Five thoughts on it being over, and what’s next

USATSI

First, sad faces all around. Look, we knew the season was over the second Kevin Durant went under the knife a third time. It split the fanbase between those wanting to tank for the lottery, and those that wanted a taste of the postseason because the postseason is fun.

In the end, 45 wins in the West wasn’t enough because of a ridiculous double-clutch buzzer-beater.

But really, there are far better what-ifs to go around. E’Twuan Moore’s game-winner. Damian Lillard’s 3. The deuce they dropped in New York. The deuce they dropped in Sacramento. The countless 50-50 games they couldn’t win. It truly just was not their year.

So it’s over now. Six very long months until is all gets going again. From now until then will feature plenty of questions, gripes and some rumory rumors. Here are five thoughts:

1. Scott Brooks deserves another year.

Now, let me re-explain my position on Brooks since it’s so very, very hard for so many to comprehend. Yes, I think Brooks is a good coach. He’s established that, taking a group of immature 20-year-olds and growing them into a contender in three years. The success the team has experienced under him speaks for itself. Or at least it should.

He has his flaws. Big ones. He may not be the right coach for the Thunder. But my position is, we also can’t be sure someone else is the right coach for the Thunder either. It’s a bit of a gamble either way, so where I view it, Brooks simply hasn’t done enough to lose his job, to lose his chance at proving it. You can point at underachievement or lack of imagination, but the facts are this:

• Russell Westbrook tore his meniscus in 2013
• Serge Ibaka basically blew out his calf in 2014
• Kevin Durant played 27 games this season

That’s what has happened under Brooks’ direction since taking a bunch of 23-year-olds to the Finals. Is that really enough to say he should be gone? Red Auerbach himself wouldn’t have been able to overcome Westbrook’s injury. Ibaka’s was devastating, if only because it came against the Spurs, a team he was absolutely essential against. And Durant, well, that goes without saying.

If you’re saying simplistic regurgitated things like “he didn’t ADJUST” then you just have no clue what you’re talking about and are merely repeating a word you thought sounded good that you heard from someone else. Because Brooks tried a whole lot this season. Different lineup combinations, different rotations, different sets, different defensive coverages. Problem was, he didn’t have the right personnel for most of it to work. At some point it’s about the players you have on the floor, and for most of this 82 game schedule, Brooks had about 60 percent of his roster to use. It’s hard to make massive adjustments defensively when you only have three available big men, all three 22 or under, one a rookie and the other a second-year guy.

Another thing: Why is it that Brooks gets no grace simply because he coaches Durant and Westbrook? Tom Thibodeau has been lauded for his ability to keep the Bulls afloat during Derrick Rose’s injury issues. You know his records the last three years? 48-34, 45-37 and 50-32, and this season he had Rose for some of it and Pau Gasol for all of it. The reason Thibodeau is seen as great — and he is, don’t get me wrong — is because he kept a team without its star together behind a strong defensive scheme and a patchwork roster of players most didn’t see as that good. Well, Westbrook is awesome alright, but after that, is the Thunder roster really all that incredible? Is Kanter, Morrow, Waiters, Augustin, Adams, Roberson and Collison better than Butler, Noah, Gibson, Dunleavy, Brooks, Hinrich and Mirotic? The Bulls have been to one conference finals with Thibodeau; Brooks has been to three, and an NBA Finals. Oh, but you say Derrick Rose has been hurt. Ahem, well…?

There may be a better coach available. There may be one sitting right there ready to take the Thunder to the next level. Or maybe Scott Brooks just needs a full year with all his players to do it himself.

2. The Thunder should’ve done better.

There are a lot of reasons they didn’t make the playoffs, many very good and very understandable, but they still should be in the playoffs. There are 5-10 games that could’ve gone their way that didn’t, but they put themselves in the position to lose those.

Losing seven of their final 11 is the real issue. They had won four straight and we’re firmly in position to not just get into the playoffs, but had an outside chance to catch the Mavericks for the 7-seed. Instead, they got obliterated by the Spurs which started an ugly downward spiral.

That’s on Brooks. That’s on the players. There had to be some mental fatigue in that, but it also came down to them not making the right plays to win. Missing 17 free throws. Giving up 135 points to the Mavs. That stretch where they turned it over every time they touched it.

The Thunder gave this away more than it was taken from them.

3. Russell Westbrook had an amazing season.

Seriously, just sit back and appreciate it for a second. Yeah, no playoffs. No ringzzz. But Westbrook was ridiculous in the 67 games he played, putting as much effort and intensity on the floor on a night to night basis that I’ve ever seen. He’s still flawed and didn’t carry the team as well as Durant did last year, but you can’t fault the effort.

4. This team is going to be pretty good next season.

The next time you see the Thunder play, they’ll have one key addition: Kevin Durant. Should be a nice pickup.

If — IF! — the Thunder can maintain decent health throughout next season, they could be a regular season juggernaut. If you could guarantee me limited injury issues, I’d pick the Thunder to win 65 games right now. I think they’re going to be dominant.

(And that’s one thing that would annoy me about canning Brooks. If the Thunder did, and brought in whoever — Billy Donovan, Kevin Ollie, Fred Hoiberg, etc — they may go on to have a Warriors-like season, and everyone will say it was the coaching change, when in reality, they were headed for success just by virtue of having their great players available to play.)

Who knows exactly how the rotation figures out, but my early guess at the starting lineup is Westbrook, Roberson, Durant, Ibaka and Adams. Enes Kanter is the wildcard there, but I think the Thunder are going to view him sort of in the same light they did James Harden. An offensive specialist that can change games on one end of the floor. I suspect the Thunder will attempt to stagger Durant and Westbrook a tad more, letting Westbrook share court time with Kanter as much as possible and Durant to carry other units.

Then when it comes to closing, it’ll be a matchup option. Go small with Durant at the 4 with Ibaka, go big with Durant, Kanter and Adams, go super big with Durant, Ibaka, Kanter and Adams, or go somewhere in between.

And something else to keep in mind: Durant will be 27 next season. Westbrook as well. Ibaka 26. Kanter 23. Adams 23. McGary 22. Waiters 23. These guys should come back better than they were.

5. What’s the offseason look like?

The first order of business is to cross your everythings and hope the Thunder beat all odds and sneak into the top three of the lottery. Right now, it’s a 98.2 percent chance they get the 14th pick. But they have a 0.07 percent chance at getting the third, a 0.06 chance at getting the second and a 0.05 chance at getting No. 1 overall.

It’s happened before. The Magic pulled it off. Maybe the Thunder pull it off to get Karl-Anthony Towns.

Which leads to the next thing: The Thunder traded for Enes Kanter with every intention of re-signing him. What that deal looks like is yet to be seen, but I suspect an offer sheet in the $12 million range. Could be more. Doubt it will be less.

So what if they got into the top three? What do you do then? With Kanter, Adams, Ibaka, Collison and McGary on the roster, do you really go with another big, even if it’s a potential franchise block like Okafor or Towns? We’re getting away ahead of ourselves because this isn’t going to happen, but still.

I haven’t considered the draft much to really think about what the Thunder would need or want, but it wouldn’t shock me if they go international to stash someone. The reason they traded this pick at all was because they felt like they didn’t really have a place to add, especially since they’re high on Josh Huestis and even Alex Abrines.

This won’t be some electric offseason. The Thunder will probably do next to nothing in free agency. Because there’s no real reason to. They have an intriguing pick to make, an intriguing player to re-sign and most importantly, the time to get healthy again. Hopefully, for good.