OKC/SA GDT

[Monster]

I'm on the opposite side of the Durant coin. If I was a general NBA fan, I'd want him to stay in Oklahoma City and win there. As a selfish Minnesota fan, I'd like to see him go to Washington or Miami. One less superstar in the West would be nice, especially considering OKC's in our division. With him gone, I don't see the Thunder being a real contender, which bodes well for us on the come up.

It would also be poetic justice for Thunder management. They built such an impressive roster, but then absolutely botched the rest of the process. I'm not mocking an NBA Finals appearance, because that is impressive, but only getting there one time with the amount of talent they had at one time is underwhelming.

I'm also tired of Durant trying to be a villain and a good guy at the same time. Make up your mind on the persona you want to portray. The KD that cried and told his teammates that they were the real MVP wouldn't have told the media that he wasn't going to tell them how he feels after a playoff loss. Give me a break.

To conclude, yes please, Kevin Durant. Get out of the Northwest Division. Take your talents to the nation's capital and reunite with Scottie Brooks. Sounds like a win to me.

Signed:

- A longtime Wolves fan who wants balanced NBA conferences, and a less brutal road to prominence in the West.

Yeah sure I'd like Durant out of the west also. :)

I'd say Stephen Adams is a key to saving the Thunder from totally botching all those moves. He is a key player now and likely for the future. The Thunder have done a pretty impressive job of drafting players. Trading them for value has been a little more questionable. They need to stop acquiring uber high usage guys I guess. Lol

[Duke13]

Their front office will always be remembered for the Harden trade. But they have had three years destroyed by injuries. Ibaka and Westbrook were each injured and not able to play in the playoffs in back to back years. Then last year with Durant out for basically the whole year. But with all that, they will be looked upon as an underachieving team.

[thedoper]

A lebron v Durant would be sweet. After a few games it was fairly clear that the thunder brought their game up a whole different level this playoffs. Something is clicking for Durant, he is playing mean and I love it.

[Duke13]

This is actually a very good conversation with Kenny, Barkley and Dwight. Dwight has answered some pretty difficult questions and appears to be handling it pretty well.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Just got back from my Tuesday night pick-up game so I missed this tilt, but it was nice to see a little game thread. A few comments to add.....

- Unlike Lip, I'm more annoyed by Westbrook and his constant scowl and histrionics.

- Wiggins is not going to become a great rebounder like Leonard. If there is one skill that rarely evolves much after age 20, it's rebounding. I'm not suggesting that he can't improve a bit in that area, but he simply doesn't have the hands or nose for the ball that Leonard does.

- On the other hand, I can definitely see Wiggins becoming a more prolific scorer. Leonard is a little like Jimmy Butler in that he has had to work his ass off to develop his offensive game and finally broke through the 20 PPG barrier in his 5th season. Well, Wiggins did that in his second season. Scorers usually peak between season 4 and 8, so imagine how much better he can get.

- Back to OKC.......Who woulda thunk Dion Waiters giving some productive minutes?

[Duke13]

I wouldn't of thunk it! Might be my least favorite player in the league. His attitude, demeanor and his game drive me crazy.

I would tend to agree with you on Wig, I see him improving but not to the level Kawhi is at currently. I hope Wig is working daily on hand strengthening exercises!!!

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

I don't necessarily want to see Wiggins score more unless he dramatically improves his efficiency. Instead, I'd prefer he develop a more rounded game. I want the guys who have the best TS% on the team to score more. Last year, Dieng at .601, Belly at .594 and Towns at .590 led our team in TS%. These are the guys who I want taking more shots than they did last year. Lavine, Bazz and Wiggins were bunched close together, all in the .540s. Ricky was at .529.

[60WinTim]

I feel bad for the Spurs. The 2-minute ref report is gonna show the missed foul call by Steven Adams tripping Green into Durant, giving Durant free throws and the lead in the closing seconds. That's two games the refs have screwed the Spurs at home.

I suspect this series will be the final straw that results in some sort of "coach's challenge" flag to have a play reviewed.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yes, I sent Wig two of these things over Christmas....

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I don't necessarily want to see Wiggins score more unless he dramatically improves his efficiency. Instead, I'd prefer he develop a more rounded game. I want the guys who have the best TS% on the team to score more. Last year, Dieng at .601, Belly at .594 and Towns at .590 led our team in TS%. These are the guys who I want taking more shots than they did last year. Lavine, Bazz and Wiggins were bunched close together, all in the .540s. Ricky was at .529.

Believe me, I've been as critical as anyone about Wiggins' efficiency, or lack thereof. However, he ended last season very strong and ended up at a respectable TS% of 54%. While I certainly don't want him forcing up bad shots, he has too much potential on that end not to continue finding ways to get him a lot of looks.

Also, you can't look at TS% in a vacuum. You have to look at their role on the team and usage % as well as TO %. If we were to suddenly make Dieng more of a focal point on offense, his scoring might go up, but his efficiency (in terms of missed shots AND turnovers) might go down. Also, he simply isn't capable of creating certain types of shots.

I think there is no question KAT can carry a bigger load and Bjelly can probably be used more effectively as well. But if anything, that could actually help Wiggins become more efficient since there will be multiple pressure points on the defense.