Oklahoma City throttles Phoenix, 107-97

You are correct, it was OKC Baby - sorry

@Daniel Hawaii Haha, I'd rather the Thunder win. I'd only want San Antonio to win if they could possibly beat Lebron in the finals again.

@JimboSlice @The_Beard_Knows @[censored] See guys, if I was crazy, I'd be throwing ideas at you like, "get Demarcus Cousins! He wants out." He crazier than Rodman

@JimboSlice@The_Beard_Knows@[censored] Ha! I understand your fears of a "Thabo mirror." What I meant was he is similar in size and is a combo 2/3, however, if his projections are accurate, he could would fill Thabos spot but with more offense, comprable defense, and just better all around.

@Lambchop @[censored] Please no Thabo mirrors. And in Honeycutt's one preseason appearance for Sac he looked downright bad. However I do think RJ is a good fit at two. Even though we projected him to be RW-lite, the little playing time he's gotten he's looked a lot more James Harden-lite than RW-lite. Granted, we don't have an RW type coming off the bench so a James Harden type player doesn't probably bring the same dynamic to that second unit (once James Harden finally starts and Thabo's out of town or relegated to spot duty), but I think RJ could still fit in there quite well. I agree, if RW wants to go by all means let him go, but none of those players would pan out the way you projected them.

Thornton's very underrated, as a matter of fact I followed the Hornets closeley leading up to his arrival and was unhappy they picked collison when they did because I wanted Thornton, but on this team I don't see him fitting. Fredette will never pan out to be Barea, because he's simply not cut in that mold at all. Barea killed us with dribble penetration at will, which opened up the three point shot, Jimmer is the opposite; outside in.

I say, back to trade machine, cuz that Sac trade is based too much on hope and potential, and not enough on making us improve.

@[censored] I agree, topically this seems foolish, but why did we draft RJ in the first place when we already had 4 PG's? Is teh plan really to play him at the 2? I doubt it. If hes RW-lite like everyone thinks he is, the loss is reduced substantially and we add an explosive scorer at the 2, improve team chemistry and ball movement exponentially and add two more dead eye 3pt shooters and save vastly on RWs resigning . Are there no pro's to this scenario? Hey, if they would give us Honeycutt out of teh deal too, that would be great since he i potentially an upgraded mirror of Thabo

@The_Beard_Knows@[censored] I agree, I think - and Im not judging him for it - Russ is not going to be satisfied until he gets his own team where he can be the no 1 like Rose and receive the same accolades which he could do and would deserve. This needs to be taken into consideration. If he wants to go, we should absolutely make no attempt to persuade him otehrwise.

@[censored] Harden is ready to step up and Thornton has more than proved himself to be a 20 ppg player. Statistically speaking, hes the equivalent of Eric Gordon, but EG gets all the praise. If Fredette can be that barea, I think its an excellent payoff. Afterall, he murdered us in teh playoffs

@The_Beard_Knows@[censored]@Lambchop As Justin said, the only viable trade option out there is Dwight Howard for Russ. CP3 wouldve also made some sense, but is obviously not happening. Anything else is too much of a downgrade at point guard without enough of an upgrade anywhere else. When you've got a top 25 player you're considering trading, the options are extremely slim unless you're planning on going into rebuilding mode.

Personally, although I'd like to see him pass more as we all would, I think the biggest area he needed to work on, and obviously didn't, was his in-between game (both shooting and decision making) from 10-17 feet. Not just being able to shoot a floater, but knowing what options are there and being able to exercise them the second you hit the free throw line. All of my point guard mentors growing up used to stress knowing how the play is supposed to finish by the time you hit the stripe. Russ is too much of an "all or nothing", either a layup/ dunk or long 2/3, which takes a player who should be unguardable, and makes him containable. This I put partly on Russ, partially on whoever is working him out, and partially on the coaching staff.

It's really crazy looking at my last paragraph and thinking about how intertwined so many of our problems, as a team and individually are... and then to think that we're still such a daggone good team despite those.

@[censored]@Lambchop I agree that Thornton and Jimmer represent a poor return on the trade. I think we are all dramatically overreacting. I know, personally, I was hoping that RW would see facilitator and court general as the primary things he needed to work on in the offseason. If he did work on them, it hasn't shown yet.

Somehow I think the fact that Rose won the MVP dug deep into RW's psyche. Look how almost indiscernible the two were already, training in the same gym, same draft, same intangibles, same ridiculous ceiling. I fear he decided his natural direction should have been to take more 3s, work on his pull up jumper and attack more (things Rose was lauded for last year). The problem is that they have rather discernible teams and our team's needs differ from a perceived personal need.

@Lambchop Even beyond this, M. Thornton and Jimmer Freddette is a terrible return for a player of Westbrook's caliber.

@Lambchop If Russell Westbrook is to be traded (and he shouldn't be), then I think the strategy should be to try to get a better player in return. Dwight Howard seems like the only real target to me, and it'd require Russ + parts. Still a fantasy. Trading Russ for a few lessor players puts a lot of pressure on someone like Harden, Ibaka, or whoever you get back to be that second star player that we'll need to take a Finals.

@Lambchop westbrook is an all star. thornton is an instant-offense bench guy at best (which, as youve said, our bench doesnt really need because they already have harden) fredette is a rookie shooting 36.8% with a PER of 6.8 so lets wait until he shows he can do something besides jack up three pointers before we start throwing him in trades for an all-nba performer. even in your projected minutes thing up there youre basically saying this trade would be for thornton straight up.....which is insane.... bottom line is anyone who wasnt saying "trade westbrook" at the end of the regular season last year needs to calm down and wait for him to turn his game around. hes a very talented basketball player who will eventually get out of this beginning-of-the-year-slump (which is the only reason everyone has jumped on the trade westbrook bandwagon). when he starts averaging 22-8-5-2 again and you still want to trade him ill listen, but for now, dude.....thornton and the jimmer? really?

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The Thornton scenario, perhaps at many peoples disgust, intrigues me more. Thornton is one of the more underrated players in the game. a 38% career 3pt shooter (50 this year so far), has the skills to drive to the hoop and can rebound. If he were to join our starting line up (he averaged 21 last year as a starter, and this year has a PER of 19) he would greatly benefit our offensive production and would never try to transcend our number 1 option, KD. His offense would totally compensate for Russ's, but also we would gain on a more idel and ligical distribution of each players USG, and achieve a consistency with each players understanding of his role. To me, this would undoubtedly improve our chemistry. Even if Thornton didnt start, taht would mean, Harden would be, and Harden is about to explode into one of the better 2 guards in the league. IF Reggie is not ready to be the back up PG, Harden could easily step in and Reggie, Thornton, Cook or Freddette could work the two. For the naysayers of this scenario, I do believe teh original reasoning to draft Reggie, say instead of Jordan Hamilton, was so he could be our Jason Terry, a 6'3" no 2. And, to me, undoubtedly, Freddette would absolutely serve in the capacity of JJ Barera,, who was lights our from 3 last post season and made several significant And 1's while driving to the hoop.

This is how I see it:

PG: Maynor 26-32 min, Harden: 0-8 min Reg 6-10, Fredette

SG: Thornton:20-24, Harden: 28-24(Or he starts) Reg 6-10

SF: Durant 37, Sef/Harden (Small ball) 11

The above is a rough proposal. My minutes are not exact, I am running late. However, I do believe this would benefit our overall team chemistry

@JimboSlice@thunderstruck87@Daniel Ha! "Frollicking?" To be sure!! How right you are. You remember that kool-aid I was chugging last year?!?! Man, I must have been schlepping and slopping it all over the place. True, I was smitten! I was made in love with the powder blue! Oh, how I was! Truth is, I still am. I understand the half-mad, twice-mad appearances of my propositions, but let me explain: I love Russell Westbrook, I defended his hero mode and need to prove himself with an acute histrionics of his rise to stardom. I love the man, I do. However, the more I watch, the more I doubt, not his ability, but his inclination towards becoming a pass first PG. My hope is that i am wrong, however, if I am not, that style of play will forever be a crutch towards a more fluid team style of play, crippling progress. His overwhelming talent, along with KDs has willed our team to victory on many occassions, And, although in most cases the first 5 games are by no means a sound enough sample of how to project final outcomes, it seems to me, with the wealth of scrutiny, a summer to reconsider his contribution to this team, its seems he would have erred on the side of caution, rather than amp up his faults.

@Lambchop @thunderstruck87@Daniel While I agree with many of your points about WHY to worry and possibly have him traded, your trade scenarios probably deserved to go into the negative points. Devin Harris? Marcus Thornton? I appreciate you coming to the darkside finally (the critical more-knowledgeable-than-the-average basketball fan) because I do remember your frolicking in the poppy-seed fields of Thunder love last year, but those trade scenarios were all bad lol