No, it's just the losing that has done that. If they had actually landed even 1 star in the last 2 top 3 picks, people would view the team MUCH differently. No one really cares about a salty washed up John Wall. The state of the franchise is bad because the rebuild has gone poorly thus far. If the Rockets land Wemby or Henderson and they end up actually being as advertised, things will change overnight.
Short term, OKC is definitely better off right now just having Shai alone. If Chet ends up being anything, that just puts them further ahead. Now the real question is, will they be able to keep those players once they hit FA? I kind of doubt it. No one that has options chooses to stay in Oklahoma.
Don't put words in my mouth .... I never said anything of the sort. Your reading things that just aren't there.
There are no guarantees and the belief that a rebuild will be done in 3 years is short sighted. As for OKC, they were able to get assets from the Rockets and Clippers to help their rebuild. The Rockets got assets from the Nets. OKC has only been rebuilding for 2.5 years; as long as the Rockets. The issue isn't the rebuild or the Rockets record - the issue is that the culture and coaching have been really poor. The Rockets do not and shouldn't cut their rebuild short and try to sign players because the Rockets lack a franchise player at this point.
I hope they are better off right now they have been rebuilding since Durant left and that's even with all the draft choices and getting Shai. And even if they are farther along, what does that really mean they are a 1st round maybe? So to sum it up they have Shai and have had multiple lottery picks since trading Durant and have been to playoffs once and are under 500 in 10th place is that a contender or would anybody be happy with that? We got people saying the rebuild should be over just 3 years, that's what I'm pushing back against.
Yes you did. Regardless of where they pick in the coming draft, I'm done with the tank after this season. They simply cannot be bad next year and hand OKC a lottery pick. They absolutely must make the playoffs next season and ensure any pick they send OKC is 15th or worse meaning no chance of winning the lottery.
I'm not so certain that $300m per owner as a franchise fee is enough when that's 10% less than their annual revenue per team when last year, they broke $10B in revenue across the league (average $334m per team). I do think it's inevitable that expansion occurs but again, they have to do something more to help these smaller markets compete with the bright lights of the big cities where all these young multimillionaires want to set up shop. It's a real competitive balance issue easy to see when you simply look at the last 20 NBA championship teams - 14 of the last 20 coming from 3 cities - LA, Golden State & Miami and those same 3 cities having had at least one representative in the Finals in 18 of the last 20 NBA Finals and one year two of them faced off. The 2021 Finals was the first time since 2007 that at least one of those 3 teams weren't in the finals. I could go deeper down this rabbit hole .... but there's no need at least in this thread.
OKC already had a guy who was much better than anyone on the Rockets and had more draft choices while the Rockets are rebuilding from scratch and even than are OKC contenders which is what people are saying we should be going into next year. OKC has been gifted with a lot a draft capitol and players from trades, yet they are nowhere near being contenders again, but we are supposed to be finished after this year? OKC was a lot farther along than the Rockets 2.5 years ago.
Read please, I said for one of the tiniest markets they are. Obviously Rox are in the category of Dallas, Philly etc above midsized market size. If you are an OKC mosquito you can't be heavy weights with the whales, the elephants and grizzly bears. Apart from every team wanting to go to the Finals which isn't realistic.
whether you agree with wall's comments or not, it put the light on Stone and Silas and they're the laughing stock alongside the team. there's no more hiding. i hope more embarrassing stories come out.
People panicking for no reason... We move Jalen, Martin, and a Nets pick for a star level talent and pair them with a free agent, our 2024 pick, Sengun, Jabari, KPJ and a new coach things are fine... losing stinks... prefer shortest time possible which means avoiding mediocrity.
I agree that he sucks and I didn't want him near the players. But like I said if everyone just knew that anyway, cut your losses and waive him. Honestly we're executing this rebuild how I would in a video game. Hire a bad coach, set a bad rotation, lose a ton, draft high, wnd then actually start playing in a few years. Problem is, these are real human beings and not pixels. They have feelings that have to be considered. Honestly, I'm completely down with losing but it could have all been done with more finesse. This **** actually affects free agency and player motivation.
That’s fair. And I actually agree with you that their mindset after the Russ trade was probably to bottom out. CP3 changed that trajectory, and pushed OKC’s rebuild back another year. Which was my original point. Whether intentional or not, OKC’s rebuild started at the same time as ours. ^^^^^^^^^
