Regarding Durant, the forward is now in Brooklyn, where his two years with the Warriors were a dream, and two years ago he was oklahoma's city hero. The Thunder were one of the most talented teams in the league at the time, with the 2016 Western Conference Semifinals Nick Spurs, the Finals and golden state Warriors at their peak, and they were once within easy reach of the championship, but now they can never go back. The Thunder have never broken through the first round after Durant left, and they chose to completely overturn the rebuild this summer, and the team was fragmented. Is the Thunder's current embarrassment due to the defeat of Durant, or the consequence of the management's one-handedness?
In the past three seasons, that is, since Durant's departure, the Thunder have made 14 trades, from the first man in team history to a certain section of the bench, and we can look at several transactions that have important impacts: Carmelo Anthony in the summer of 2017, Gibson in the summer of 2017, Schroeder after the failure of the Big Three in 2018, and Paul George in the summer of 2019. No one up and down the team has been spared trade, and now the Thunder are about to start rebuilding, and they have to send Adams away.
Adams, 26, is supposedly at the peak of his career, averaging 11.1 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game so far this season, but that number still doesn't stop the Thunder from sending him away. In the 2016 playoffs, the Thunder were able to cross the San Antonio Spurs, Adams was the greatest, he fought and defended the Thunder's penalty area on the inside, so that the double less could attack on the outside line, and then the Thunder also signed a 4-year and 100 million contract with him. But it is such a young center who still has some room to dig into the future, and has not been affirmed by the Thunder management, and if he has the opportunity, Adams may wear the jersey of other teams in the middle of the season.
Andre Robertson, who has been absent since January 28 last year, is another hero of the team, but because of the injury, he has spent nearly two years on the field, and it is a bit difficult to return to the field before the end of the season. Because the contract amount is huge, it is also a bit difficult for him to find a big contract at the Thunder in a way. If this is the case, then the lineup of the Resistance Warriors will completely cease to exist, which is very regrettable.
The countless reverie given to people three years ago, now there is only a broken team left, perhaps for a similar reason, let Durant leave the Thunder.
The Thunder's talk, if you really want to count, it began in 2012. In the 2011-2012 season, the Thunder team under the leadership of the three youngsters achieved a good record of 47 wins and 19 losses, in the playoffs all the way across the Mavericks, Lakers and Spurs, into the Finals, when Durant was 23 years old, Westbrook 23 years old, Harden 22 years old, such a young core lineup, but can lead the team to the Finals, can be described as young and promising, let people look forward to the future of this team.
However, this core lineup began to fall apart after playing that season at that time, the first to leave was James Harden, in the summer of 2012, the Thunder immediately did not renew Harden, the guard won the MVP trophy in the sixth season after leaving, and in recent years in good shape, on the road to history.
Logically, such a future superstar with unlimited potential, no team will easily let go, but back in the year, Harden repeatedly expressed his desire to stay to the Thunder management, but the Thunder did not keep him because of a salary of 6 million, just during the Finals, this is still the sharp soldier of james, and he has just won the best sixth man in the regular season.
In the summer of 2012, the Thunder management called Harden, who was recuperating at this time, received this call, and the Thunder said that they could only give him a 4-year, 56 million contract, but could not promise Harden the 4-year 62 million contract he wanted, and the Thunder only gave Harden two hours to consider. The threatening negotiation for a future superstar was humiliating, and in the end, the Thunder traded Harden to the Rockets in return: Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and two future draft picks.
This deal is a typical failure in history, and the extent to which Harden has grown today is obvious to all: mvp, two consecutive scoring champions, five best players, such a superstar will not let go of any team, but the Thunder gave it to them. This deal partly reflects the Thunder's vision, with just $6 million letting them send away a future MVP who paid the league's highest luxury tax two years ago.
The NBA is a vanity fair and a place where patience is needed, especially to develop players, which is a long cycle. For example, today's superstar Cowy Leonard is also the result of the Spurs' dedication to five years of training, Jimmy Butler is the result of the Bulls' painstaking management for 4 years, and the warriors' dynasty is also based on their own draft results: Curry has cultivated for five years, Thompson has cultivated for three years, Drummond Green has cultivated for three years, and everything is not a castle in the air, but a drop in stone.
The Thunder were too impatient in developing new players, leaving aside Harden and treating Ibaka, a meritorious veteran, who traded him in the summer of 2016 in exchange for Oladipo, Ilyasova and Sabonis Jr., and then traded Ilyasova in the middle of the season, and then traded Oladipo and Sabonis Jr. at the end of the season, and it turned out that Oladipo and Sabonis Jr. were now the dawn of the Pacers' reconstruction. It's also bizarre that they sent away Jeramie Grant this summer in almost unrequited manner. Ibaka was one of Durant's best teammates on the team, and the Thunder traded him privately, which became one of the reasons for Durant's departure later.
Looking back at the Thunder's series of operations after the 2016 playoffs, it reflects the insurability of the Thunder management in building the team, sending away Ibaka, using Oladipo and Sabonis a year later, pushing down again after the failure of the formation of the Big Three in 2017, and now sending George away, I have to say that the Thunder are too hasty about everything, even if they leave part of the lineup that year until now, they are a very competitive team. In the 2016 playoffs, it is definitely no accident that the Warriors can lead the best record in history 3:1, it is only the first year of Durant's return from injury, Westbrook's playing style is also becoming more and more mature, why not give them an extra year, instead of sending Ibaka, it is better to add outside pitchers in the offseason, they have a complete battle in the next year, to know that the combination of Durant and Westbrook is not inferior to anyone.
At the same time, the Thunder were the strongest force in the league, but their lineup was very deformed, and it was obvious that they needed a 3D type of number two position, but after all these years, they never tried to trade this type of player.
In the post-Harden era, who were some of the number two they introduced or corrected: Sophrosa, Dion Wittes, Andre Robertson, Doug McDermott, such players even fans can see that this is not what the team really needs, and why do professional basketball managers not realize it? The perennial weakness of the defensive line defense or three-point projection has greatly affected the power of the double less on the offensive end, and invisibly increased the pressure of the double less.
If you are a fan who cares more about the Thunder, you must have an impression of the title of "Du Fifteen". In the 2015-2016 season, Durant returned from injury, but at this time the Thunder team has undergone a major change of blood, and the manager has been replaced by Brooks to NCAA coach Billy Donovan, and at this time, Durant, who has returned from injury, seems to have problems with the team manager and the locker room.
Team coach Donovan has been critical of Durant's performance in many games, even if it is a simple mistake, he will show displeasure with Durant, in the future suspension will replace Durant, at the same time, in terms of tactical position on the court, Durant is obviously inferior to Westbrook, less tactics for him, at key moments, his chances of catching the ball have dropped significantly. When Durant brought the bench, role players such as Vites were more willing to start attacking and ending on their own, but ignored who was the core of the team, and Didovin did not say much.
Logically, when there is such a contradiction between the team's star and the manager, the team management will definitely stand up at the first time, support the players, and punish or dismiss the manager accordingly, but the Thunder management is not moved. The Magic were close to signing Duncan in the summer of 2000, but Rivers refused to let Duncan take his family on board and ended up missing out on the best big forward in history, which is a good example of how superstars should not be treated that way. But the Thunder management even turned a deaf ear to the problem of discord between the general manager, and Durant's choice to leave is not without reason, and now the team is fragmented.
Today, Durant has signed a contract with the Brooklyn Nets, and looking back on the dramatic plot of that year, it is lamentable. They are the only ones who destroyed the Thunder, the impatience, the lack of direction, the lack of vision for the player contract, and the attitude towards the superstars, all pointed to the Thunder management, and now the results are planted by their own hands. But Durant was pointed out by a thousand people, and the mistake was that he should not choose to join the Warriors, that is, the person who just beat them, and choosing the Spurs, choosing the Wizards in their hometown, and choosing the Celtics where bradley was from before, will not bring him today's wind evaluation.