Thunder Days of Christmas: A Wish
Christmastime is here, but the Thunder have been booted from the schedule of nationally televised holiday games. Since the usual visions of Conference Finals preview matchups aren’t dancing in our heads, we thought we’d offer some jolly reflections for Daily Thunder readers.
What I Want for Thunder Christmas: Peace and good will among all Thunder fans
Fans are defecting from Team Tank to Team Compete quicker than Abdel Nader decides to shoot after receiving a pass, and some cold water reporting on the league’s likely trade activity might mean that the rebuild wouldn’t be accelerating this season even if the team was well outside the playoffs in the standings. But this isn’t a single-season debate. The short term vs. long term war marches on regardless of a battle here or there, and Sam Presti has made the outcome of that crusade clear: the team won’t be shored up by vets or charged with soon-to-be-expiring stars anytime soon. Looming decisions on Danilo Gallinari, Dennis Schroder, even Nader, will keep picking at this question, and fans will feel some type of way about all of them.
Whether the team gets swept in the first round, miraculously wins the lottery, trades away your favorite would-be untouchable, or gets struck with an injury that makes a large salary both unmovable and more harmful to the team’s outlook, let’s not fight. We can all agree that winning is fun and rebuilding takes patience. Some of us value the different stages of team building differently, and it doesn’t make us worse or better as fans. We all want the Thunder to be great, and none of us have the burden of running the team. Let’s enjoy the wins while they last, hope in the picks as they accumulate, and analyze the bigger picture–not each other’s intelligence–as it unfolds.
What I don’t want: A Warriors lottery prize
This is petty. But the Warriors have had too much good fortune already for me to be happy that a well-timed Steph Curry injury could help reload their coffers. Golden State’s recent title stretch and health blip after a roster shakeup makes tanking for them convenient. Losing will never feel convenient in Oklahoma City, and I just couldn’t take another round of Warriors brass taking lightyears credit for something that fell into their lap like a franchise cornerstone at the top of the draft.
Share your own Thunder Christmas wishes in the comments, ya filthy animals.
