Although not my home or favorite team I remember watching y’all specifically for that Durant, Westbrook, and harden trio. I really thought if y’all kept that y’all were bound to get rings. Are y’all ultimately happy with how things are now or would you go back in time and beat the person who made that decision.
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Well it wasn’t just one decision. Was the Harden trade good? No, it wasn’t. But I also don’t think Harden becomes a superstar in OKC. He needed his own team to make that leap.
As for Russ and KD, our FO tried everything to keep KD. We had Al Horford ready to sign with us and had just almost beaten the 73-9 Warriors. But KD wanted easy rings like the bitch he is.
So I don’t think there’s anything Presti could have done differently other than not trading Harden. KD had assured our entire front office he was re-signing. Can’t help that he lied cause Draymond was in his ear the whole time.
The main things I would change don’t even involve the big 3. It would involve our role players and competitive depth. We relied too heavily on that trio and then on Russ and KD after Harden was gone. If Presti had built a better bench and used assets better for better depth I think we would have won at least one ring.
In my mind a couple of huge do overs would have been:
- Not done the Singler trade.
- Perkins was the wrong big
- Scott Brooks’ insistence on playing Perkins probably cost us a ring. (Specifically a coaching issue).
- Ferguson was a huge liability even though he was a lockdown defender. Couldn’t shoot enough to keep him on the floor.
Honestly have never thought about this once in my entire life. Thank you for granting me this newly found consideration. 🙌🏽❤️
“Hey guys. I got a take that nobody has ever discussed before. What if the Thunder never traded James Harden???”
The trade was terrible in hindsight. I think just about everyone except the most delusional Presti stan is on the same page there. We also should have fired Brooks much sooner. There were drafting mistakes. It happens. Our GM is very good but not infallible and he has his weak spots. But he’s shown to be adaptable and I think he’s learned a ton of lessons from that 2012 squad. I still think he’s one of the best in the league.
We should note how Serge’s injuries in the playoffs and Russ’s the 2012-2013 season (FREAKING PAT BEV) really derailed things.
As far as the trio goes… it hurt, but seeing Harden and his off court antics makes it hurt less. Maybe we could’ve won a championship with that trio before Harden became the “system” (and party-er) he is today but I don’t think it would’ve been sustainable, especially with the lack of depth.
The team is much deeper now and (as the past few seasons have taught us) you have to fail sometimes before you succeed. Who knows…maybe keeping Harden ruins our chances of getting the team we have now…and (although it’s early)I think I’d rather have this team this year than any previous team. Again…it’s early tho
Come in violence or don’t come at all
I’m not familiar with NBA subreddit cultures but wow that’s drastically different than MLB subreddits
Personally, I feel it was a combo of Harden and Bennett that made that decision.
And “trio” is a slight oversight as Ibaka was a major part of that team.