What Does the Thunder Need to do in the off-season

[OKCJapan]

As was suggested in a post by jn1780, I will go ahead and start the Thread.

It is evident that there some changes needed in the landscape of Thunderland. I think the real flaws in this team were exposed in Games 5 and 6. When Durant a Westbrook could not score in game 5, there was no help from the bench. The same situation was evident in the third quarter of game 6 when Westbrook and Durant would not pass the ball because either they or Brooks did not trust anyone else to produce points. Thus they turned the ball over several times because of the double teams on them.

But this is not the only time they have been exposed like that. For this very reason, many people are saying that Brooks needs to go. Looking at game 6, SA did nothing different from game 5 to 6. The only difference was they did not shoot as well from the 3 point line. From what I observed, there was no adjustments on the part of Brooks for game 6. He put the ball in KD, RW and RJ's hands and told them to go score. If we were to judge Brooks' value to this team from the WCF, then I would agree with those people who are saying get rid of Brooks. However, this is unrealistic at best because I don't think there is sufficient negative sentiment from Presti or the players to justify such a move. So, the way I see it, the only other option is the bench needs some overhauling.

So going forward, lets look at the status of the bench.
The veterans are Butler, Fisher, Collison, and Jackson. I hesitate to include Jackson, but he has 3 seasons under his belt now. That leaves Jones III, Jerrett, Lamb, Roberson, Adams and Thabeet.
None of these latter can be called a "scorer" except for maybe Lamb. Butler, Fisher and Jackson can score when they get the touches. Butler, who is a Unrestricted free agent, said he did not know what he was going to do. Presumably, Fisher will retire.

Thabo was a no show in the WCF, therefore, because he is also a Unrestricted free agent, I believe he is a question mark going into the off-season. I think Lamb replaces Thabo in the starting lineup if they do not renew his contract. If that plays out, it leaves Reggie as the only scoring option off the bench. True, Adams will be better, but he is still young and the coaching staff are working to develop his defense at the moment. Jones III has potential but has not been given much playing time. Jerrett and Roberson are presumably trash time only players and Thabeet is just a body in the middle to give fouls.

So, what is the solution. They need another scorer to come off the bench. Taking a look at the current assets The Thunder possesses, I do not think they are in a position to trade for such a scorer without giving up too much. The the only option then, may be free agency.

Here are some possibilities that I think might fit into the roster and whom Presti could get for a bargain. All of the below are Unrestricted

Dany Granger: Currently LA Clippers
Rodney Stuckey: Currently Detroit
Marcin Gortat: Currently Washington
Lance Stephenson: Currently Indiana
Ray Allen: Currently Miami
Boris Diaw: Currently San Antonio
Kirk Hinrich: Currently Chicago

The following possibilities are Restricted

Eric Blesdoe: Currently Phoenix
Gordon Hayward: Currently Utah
Isaiah Thomas: Currently Sacramento
Avery Bradley: Currently Boston
Evan Turner: Currently Indiana
Jordan Crawford: Currently Golden State

below are a couple of options if we could afford them.

Kyle Lowry: Currently Cleveland
Luol Deng: Currently Cleveland
Rudy Gay: Currently Sacramento
Paul Pierce: Currently Brooklyn

In the end in order to win against an overloaded WC and make it to the finals again, we have to have a bench that can produce points when the starters struggle to score. Presti may have to ask Bennett to open up his checkbook and/or ask us fans to shoulder some luxury tax. One ESPN analyst said that if you want to win a championship, you are going to have to pay luxury tax. He might be right, whatever the case something has to change in Thunderland.

Well I hope this will get the discussion off to a good start.

[Easy180]

Making it to the WC finals in a loaded conference is a nice accomplishment, but I think the lack of a 3 pt threat did us in again. Let's face it we stink from distance so we have to pick up a legitimate threat for Westbrook to kick out to

Yet another great season so no huge worries going into the offseason but let's land a legit sharp shooter this go round.

[BlackmoreRulz]

Does Perkins finish his contract?

[Stan Silliman]

Do we want to reunite Kirk Hinrich with Nick? How about another Jayhawk - Paul Pierce - if he' s willing to play for a minimum. Get another big man from the draft, and there are plenty, and we're set. Also, I think we can swap PJIII, Thabo, the German, Pliess, and cash for Luol Deng. Or it might have to be Butler instead of Thabo.

[Stan Silliman]

Little off season improvements, I'd like to see:

K.D. - Put on another ten pounds. Especially in the lower body. Plan to make a living off posting up shorter defenders.
Ibaka - Put on another 6-8 pounds. Spend some time at a big man's camp - either Akeem's or Clifford Ray's. Pick up back to basket moves.
Steve Adams -- Put on 10 pounds. Work on free throws. Come back as a 65-70% shooter. Attend big man's camp.
Brooks needs to hire an assistant to install a motion offense.
Perry Jones, if he's still with the team, needs to beef a little more, develop a post game and improve his handles.

[OSUMom]

I think the last thing the Thunder needs is to bring anymore 'veteran' types that go gangbusters during the regular season and then do NOTHING in the playoffs (Martin, Butler). I would much rather see Lamb and Jones worked up to fill that need instead.

[dankrutka]

Does Perkins finish his contract?

Next season is the last year on his deal.

[Stan Silliman]

I think the last thing the Thunder needs is to bring anymore 'veteran' types that go gangbusters during the regular season and then do NOTHING in the playoffs (Martin, Butler). I would much rather see Lamb and Jones worked up to fill that need instead.

I rather see them get worked up, also. But, that may be more of a challenge than we imagine. I wanted to see Perry Jones in the playoffs inserted when we went small.
From what I've seen in a few instances, he can guard three positions so we wouldn't be trapped with a Derek Fisher guarding a Diaw or a Duncan. Obviously, the coaches
don't trust him that much.

Butler had a few very good playoff games but then we went away from him and opted more Fisher and Jackson. I think we went too small against the other team's smalls.

Coach Thibodeau likes Perkins and Joakim Noah wants Sefalosha on the Bulls. I think there's trade potential there. I'm hoping Kirk Hinrich and Carlos Boozer in exchange for
Perk, Sef and Butler plus cash. With that nucleus there's a chance to build a substantially better second team.

[Klop]

I think the Thunder is at a crossroads, a defining moment, with this current era of star players. KD, Russ, and Serge. We saw a defining moment a couple of years ago with the trade of Harden. For better or worse, that's water under the bridge.

Ownership and Presti must now stand back and take a long, hard look at where the Thunder is with the roster and coaches.

Is Ownership content with making it to the WC finals? They are selling out almost every game. Are they like the Texas Rangers? Content with making money? Making the Playoffs for a little extra revenue and hometown pride?

Or, do they want to WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP? If they want to win a championship, then they must go get another big name, inside scorer. Not a Caron Butler or a Dereck Fisher or Kendrick Perkins. Its going to cost some money. Forget about the luxury tax. Do what the Yankees do and go get who you need. Obviously, this current roster and staff does not have enough horsepower under the hood to get it done.

I don't know who it is. That's Presti's job. I'm just a fan. I want a CHAMPIONSHIP. KD and Russ want a CHAMPIONSHIP. The window is closing.

All I can say is, if Bennett and the ownership are content with a WC final. Then so be it. KD and Russ will be gone soon and the Thunder will be just another small town NBA team struggling just to make the playoffs.

But to win a CHAMPIONSHIP and beat the Spurs, the Heat, or who ever, then its going to cost some money.

The crossroad and another defining moment is here.

[Jake]

Need a better bench. Need more shooters. This team is so close, yet not good enough yet.

Need to pull the trigger on an actual decent FA, no more of this bottom of the barrel, Caron Butler/Derek Fisher junk. Don't have to go massively into the tax, but this team will have to pay some money.

[OKCJapan]

If Presti decides to continue with Brooks, I think there may be one crucial tweak to the line -up that needs to be made regardless of what moves are made to the roster in the off-season. That is considering moving Westbrook to the 2 spot and making Reggie the new starting PG. This has been suggested before many times. Not sure it will ever happen but it would be a landscape changer for sure.

[OKCisOK4me]

My only input on our situation is GO IN THE LUXURY TAX. Presti is more than capable of moving more chess pieces around.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S5

[Bellaboo]

The tax has been bumped up around 5 mil for next season which should help. Perk is elgible for amnesty so there is some leverage on his 9 mil contract. Adams is ready to be a starter, or at least he should be by October, but we need a 2 guard who can score along with play some D. There is lots of room for bench improvement.
I'd say go after Boris Diaw.

[OKCisOK4me]

I'd like to see Brooks experiment in a preseason game with Westbrook at the 2...his natural position and Jackson on point. Just see what happens. No one really plays in preseason so in a way it'd be the perfect opportunity to try the scheme out.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S5

[Stan Silliman]

I don't like seeing Russ and Reggie on the floor at the same. Reggie is even less of a willing passer than Russ but Russ knows how to drive and dish. Russ needs the ball but I don't see Reggie giving it up to a two guard very often. Reggie should be on the floor 25-30 minutes but most of it running the second unit. A third pg, a facilitator needs to split time with both of them, letting them switch to the two. Kirk Hinrich, Rudy Fernandez, Kevin's buddy, Vasquez, someone like that.

[OKCretro]

I think Roberson goes in the starting line up for sefalosha not Lamb

Fisher will be the coach of the Knicks.

Sefalosha will sign with some bad team for a few million and probably start,

We need a stretch 4 that can hit the 3, that doesn't play many minutes during the season but will show up in the playoffs ala Mike Miller

I think Perk's contract is very tradable now at least for a draft pick of some sort. Having only 1 year left, teams trying to tank will take the 9 million/1 year knowing it will be off the books the next year. Teams have to hit the salary cap floor, and big bloated contracts at the end are the way to do it.

Need more more minutes for the likes of Lamb and Jones as well as Robinson and others.

Brooks is a regular season coach who cares only about wins and losses. He rides his horses all season to get the best record. I think this is done to pad his resume for his next job. That 4-0 record vs the spurs in the regular season really mattered didn't it ?

I think he needs to go. Just not the coach I want. Learns to much on the job, takes him a game or 2 to adjust while good coaches can adjust on the fly.

[bucfan1512]

Who is the Robinson fellow you mentioned?

[OKCretro]

Who is the Robinson fellow you mentioned?

you didn't hear David Robinson is coming out of retirement to play for us!!!

no meant Roberson, andre Roberson, started a couple of games when tabo was hurt

[dankrutka]

Roberson has exceptional defensive and rebounding potential, but, as of now, he's not a long term solution for more than spot, situational minutes, much less a starting spot. Offensively, he's the only perimeter player worse than Thabo. He has absolutely no jump shot or any other offensive skills. Defenses could just completely ignore him, thus clogging driving lanes and killing spacing for Russ, KD, and Reggie. It's pretty clear we need a guy who can spread the floor in some way at shooting guard. Roberson isn't ready for anything but spot minutes at this point. Roberson only started for Thabo because Thabo was only expected to be out a couple games and Brooks wanted to maintain lineup continuity. Roberson also didn't play that many minutes in those games he started.

I think the starter will be either Reggie or Lamb.

[dankrutka]

I would like to see Brooks learn to be more flexible with his lineups next season. He did a terrible job of keeping young guys like Lamb ready to play as he basically demoted him and PJ3 to the bench once we signed Caron, and when our lineups faltered against the Spurs he threw them back in the lineup without enough preparation. I'd like to see him vary his lineups more based on opponents and keep young guys ready to contribute. I'd go with this starting lineup next season.

PG- Russ
SG - Reggie
SF - KD
PF - Ibaka
C - Adams

However, if we're playing Memphis or Houston, consider giving Perk the start or giving him more minutes. If we're playing Miami, give Perk the night off. I'd like to see PJ3 and Roberson used situationally too. Maybe give Roberson a few minutes when we're playing a top shooting guard and see if he can frustrate them. Basically, don't stick with the same lineups every night, but make sure guys know that they'll have a role depending on the opponent. Also, I'd stagger the rotation so two of Russ, Reggie, and KD are on the floor at most times. For example, take Reggie out at 7 minutes in the 1st quarter and then sub him in for Russ with a minute or two left in the 1st. Then Reggie will be able to run the second unit and get the start, which he wants. Brooks has been awful at staggering minutes and often has KD and Russ on the bench at the same time, which isn't necessary.

Of course, we have a couple draft picks and two guys playing overseas (Pleiss, Abrines) that could potentially impact the roster. It would be nice to add a good outside shooter this offseason, but I think we have the pieces to compete for a title if we just used them a little wiser. Finally, let's cut down on KD's minutes this season. I really think Brooks ran him into the ground this year and I think he was tired by the end of it.

[Stan Silliman]

You can get free agents without losing draft picks. Elfrid Payton should be around at our draft time. Great defensive guard with the athleticism to be coached up on offense. So should Clint Capela be available in our draft spots (to replace Thabeet next year and Perk the year after).

Here's an Elfrid Payton draft report you tube:

[Stan Silliman]

Here's the Clint Capela draft video. He's a slim, athletic 6'11 Swiss ready to be coached up. He could eventually replace Collison.

[trousers]

I think that until we decide to actually develop an offensive scheme it really isn't going to matter who is on the court.

[Laramie]

Tibor Pleiss (7'1" - 242)

Since OKC secured Pliess' draft rights in 2010, his name has floated around in discussions, articles and interviews regarding the franchise's future, always attached to an “if” or “when” he decides to come over.

Presti needs to bring this guy over ASAP; put him next to Steven Adams during each meal--he has potential. Pleiss has moves...
Would definitely help the Thunder in the post and inside game.

"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.