What About Me?

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusmail
Facebooktwittergoogle_plus

By now you know that small forward Kevin Durant has decided to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder and join the Golden State Warriors in free agency. The moves marks the end for one of the greatest players to ever suit up for the Seattle Supersonics/Thunder franchise as Durant was the team’s all-time leader in made three-point field goals (1,143) and second in points (17,566). Durant has left a lasting impact on Oklahoma City and his departure has opened up a ton of questions in regards to the future of point guard Russell Westbrook with the Thunder.

For the past eight years, Durant and Westbrook were one of the top duos in the NBA. Durant and Westbrook combined to help the Thunder go from a record of 23-59 during the 2008-2009 NBA season, to winning 50 games and making the postseason in 2010. Durant and Westbrook were also vital in the Thunder winning the Western Conference Championship in 2012, while that summer would also see them win gold medals as part of Team USA in the Summer Olympics. Durant and Westbrook are each regular fixtures at the NBA’s All-Star Game and it is hard to think about one without recognizing the other as they’ve been like peanut butter and jelly.

But with Durant having left Oklahoma City as an unrestricted free agent, it means that the Thunder didn’t get anything else than well wishes from the superstar when he decided to join the Warriors. And with Westbrook set to enter the final year of his contract, Thunder general manager Sam Presti is now on high alert about the status of their All-Star point guard.

With Durant taking his talents to Oakland, it doesn’t look like Westbrook wants to remain in Oklahoma City either which will make the next seven months very interesting there as the talents of “Trader Sam” will once again be on display. Presti is one of the better general managers that is currently in the NBA as he hasn’t been afraid to make trades that will return value to Oklahoma City.

In 2012 after being unable to come to agreement on a long-term extension with shooting guard James Harden, Presti traded him to the Houston Rockets which saw players such as center Steven Adams, along with guards Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb go to the Thunder. With the contract of center Serge Ibaka set to expire next summer, Presti traded him last month at the NBA Draft to the Orlando Magic in exchange for guard Victor Oladipo, power forward Ersan Ilyasova, and the draft rights to power forward Domantas Sabonis. And over the past few years Presti has made key in-season trades to beef up the Thunder’s postseason chances which included acquiring shooting guard Dion Waiters from the Cleveland Cavaliers and center Enes Kanter from the Utah Jazz.

Durant’s departure definitely changes things as far as the Thunder being a title contender, but don’t expect Presti to allow Mr. Westbrook to catch a flight out of Oklahoma City without receiving something in return.

Sam Presti

Whereas Presti will seek to trade Westbrook, it will have to be to a team that believes that they will have a legitimate shot at locking up the point guard to a long-term deal. And as of right now Presti is holding all of the trump cards which means that he’ll more than likely look to ship Westbrook to the Eastern Conference where he wouldn’t compete with the Thunder for a playoff spot. But it doesn’t mean that Presti wouldn’t trade Westbrook inside of the Western Conference which was the situation with Harden in 2012. What has made Presti so good as a general manager has been his ability to be a forward thinker which means that he dictates the trades and holds all of the aces.

Whomever will acquire Westbrook will more than likely surrender a king’s ransom to the Thunder as Presti is going to do what’s best for his organization as far as keeping them competitive. But just as the folks in Oklahoma City are beginning to come to grips with the fact that Durant is gone, they might as well begin to think about Westbrook playing for another team as his days there appear to be numbered.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusmail
Facebooktwittergoogle_plus
By | 2016-07-06T21:58:00+00:00 July 7th, 2016|Categories: National Basketball Association|Tags: , , |0 Comments

About the Author:

Leave A Comment