Thursday Bolts – 7.14.16
Bobby Marks of The Vertical: “The Thunder learned this summer the harsh reality of free
agency. While no one can criticize the approach Oklahoma City took with Durant, a different philosophy will be needed with Westbrook. If Westbrook declines renegotiating his contract, the Thunder would be best served to gauge the temperature of teams around the NBA on the value of Westbrook. The challenge for Oklahoma City is finding a suitable package of players and assets to replace a franchise-level player, with the downside of Westbrook having an expiring contract. The trade market has shown that teams are reluctant to move valuable assets for players on expiring contracts. If there is uncertainty of Westbrook remaining in Oklahoma City, Thunder management could work with Westbrook and his representatives to find a team that he would commit to with a new contract.”
Kevin Durant to Sina: “I just told him. I let him know how I felt. Obviously, our relationship won’t ever be the same again. But it’s something I wanted to do, and I expressed that to him. Hopefully he respected it.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “You only get a player like Westbrook (or Durant) once or twice in roughly 15 years and there is no real path to title contention without a player like that, if not multiple players like that. Problem is, Westbrook is, of course, a free agent next summer, so the Thunder can throw everything at keeping him and then end up losing him anyway, meaning they then would’ve lost two franchise players in consecutive years. It’s hard to imagine a small-market organization recovering from a hit like that any time soon.”
Berry Tramel: “Trading Westbrook would be the ultimate white flag. A sign that the Thunder is starting over. The trouble with starting over is that it has no correlation with returning to glory. The climb back is long and steep and sometimes unattainable. Trading Westbrook is like getting stuck in Donner Pass. The whole point of having basketball teams is collecting players like Durant and Westbrook. Lose one, build around the other. Lose a second? It was worth the gamble.”