What Happened to The OKC Thunder?!?
The Oklahoma City Thunder had huge expectations before the season started. They were able to pull off two big trades that landed an “All Star”, Paul George from the Indiana Pacers and Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks. The expectations were through the roof for this team and some pundits were even wondering if they would be able to compete with the Golden State Warriors and come out of the west but things did not go according to plan this season. The newly minted “Big 3” failed to live up to expectations and they never really seemed to mesh well and perform as expected. The team won 48 games this season and while that is a decent number this definitely fell below expectations this season especially with the moves that were made. Many have started to question whether or not Billy Donovan is the right man for this job, he had the talent but for some reason they couldn’t get it together on the court.
Superstars in their own right, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook struggled all year and did not meet the huge expectations that were set for them this season. Photo chat sports.com
Russell Westbrook as we know made history again this season as he averaged another triple double, Paul George did not see much of a dip in his overall production this season as he earned another all star nod but Carmelo Anthony seemed to struggle a bit. The career 24 PPG scorer only averaged 16 per game and shot only 40 percent from the field, this caused many people to start the whispers about Melo being done and not being the same player anymore but lets not forget the fact that he played out of position all season as he started at “power forward” instead of his normal “small forward” position.
Westbrook and George performed well together this season. But didn’t get it done when the playoffs came around. Photo SI.com
This off season is going to be huge for the Thunder. There is the looming free agency of Paul George who while has said all the right things during the season about Oklahoma City; being a great place for him there still seems to be many people that think he will bolt for the Lakers once he is able to do so. We also have Carmelo Anthony and what he plans on doing and whether or not he would be willing to come off the bench if he returns to the team next season. Melo is owed 28 million dollars next season. I do not see him opting out of that much money and try to hit the open market where he wont command nearly as much money. Melo has a “no trade clause” in his deal and is not willing to accept a role coming off the bench as he indicated in his interview after the season was over. Billy Donovan while many feel he is a good coach he might not be the right coach for this team and the Thunder may go a different direction. He hasn’t pushed them over the hump since he’s been there and lets not forget he blew a 3-1 lead to the Golden State Warriors during the 2016 playoffs and this was with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on the same team. It may be time for a change and he might be one of the changes that get made in the process, there have not been any reports so far but I am sure that some rumblings will start in the upcoming weeks.
Things didn’t go as planned for Carmelo Anthony in OKC. As his numbers dropped this season many are left to think this may be the end of the road for his career. Photo Bleecher report.com
The cloud of uncertainty is definitely looming for this franchise. Should the fan base get ready for another disappointment if Paul George decides to leave for the Lakers or will the Team convince him to stay put and build alongside Westbrook? General Manager Sam Presti has his hands full but he must make those necessary moves in order to keep the team going. He should have a conversation with head coach Billy Donovan at some point in regards to his future because his performances in the last three years have been unacceptable. A conversation will have to be had with Carmelo Anthony and his representatives about his role and what he should expect going forward or what his options might be. They have the talent which is why first round exits like the one they just suffered to a young Utah Jazz team is unacceptable. This summer will tell us a lot as to where the future of this team is headed and I, like many fans, will be watching closely because something tells me things will be getting real tricky.
As the OKC Thunder were eliminated in the first round of the NBA Playoffs many people speculate that Billy Donovan may not be the right person for the job. Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images
The Thunder finished this past season 48-34 and finished 4th in the Western Conference. They were defeated 4-2 in the first round by the Utah Jazz.