The Oklahoma City Thunder were eliminated from the NBA playoffs at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers after a 50-point outing from Damian Lillard. This has been the 3rd straight first round exit for the franchise, leaving a lot of question marks around the team.
Durant
There is no fan in the NBA that doesn’t remember what it felt like when they first found out former league MVP Kevin Durant had left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors, who came of a record 73-win season and had lost in the finals after 7 games, added one of the best players in the game. To make matters even worse, OKC had blown a 3-1 lead against those same Warriors in the Western conference finals.
Everyone around the league felt the move was soft. For Russell Westbrook, teammate of Durant at the time, it felt more personal than that. Durant called Russ a brother in his MVP-winning speech. However, after leaving, Durant couldn’t help himself and started taking subliminal shots at Westbrook. Russ did the same in return and we got one of the fiercest rivalries in the NBA every time the two stepped on the court.
Westbrook went on an absolute tear that year and became only the second player ever, after Oscar Robertson, to average a triple double for an entire season. He averaged 31.6/10.7/10.4 on the way to his second scoring title and his first league MVP. He also came third in assists per game and was a top 10 rebounder despite being only 6’4”.
2 sides to the coin
Fast forward to present day. Westbrook averaged a triple double for a third year in a row. His stats are nothing short of extraordinary. The energy he brings to the game is truly a blessing to watch. But unfortunately, stats and energy don’t always lead to wins. This is the 3rd year in a row the Thunder get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
The first year is something we can’t blame on Russ. He had no All-Star teammate (although Victor Oladipo would turn out to be an All-Star when he got traded to the Pacers) and had to put the team on his back. It came as no surprise when the 6-seed Thunder lost in 5 games to the Rockets and James Harden (also a former teammate of Russ and also a league MVP).
The second year however, the Thunder did not perform. They got a huge overhaul in the summer. Oladipo, Enes Kanter and Domantas Sabonis were all traded to get All-Stars Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. The new “OK3” got the 4th seed and had homecourt advantage in the playoffs against a Utah Jazz team that was led by rookie guard Donovan Mitchell. Russ averaged 29/12/7.5 for the series on 40% shooting from the field and 36% from deep. However, that wasn’t enough as the Thunder lost in 6 games, with Paul George infamously scoring only 5 points on 16 shots in 45 minutes of play.
Now, the 3rd year. OKC was basically the 3rd seed all year long, but horrible play after the All-Star break made them slip to the 6th seed. In the first round of the playoffs they had a matchup against the Blazers. The Thunder were favored to win the series, despite not having homecourt advantage. Why? Because the Thunder SWEPT the Blazers 4-0 in the season series when they still had their starting center Jusuf Nurkic. Portland now had to make do without him against a team that won every encounter against them.
Russ and Dame against each other. The 2 had history and when the series started, we knew this wasn’t a friendly battle. The 2 went at it. Russ averaged around 23/9/10.5, but his shooting struggles continued to follow him, shooting only 36% from the floor and 32% from 3-point land. Dame averaged 33 points, 6 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 46% from the floor and 48% from deep. The Blazers won in 5 games, with Lillard capping off the series in sensational fashion. He dropped 50 points in game 5 as they came back from a 15-point deficit in the 4th quarter and hit a 37-foot step back buzzer beater over Paul George to win the series.
Shooting
It now sparks the question: “Can you win with Westbrook as your main man”? The answer is yes, I think, but not how the Thunder are constructed right now. Westbrook is an extraordinary athlete, will hustle for every ball and never cheats the game with all the energy he brings. On the flipside, his decision making is questionable to say the least and he can’t shoot the basketball.
How can the Thunder win with Westbrook then? That’s simple. Shooting. They need shooters, snipers even, to be able to spread the floor. They already have a great 3-headed monster with Westbrook, George and Steven Adams. Now, they need shooting. The role players on the team combined for 26 threes on 76 attempts. George and Westbrook accounted for the other 26 threes on 81 attempts. Clearly, shooting is their problem, as I predicted in my analysis about the west’s playoff teams.
That’s an easy fix. General manager Sam Presti should sign shooters this summer. It worked for LeBron in Miami and Cleveland; it worked/works for Ben Simmons in Philadelphia; it’s working for Giannis in Milwaukee. The blueprint exists, Sam Presti just has to follow it.
Westbrook is doing things that no one has ever seen before on a basketball court, and we don’t want his legacy to be tarnished by being another great player that couldn’t get his team to win a title. Nonetheless, Westbrook is a guaranteed hall of famer and his legacy is something that is already set in stone, whether he wins a championship or not.
Courtside 