Will they still be teammates in three years?

I can see it going either way with a slight hunch leaning towards no.

no way. westbrook wants to be the guy. and he's not. and he's probably good enough, or will be, to be THE guy.

i think westbrook sitting out the entire 4th yesterday was telling. Harden can easily be Durant's #2.

i don't think he's good enough to be THE guy. if he is that team, whichever it may be, will not be good.

Yes, selfishly

i say that because he's never gonna be as good as AI, D-Rose, Chris Paul, or even Deron Williams.

I agree that a team with Russwest as its best player probably isn't going to be that good. The Thunder have to be Durant's team and if he doesn't like it, Presti needs to find a new home for him.

Just a silly idea (assuming Howard wants to be traded this offseason and would re-sign with OKC)... Westbrook, Harden and Perkins for Howard. Then build around Howard and Durant.

sick to think of durant and howard together.

but, i think it's pretty clear howard wants a major market. isn't OKC literally the smallest one in the NBA

I think it's actually Salt Lake City, if we're talking population. i'd imagine portland and sacramento are about the same size or possibly smaller as well

NBATv said OKC is the smallest market in the nba

[This message has been edited by Simplebay (edited 5/20/2011 2:39p).]

If you're talking just OKC yes, but the Thunder take their efforts in marketing statewide (Tulsa) and north to Wichita (and to some extent, KC). Hell that still might make it the smallest.

I could see Westbrook staying, but I could also easily see him being "the man" for a perennial loser team like the Bucks, T'Wolves, or Raptors.

i think someone is going to overpay for westbrook.

russ is a vital part of this team, regardless of what the media has made him out to be. durant does not have an attack-the-rim mentality, russ does and without russ, it becomes a lot easier to defend OKC. i know they won last night without russ playing the 4th quarter, but that was an anomaly. they absolutely need russ to be on his game, especially late in games, if they want to advance.

without knowing how durant and harden grow as ball-handlers, it is hard to say whether russ is a necessary piece for the long-run. however, answering this question will likely depend on how the new salary cap is structured.

wacarnolds--you're not factoring in that they would get something of value for him in a trade...

quote:

---

wacarnolds--you're not factoring in that they would get something of value for him in a trade...

---

yeah but who do you trade him for? in his third season, he already made all-NBA 2nd team. there are 4 point guards with his upside (Rose, CP3, Rondo, DWill). Which of those guys are available? Trade him for anyone else and you take a significant dip at maybe the most crucial position on the court.

Russ has gotten a raw deal the past month. No he has not played perfectly, but his head coach has done a terrible job of putting him in a position to fail. the thunder do not run a coherent offense, just a bunch of iso. of course the point guard is going to look like a ballhog if you depend on him to create plays on his own.

and durant is not innocent in all this. he is my favorite player and i would not trade him for the next 2 best players in the league, but he has some flaws in his game that put additional pressure on russ. he sits around the perimeter with a defender absolutely draped all over him and people wonder why russ doesn't get him the ball. he doesn't use screens particularly well and is not a great off-the-ball player at this point. he depends too much on his height, instead of creating proper separation. i'm confident these parts of his game will develop with time, but at this point, he is not doing a whole lot to help russ either.

this is a players league. coaches are relatively insignificant compared to an all-nba team. russ is much more crucial to this team than coach brooks. if the 2 can't ultimately work together in the future, the smart decision is letting brooks go, especially since he has more flaws than russ.

Agree Westbrook can't be "replaced"-- but they could feasibly make a trade that makes them a stronger team.

From afar, it seems his personality is such that this is not a fixable situation. He wants to play like AI rather than play winning basketball. Won't/can't change his game. He views KD as a rival rather than (a) a teammate and (b) the best player on the team. It's a toxic situation.

Add to that the hostility toward the coach and... a championship becomes less and less likely.

quote:

---

From afar, it seems his personality is such that this is not a fixable situation. He wants to play like AI rather than play winning basketball. Won't/can't change his game. He views KD as a rival rather than (a) a teammate and (b) the best player on the team. It's a toxic situation.

---

they've played like this all season. why do you say he doesn't want to play winning basketball?

Just a lot of people, media included, who just started paying attention to this team in the playoffs, and couldn't be more wrong about westbrook. Views durant as a rival? Toxic situation? Doesn't want to play winning basketball?

Quit reading bill simmons and his cheesy "the wire" comparisons and stop listening to people who have zero read on this team. If you listen to brooks and the players, this is a non issue.

I agree that most of the perceived issue in OKC is based on conjecture. All the parties involved have said all the right things.

To me this all boils down to Westbrook's view of himself. Wac brings up some good points about how is game does in fact compliment Durant's. But does he want to be the man? The Thunder are, always will be and always should be Durant's team. Much like the Shaq/Kobe Lakers were always Shaq's team.

But if Westbrook understands his role as No. 2 (or 1B) and is happy with it, I think OKC could make it work for a long time... assuming there is no rift with Scotty Brooks.

I think part of the greatness of Westbrook is the way that team is built. You have to deny Durant the ball, and with shooters like Cook and Harden, it leaves a wide open lane when one of the posts it doing a pick and roll with Westbrook. It makes it incredibly tough to defend.

However, he is outstanding, and would be a nice pickup for any team. I do see him staying in OKC, however.

quote:

---

You have to deny Durant the ball, and with shooters like Cook and Harden, it leaves a wide open lane when one of the posts it doing a pick and roll with Westbrook.

---

I agree completely. The issue is, Brooks stubbornly plays Thabo with Russ/KD more than Harden. That is why I would like to see Harden inserted into the starting lineup. As it is currently set up, the starting lineup does not put enough pressure on the opposing defense, as Thabo/Ibaka/Perkins bring very little on the offensive end at this point.

Padz - does OKC like Westbrook? I'll admit I didn't watch any Thunder games until the semis, but he strikes me as a guy that I wouldn't root for. As others have said, Durant seems like a much better personality and teammate and I like him even as an Ag.

Durant is a very likeable person; one of the best people in professional sport IMO.

Proag...he is a lightining rod guy here, but most people would still say they'd rather have him than lose him. I would hate to lose him. Everyone talks of a true pg, but those guys are few and far between these days

I would not want him(westbrook) on my team. He is a ball hog and you can see the thug in him. He also looks like kenny wangler from the show oz.

Padz, I talked to the guy who is second in command to clay Bennett at lunch on Friday, and he told me that they traded green so they can sign Westbrook longterm, since they couldn't keep all three.

Westbrook won't go anywhere

quote:

---

you can see the thug in him

---

ignorant comment

Stephon Marbury, sans consumption of Vaseline.

He's not as good as Marbury was. But he's definitely not the team cancer Marbury was. Not even close.

Westbrook was a relatively late bloomer in college, who is still 22-years-old trying to adjust to the point guard position AND the spotlight. This is all very new for most players on that Thunder team. It's not hard to see why he's struggling here and there given the situation.

He had Collison running the point when they were at UCLA. He's learning the position now. And as a young and athletic player, it's hard not to try to take advantage of the opposition when you know you're one of the three quickest/explosive point guards in the league and the guy across from you is Jason Kidd.

The experience of Kidd and this Mavs team will likely win out, but I think this Thunder team should be the favorites to come out of the West next year.

You can tell that Westbrook wants to be the lead man for the team. If a real point guard like CP3 went to the Thunder....I'd be very scared to face them.