we can sign will drop from $5M to $3M.

[warreng88]

Not sure where to put this, so I'll put it in a few places: Kevin Durant just donated a million dollars for tornado relief.

[td25er]

Not sure where to put this, so I'll put it in a few places: Kevin Durant just donated a million dollars for tornado relief.

Awesome!!!!!!

[king183]

KD donated $1 million and Perkins, his wife, and Thabo have been collecting donations and organizing relief efforts of their own in OKC. Amazing team we have.

[Bellaboo]

KD donated $1 million and Perkins, his wife, and Thabo have been collecting donations and organizing relief efforts of their own in OKC. Amazing team we have.

KD gave his pledge to the Red Cross Tornado fund.

[king183]

KD gave his pledge to the Red Cross Tornado fund.

Russell Westbrook just matched KD's pledge.

[ljbab728]

The Thunder organization also donated $1M.

[HOT ROD]

Yep, you keep the faith dan - seems san antonio isnt having okc/kd's issues with memphis

[betts]

Yep, you keep the faith dan - seems san antonio isnt having okc/kd's issues with memphis

They aren't missing their point guard.

[Easy180]

They aren't missing their point guard.

You mean a top 8 player in the league, most athletic player in the league? No big loss, hardly phase a team lol

[Plutonic Panda]

Y! SPORTS Hope KD stays here in OKC, people commenting on this article seem to think he might move.

[OKCisOK4me]

He's one of two 5 year players...the other being Westbrook...that are currently under contract. Don't read into the wishes of some jacks outside of the organization.

[Bellaboo]

Y! SPORTS Hope KD stays here in OKC, people commenting on this article seem to think he might move.

Fans of the other 29 teams are in fantasy land wishing they could get KD.....Last year I was reading a Phoenix blog and they were saying they'd have KD on their team in 2 years.....right

[adaniel]

The only thing worse than Yahoo! Sports is the commenters on Yahoo! Sports. I wouldn't take either seriously.

This move probably has more to do with increasing his brand via endorsements and what not, plus a plethora of behind the scenes things, than anything dealing with a departure from OKC.

[skanaly]

In 2010-11 Season KD signed an 8 year contract...so we have him for atleast another 6 years, the Thunder will get a lot accomplished in that time period

[warreng88]

In 2010-11 Season KD signed an 8 year contract...so we have him for atleast another 6 years, the Thunder will get a lot accomplished in that time period

Not sure where you got that from, but KD signed a 5 year contract that started in the 2011-2012 season, so we have him through the 2015-2016 season, another three seasons.