Rebuilding the Oklahoma City Thunder with one NBA2k17 offseason

The Thunder are at a crossroads. Following the departure of Kevin Durant, many expected the franchise to crumble. Instead, Russell Westbrook lifted them from the ashes and turned in one of the greatest regular seasons in NBA history.

While Westbrook carried the team to the sixth seed in the West, they flamed out in five games to the Rockets. Anyone who watched the series saw the flaw — the team simply couldn’t compete when Westbrook went to the bench. That made Sam Presti’s job in the offseason clear: get Russell Westbrook help.

That obvious plan had a flaw in and of itself. What did getting Westbrook help mean? Due to being in cap hell and Presti’s “always get younger” philosophy, the Thunder couldn’t exactly add a second superstar to play alongside Westbrook. And even if they could, would Westbrook and say, Blake Griffin, be enough to dethrone the Warriors? Probably not.

Presti entered the 2017 offseason knowing what he needed to do by getting Westbrook help, but keeping the title window with Westbrook open for as long as possible.

Here’s what happened:

The first two deals involved getting rid of Kyle Singler and Semaj Christon because they aren’t very good at basketball and Enes Kanter because of his $17 million contract. In return, Presti managed to snag Demetrius Jackson, Miami’s 2020 2nd round pick, C.J. Miles and Glenn Robinson III. It’s not a blockbuster haul, but enough to provide the team with a little flexibility.

Next, trading Michael Beasley, who signed a small free agent deal, for Andre Iguodala, who signed with the Grizzlies. Iguodala would be a good role player, but Thunder fans were too outraged that Presti would acquire a Warriors player who was part of the Durant meetings. Thus, Presti was forced to move Iguodala. He packaged Iguodala with Taj Gibson and Jackson and sent them to Denver for Kenneth Faried and the Nuggets’ 2020 1st round pick (unprotected).

Prior to that, Presti acquired the Rockets’ 2020 1st round pick (top 3 protected) and Jerian Grant for Miles. Grant would be reunited with his brother, Jerami, and be a better option than Christon off the bench.

But that wasn’t good enough for Presti. He felt he needed to do more. So, now having enough cap space, he signed Shaun Livingston. Thunder fans were fine with this because Livingston was not part of the Durant meetings and they were dying for a proven back-up point guard.

Now, however, Presti was addicted. He felt he got Westbrook the help he needed in the form of Livingston and Faried. Those two wouldn’t push the Thunder past the Warriors, but no one — short of LeBron James — was going to make that happen. He wanted to make sure the team could compete when the Warriors were forced to disband due to NBA expansion and contract demands.

Presti traded Glenn Robinson III for the Bucks’ 2020 1st round pick (lottery protected) and Shabazz Napier. This gave OKC three point guards behind Westbrook. To remedy this, Grant was traded to the Hawks for Cleveland’s 2019 1st round pick (top 10 protected).

Now, Presti decided to scoop up some decent free agents willing to sign for the veteran minimum. Yi Jianlian and Spencer Hawes were signed and immediately traded for Miami’s 2020 1st round pick (top 10 protected), the Knicks’ 2020 2nd round pick and the Nets’ 2020 2nd round pick.

In all of his trigger happy gloriousness, Presti accidentally traded Faried to the Wizards for Washington’s 2020 1st round pick (top 3 protected) and Ian Mahinmi’s terrible contract. Listen, Sam was a little drunk and feeling bad for Scott Brooks.

All of this led to a series of deals that saw Presti turn Mahinmi into Jared Dudley, the Clippers’ 2018 2nd round pick and the Raptors’ 2018 2nd round pick.

This is where things got really crazy. Presti, after hanging out with Phil Jackson, signed Zaza Pachulia. As you can imagine, no one in Oklahoma City was happy. Presti received death threats. Most of them from Westbrook.

Acting fast, Presti sent Zaza, along with Dudley, to Toronto for DeMarre Carroll and the Raptors’ 2019 2nd round pick. In two minor deals, Presti got Derrick Jones Jr. from Phoenix and JaMychal Green from Detroit and the Rockets’ 2019 2nd round pick.

After a long offseason fueled by Jack Daniels, here’s what the Thunder roster looked like heading into the 2017-18 season:

The starting lineup of Westbrook, Roberson, Carroll, Green and Adams gave the Thunder some much-needed shooting from the forward position and an extra defensive edge. The biggest upgrade would come to the bench. Livingston would solidify the back-up point guard spot; Oladipo could be the scorer off the bench that Presti envisioned when he acquired him at the 2016 NBA Draft; Abrines and McDermott would provide shooting; Grant and Jones would provide dunking; Justin Jackson (taken 21st overall in the 2017 NBA Draft) would give them flexibility; and Sabonis would hopefully grow into a dominant post player. And, when all else failed, enter Nick Collison.

Next: The Cavaliers need a backup plan

The team would be deeper and slightly less reliable on Westbrook in the 2017-18 season. Presti had accomplished that part of his mission, but he also opened the window to the future.

Presti had acquired five 1st round picks in the 2020 draft to go along with his own first round pick. That could easily turn into seven first round picks if the Cavaliers’ 2019 1st rounder, which is top 10 protected, rolled over. And if James were to leave the Cavaliers in the summer of 2018, that pick would roll over.

And you thought Danny Ainge liked acquiring assets.

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