The year is 2012. The Oklahoma City Thunder have just reached the NBA finals and have 3 future MVP’s on their roster. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Fast forward to 7 years later and the Thunder have none and are set for long years of rebuilding. How did it come to this point? Let’s take a look.
The James Harden trade
Immediately after the season the Thunder had a big decision to make. Extend 6th man of the year James Harden and go over the luxury cap or trade him? As you already know, the Thunder traded away Harden to the Houston Rockets for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and 2 first round picks (turned into Steven Adams and Mitch McGary).
Harden thrived in Houston, the others didn’t do the same in Oklahoma City. Harden has averaged over 25 ppg every season for the Rockets, finished in the top 10 for MVP voting every year, was the runner-up 3 times and won it in 2018.
Martin did his thing and was a very efficient scorer off the bench for the Thunder, but they traded him after the season for Szymon Szewczyk, who was drafted in 2003 but never played a second in the NBA. To be fair, the trade was to shred salary, so it didn’t really matter. Jeremy lamb never averaged over 9 points a game in his 3 years in OKC, and was eventually traded to Charlotte. Mitch McGary played only 52 games in the NBA and then there’s Steven Adams, who has been a decent but overpaid player for the Thunder.
Summer ‘16
For many people, the summer of 2016 was quite good. You were probably not one of those people if you are an OKC fan. The Thunder were coming off a season where they were up 3-1 in the WCF against the Golden State Warriors, who had just broken the record of most wins in a season with 73, and still lost.
Nor Westbrook nor Durant really showed up in the last 3 games of the series. The question wasn’t whether there was enough talent, but rather if they could make it work and make that talent coexist? There was reason to panic, as they hadn’t reached the NBA finals since the Harden trade and because Durant was entering free agency.
That caused the Thunder to make a panic move. They traded Serge Ibaka on draft night to the Orlando Magic for Ersan Ilyasova, Victor Oladipo and the draft rights to Domantas Sabonis. In hindsight, that’s a pretty good return. At the time, however, Oladipo wasn’t the All-Star he is today. He was a high-volume scorer and the fit with both Durant and Westbrook would’ve been questionable to say the least.
It didn’t matter though, as the Thunder didn’t have the chance to field all 3 players at the same time, because the most controversial move in NBA history took place on July 4th. Kevin Durant, who had won the 2014 NBA MVP award, started “A New Chapter” with the Golden State Warriors. The team that had just lost in the NBA finals after being up 3-1. The team that beat the Thunder after being down 3-1 in the WCF. The team that won 73 games in one season.
Everyone around the NBA gave Durant hate, but no one did it more and better than Russell Westbrook. Whether he did it subliminally or just came at Durant directly, it was entertaining. Durant also took some shots himself, by praising how “unselfish” his new team was, which was clearly a jab at Russ.
#WhyNot?
That season Westbrook had something to prove. He wanted to show the world that it was definitely possible to win with him. He wanted to show everyone that he should’ve been the main star, even with KD there. His stats definitely showed that. He became the second player ever to average a triple double for an entire season. 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per contest. 42 triple doubles in a season, an NBA record.
Russ won his MVP as the solo star and got the recognition he deserved, as James Harden of all people finished second and Kevin Durant won Finals MVP after going 16-1 in the playoffs. The Thunder lost in the first round against Harden’s Rockets, so moves had to be made, as it was clear that Westbrook had no real help at his side.
OK3
Paul George had set his mind on a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers. Reluctant to let a lot of young pieces go, the Lakers didn’t pull the trigger to land the Pacers star. The Thunder didn’t hesitate and sent Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to Indiana for George. The Thunder basically traded Serge Ibaka for Paul George in a one-year span.
It didn’t end there for the Thunder, as All-Star Carmelo Anthony wanted out of New York, and ultimately decided to waive his no-trade clause to join Westbrook and George in Oklahoma City. He was traded for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2nd round pick in the 2018 draft, which turned into Mitchell Robinson.
Immediately there were concerns, as the Thunder now had 3 primary ball handlers with a high usage %. They were also some question marks about how Melo would be able to play at the 4-spot. But the Thunder were able to put together a relatively successful regular season, as they finished with 48 wins, good for 4th in the Western conference.
But then the playoffs came, and the Thunder had to go up against the Utah Jazz led by rookie Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Game one went great, as Paul George had a monster performance and Russell Westbrook was his usual self. ‘Playoff P’, George’s self-given nickname, looked like it was about to come out, but it didn’t. He was pretty bad in almost the entire series from that point on and capped it off with a 5-point, 2-for-16 shooting performance in game 6, which led to the Thunder being eliminated from the playoffs.
Unfinished business
A lot of the blame was put on Carmelo Anthony, who reportedly had trouble adjusting to his role. It was clear that the Thunder were going to move on from Melo, and that they would go forward with George and Westbrook. That wasn’t a given however, as George was entering free agency and the reports that he wanted to go to Los Angeles were still floating around.
Luckily for the Thunder, George didn’t entertain any meeting with another team and immediately agreed to a contract to stay in Oklahoma City. Their summer didn’t stop there, as they were able to get rid of Anthony while picking up a solid backup point guard in Dennis Schröder.
The Thunder looked good throughout the year. Westbrook averaged yet another triple double, 3 in a row, while Paul George was the second leading scorer and on top of the steals ranking, and later finished top 3 in both the MVP and DPOY race.
For a long time they held the 3rd place in the West, but (injury) troubles later on in the season made them fall all the way to 6th. The Thunder met the Portland Trail Blazers, a team they had swept in the regular season and that was missing their staring center. On top of that, they had the mental edge, as it looked like the Blazers were trying to avoid the Thunder by not fielding any of their starters in their last game of the season. The Blazers won that game however, and thus matched up against the Thunder.
As series underdogs on paper but favorites with the bookmakers, everyone thought the Thunder had the “easy” path to a conference finals meeting with the Golden State Warriors. And that wasn’t unwarranted: The Thunder held the best record against the other playoff teams in the Western conference.
But the Thunder were outclassed in the first-round matchup, as they lost in 5 games, with the last game ending in memorable fashion. More about that here. Many people questioned if Paul George is a player that actually shows up when it mattered, and if you can win with Russell Westbrook leading the squad.
End of an era
On the 6th of July a Woj-bomb (as well as an earthquake) had Los Angeles shaking. Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Kawhi Leonard had signed with the Clippers and that they had traded for Paul George. The Thunder got Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and 7 future first-round picks in return.
Paul George being traded away meant that a trade involving Russ wasn’t that far away. Not even a week later the Thunder traded Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul and 4 future first-round picks. The traded marked the end of an 11-year tenure for Westbrook in Oklahoma City.
It also showed the incapability of the Thunder front office to keep star players. After James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Kevin Durant, Victor Oladipo and Carmelo Anthony the Thunder now lose 2 other high-profile players in Paul George and Russell Westbrook. Yes, their return for the 2 players was quite good, with a total of 11 first-round picks, but losing star players always hurts.
3 of those (Durant, Harden and Westbrook) have won an MVP award, Oladipo turned into an All-Star with the Pacers, Anthony was an All-Star up until he joined the Thunder and Ibaka was an integral part to Toronto’s championship-winning squad this season.
The Thunder are now set for long years of rebuilding and also lost their fan-favorite. No historic player, no playoff-hopes, no cap-space… It’s not looking good for you if you’re a Thunder fan. Is a move to Seattle next?
Courtside 