It’s no secret that Kevin Durant is a free agent at the end of the season and the harsh reality of the situation is that if the superstar chooses to walk away from Oklahoma City, their title hopes may very well be walking out the door along with him.
Bar one season, that being their inaugural season in 2008-2009, the Thunder have made the playoffs every year. A core of Durant, Serge Ibaka, Russell Westbrook and James Harden saw the young squad improve each and every year, moving up from first round of the playoffs, to an eventual berth in the NBA finals in 2012 against the infamous Miami Heat ‘Big 3’ led by LeBron James.
Despite a decisive four games to one loss in that finals series, things looked promising for the future of the Thunder, but over the coming seasons, things have taken something of a down turn as the Thunder missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Now with Durant’s pending free agency, it seems as if Oklahoma City’s championship window is rapidly closing.
Injuries to Westbrook, Ibaka and Durant derailed the Thunder’s title opportunities the last two seasons, but long before the injury issues, the Thunder front office began a downward spiral the team is still feeling the effects from. That of course being the decision to let last season’s MVP runner-up leave, by trading James Harden to the Houston Rockets in 2012.
Although the loss to the Heat that year was extremely tough, the ‘core four’ of Harden, Westbrook, Durant and Ibaka were, at the time, all under the age of 23 years old. It would seem as if this was only the first of many NBA Finals appearances to come.
A pending free agent after the 2011-2012 season, Harden reportedly was seeking a four-year max deal, worth $60 million. The Thunder for no other reason than to avoid paying luxury tax, offered $54 million in order to stay under the luxury cap level, which Harden declined.
Oklahoma City’s unwillingness to dip into the tax eventuated in the organization having to make a choice of either keeping Ibaka or Harden, as the former was due a contract extension also. Having backed themselves into a corner and with both sides refusing to budge on the extra cash, the Thunder shipped their star sixth man to the Rockets.
In return, Oklahoma City received shooting guards Jeremy Lamb and Kevin Martin, both of who are no longer on the team, as well as two draft picks which would eventually become current starting center Steven Adams and prospect Mitch McGary.
With Ibaka’s offense a work in progress at that time, the Thunder were lacking a solid third option on that side of the ball, adding more pressure on Durant and Westbrook to carry the team. The Thunder front office had seemingly put a price on their own success, refusing to sign players if it meant the need to pay luxury tax. Instead, they opted to fill out the roster with lesser role players with the hope that their young stars could shoulder the load.
With Harden gone, the 2012-2013 season would end in a second round playoff exit to the Memphis Grizzlies. Despite his improvement on offense, it was clear that the Thunder needed more than Ibaka to progress and their was certainly a significant spark missing once Harden was traded. The team no longer felt as special.
Rather than make a run at available free agents such as Dorrell Wright, Mike Miller or Jamal Crawford to bolster the depth of the squad and add some much needed offensive weapons, the Thunder instead opted to sign draft bust Hasheem Thabeet to back up starting center Kendrick Perkins, keeping faith in their core three stars. This coming just a few months after signing a 37-year-old Derek Fisher as a key role player.
Durant would lead the team to the Western Conference Finals, before being beaten by a far deeper San Antonio Spurs team. Durant would go on to win that year’s MVP award leading the league in scoring with 32 points per game.
Highlighting the lack of offensive options once again that year, only one other player on the team outside of Durant, Ibaka and Westbrook averaged over 10 points per game in scoring that season, that being backup point guard Reggie Jackson.
Having once again been on the cusp of an NBA championship, the Thunder were disturbingly quiet during last season’s free agency period. Eventually signing the one dimensional shooter Anthony Morrow, this would prove to be their only significant addition to the roster.
With players available who could make a potential impact to the bench such as Trevor Ariza, Rodney Stuckey and Marvin Williams, the Thunder again took a cheaper option in Morrow. Despite being a solid perimeter shooter, Morrow does little else on the floor outside of catch and shoot situations.
With injuries again to their two main stars and in danger of possibly missing the playoffs, the Thunder would finally attempt to address the lack of depth on the roster, involving themselves in a three-team trade with the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers, resulting in the arrival of Dion Waiters to the squad.
A further trade involving the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz would see Reggie Jackson shipped out. In return, the Thunder would receive Enes Kanter, Steve Novak, D.J Augustin and Kyle Singler to bolster the bench. Kanter proved to be the key piece in the move and averaged a solid 18 points per game along with 11 rebounds for the remainder of the season with his new squad.
Waiters was clearly another attempt to replace what James Harden provided. Having failed terribly with Jeremy Lamb and Kevin Martin, Waiters has been inefficient on offense averaging just 13.8 points per 36 minutes played this season, a number that certainly reflects the lack of firepower the former Cavalier brings.
As previously mentioned, Kanter played his way into a four-year $70 million extension, based on his offensive potential shown. However, with a front court tandem of Adams and Ibaka in place, that’s a huge contract for a role player who is a total liability on defense.
Despite the offensive output, opposing players shot an impressive 57 percent when guarded by Kanter as the primary defender last season, and given the vulnerability of the Thunder bench, the offensive potential may not be worth the money.
Again, the contract given to Kanter combined with the trade for Waiters screams of a team that is so desperate to find some kind of offensive spark somewhere to relieve pressure from their superstars and will take on just about any risk at this point.
Another questionable decision came after firing head coach Scott Brooks, as the Thunder took another risk in hiring college coach Billy Donovan from Florida. With other proven NBA coaches such as Mark Jackson, Mike Malone and Alvin Gentry all potential candidates, Donovan was still selected.
Although early in his NBA career, questionable play calling at the end of close games has been an issue. The most recent example being the recent road defeat to the Cavaliers. With 12 seconds left on the clock and Oklahoma City down three points, Donovan called a timeout as Westbrook brought the ball up court.
The resulting play from the timeout was Westbrook dribbling aimlessly for six seconds then handing off to Durant who missed a deep, contested three point shot as the Thunder lost the game 104-100.
With the countless roster moves or at times, lack thereof, leaving many scratching their head, and a now an unproven NBA coach at the helm, it would be no surprise if Durant chose to pursue his championship elsewhere next season. After countless roster moves for the worse, it would not be a shock if Durant and potentially Westbrook have lost faith in management. Bound for free agency at the end of this year, the Thunder will have no one to blame but themselves if they lose the former Most Valuable Player.