If okc is to trade westbrook george and melo for harden now i have no trouble seeing harden dragging the rest of that squad to a nice playoffs seed. this is how much he is better from all of them individually and as a group
Did you read the article? They lost because of their bench, which were outscored by Ish Smith. Westbrick took the exact shot they want, in and out, just short. That's ESPN's own reality, they're are really creative, gotta give them props
The media does what they are told to do. I believe the league wants OKC, a small market team that's marketability was hurt when Durant left, to be front and center on their marketing and needed to turn Westbrook into a media darling to make that happen. I wouldn't be surprised if they went as far as to have OKC structure the team around his stats to help achieve this. The league is a business and will do whatever it takes to maximize it's profitability and create an intriguing story to get fans hooked. Westbrook was turned from selfish side-kick to demi-god all for the sake of money. I liken the NBA to WWE. There's a lot of story lines and drama and good guys turning bad and bad guys turning good all for the sake of keeping fans interested. It's a show.
I feel it's just that they want to make Westbrook into the next Jordan. You know, the all-time great who also happens to be a "ruthless competitor," the super-hero narrative. Our society is driven by the worship of larger-than-life movie characters, real people (a.k.a. the Kardashians), etc. So, Westbrook is next in line for that. That's the narrative they tried to create for Curry, as well, the "superhuman" shooter. With Westbrook, it's the "superhuman" all around player and competitor. The ironic thing is that James Harden fits what they're looking for statistically, but he doesn't fit the "superhuman" element. It's not that he doesn't play spectacularly- he does- but rather than having a larger-than-life element, he just simply plays an all-around better game than those guys. He's not as great a shooter as Curry when Curry is hot, and he didn't average a triple-double like Westbrook did for one season. But he is, pound for pound, better than them. They'll want to fit Giannis into that mold, as well- a la the "Greek Freak." People are gullible and they fall for it. They're willing to accept media narratives w/o even thinking. Every time you try to tell them Jordan DID actually play in 1995, and that he dropped 55 on the Knicks, to prove he was in game-shape, they come up with all kinds of twisted pretzel logic b/c they just can't, can't, can't, can't admit they are wrong. When you tell them Jordan didn't win 'ships in his first few years, they excuse that, too. They'd have you believe that there was no point for any other teams to play in 1994 and 1995 if he stayed b/c the Bulls would have automatically won in both years. All you can do is just chuckle at their bullshit and call them out when you have the chance. We know who the real MVP is, and they can go screw themselves with a popsicle stick if they don't agree.
This made me think...what is everybody's favorite popsicle? Off the top of my head, i'd go with the original Creamsicle. Deserves it's own thread?
All this point differential talk made me go check and suffice to say that OKC is way better than their current record indicates. Minny and Nola are not and would be the teams most likely to freefall and would not be surprised at all if OKC ends up 5th, 4th, or even 3rd seed.
You have to factor in the likelihood of OKC blowing it all up when they realize that PG and Melo are going to bail on them after this season in order to get away from Westbrick. I think the best case scenario for them is making the playoffs, but there's a LOT of scenarios that has them firmly in the lottery.
Anything can happen but just looking at point differential right now, it's more likely then finish with a top to mid seed than lottery. But who knows, trades, injuries, etc... anything can happen.
"The Thunder Have a Russell Westbrook Problem" https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/...ssell-westbrook-oklahoma-city-thunder-problem
I would LOVE to get PG if OKC decided to make some moves and end this experiment I doubt Presti would trade him to a WC rival or give Morey another star...I see Philly and Boston as his 2 most likely destinations if he was put on the block
I think OKC will fail to mesh all year due to their lack of chemistry, shooting, and depth. Ultimately, I see them barely squeaking into the playoffs and losing in 5 games to either the Rockets or Warriors...
As much as OKC fails in regular season, they remain dangerous to any team in the Playoffs. I give them a fighting chance, 2 games against the Warriors. Big IF they make the playoffs and at what seed.
If the Thunder pack it in, it's at least in part because George is mentally LA bound - I don't see anybody giving up anything anyone would want for him particularly young teams that are playing well without him and already have committed to the future with other players like Philly or Boston.
I don’t buy that PG is 100% headed to LA...they’re just too far away from competing Philly has already tried to trade for Paul George twice in the past year, and Boston was prepared to make a good offer for him, but Indy traded him before they could finalize things with Hayward...with the way those 2 teams have looked so far, I think that PG would seriously consider signing with them long-term
Yup, and Paul George doesn't change much for them. 3rd best player on a championship team, imo. That means the Lakers still need to find a number 1, and a number 2. I think Magic would be smart to continue collecting chips and hold off on cashing anything in. No sense in rushing the rebuild just to get POUNDED by H-Town and GSW.
If the Lakers maintain their net rating, Paul George could get them all the way to .500, assuming Ingram pans out and Big Baller gets his catapult jumper fixed. All they would need is LeBron and Cousins, (which is inevitable according to ESPN) to become a 55 win team and in contention. I can't wait for the next laker dynasty after they go from 0 all stars to 3, but I'll have to polish by 14 ferraris first.
I agree...sure, they could build some 45 win team that gets bounced in the 1st or 2nd round, but they are so far away from title contention it’s not even funny I see no basketball reasons to go to LA Does their front office give u much confidence? No. Has Luke Walton proven anything as a head coach? No. Would u trust any of their young guys in a playoff series? No. Laker fans seem to think that Lebron will go there too, but if he’s about winning chips, then why would he?
George teaming up with Blake and DJ on the Clippers always made more sense to me than the Lakers, and if Doc hadn't signed Gallo and Austin to those stupid contracts, they'd actually have the cap space to get it done.
