Looks like OKC is in and if things remain as is, that final game between Minny and Denver is for all the marbles...Whoever wins is in. Now I want OKC to win out or lose one cause I don't think Utah is going to move off of the 4th seed and they will give Okc fits in the 1st round if they face them as the 5th seed. I agree with svtzr in that if the Dubs draw OKC in the 1st round without Curry, things could go down tragically for the defending champs. Either way, no matter how it all shakes out, screw PG if he decides to stay. Like Kob said, it takes a special type player to come be the man in LA and if he don't want it, then someone else will.
There are no easy outs in the West, but it is all about matchups. This will be fascinating to watch how it all shakes out. In the end, in order to be the best, you want to beat the best. And whoever comes out of the West I hope is capable of sweeping the Cavs (Who unfortunately have a good shot of coming out of the East again) Sigh...
Pelicans, Spurs w/o Leonard and Nuggets if they make it are the less difficult teams in the playoffs but a series against any of that teams will at least go to a 5. If you're a Top 4 team, you know Thunder & TWolves with Butler are trouble. Sent from my E6533 using Tapatalk
We'll get to 45 wins next year with or without PG, but if does come he'll get ALOT of the credit for making us competitive again. It's a golden opportunity for him to regain his allstar status. In OKC he'd be viewed as Westbrook's sidekick and miss the allstar team, again. He'd be a fool not to come, but hey... brotherhood.
just depends on what you want. okc is closer to competing at a high level (unless we got another big name FA with george). if all he wants is to compete, he could stay there and do that. if it were me, i'd go to la. but i've found most nba players don't think like me.
A lot of that will rest on PG looking deeper than what he currently sees on the floor. If he looks at future cap flexibility, age, and talent progression, LA is closer to him being able to win a championship, even as far away as we are. The most OKC can offer a player (outside of their own resignings) is the MLE for the next two seasons. Russell plays basketball like he's Wolverine, but without the regenerative abilities. If I'm PG, I look at the Lakers and Sixers.
it sickens me that philly's shameless tanking led to this, but they are a very attractive FA destination right about now.
With a win tonight vs the Heat, Okc locks up a playoff berth, but consider this...They're 46-34 with 2 games remaining. Last year they were 47-35. Yep PG, you're definitely a great fit there and were the difference maker this season. Meanwhile, the "losers" of the PG trade went from 42-40 last year with PG to 48-33 (w/ 1 game remaining) without him... Is it possible for soup to be watered down? PG needs to change up his current projection, cause as is his career looks tragically pessimistic if he stays the course.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. Whether PG comes to LA or not isn’t a big worry for me. I’ve just never seen what the hype is all about.
^^^To clarify my position, I would take PG in a second....especially after all the strike outs in free agency we have endured over the years. But I do think that George needs the right star to play with...I mean Kobe even needed that. He's not a max player IMHO....on the flip, LaBron has proven he is a max player. But like I said before, beggars can't be choosers and I really hope we can lock him up this summer, but my preference would be to 1st lock up LaBron, then George (even tho I do think they come as a combo deal either way this summer). All that said, I'm not going to shed a tear if we miss out on PG this summer, cause if he really thinks OKC is the right fit for him and he'll ultimately see success out there compared to here, then he's a legit dope and I don't want that type of weak-minded player as a potential franchise player here.
i think he's an outstanding player, one of the few legit two-way allstars in the league. he can fit anywhere, but that doesn't mean he's an ideal fit everywhere. okc's in a weird spot. if i were them, i'd strongly consider trying to get him to agree to a s&t of some sort this summer. i think the verdict is in: westbrook teams are westbrook teams. okc should just roll with it like houston did with harden: build the team around that one player's unique talents and let the chips fall. in houston, that strategy (after a few botches with different philosophy, i might add) ended up making more stars want to join up. it takes unique types of role players to thrive (and want to thrive) next to your westbrooks and hardens. i don't know if george is that guy. i thought he was nicely suited to that balanced indy team that gave miami some good competition a few years back. he could have that in la (or philly or some other spots). but again, i can't know what he wants at this point. his public statements indicate he'd stay in okc, but you have to feel that both sides should have some reservations about that.
This I know. It would be unethical and extremely unprofessional of him to speak of any word that hints even in the slightest any thought of leaving (not necessarily for us) the Thunder. Not with the post-season coming up and with how he has outspokenly expressed his plan back in his last year as a Pacer. You ask for free cookies from PG at this point of the season and he obliges? He might as well leave them hanging out to dry right now. Effect would be just as devastating and infuriating(from an OKC fan's perspective). One other thing. If we think there's a better player other than PG (outside of LBJ) in FA that would be enticed to come, or seriously considering our young core to just naturally develop and compete on their own as a better path, we're in for a rude awakening. As I and many others here have repeatedly said before, he may not be skilled enough to carry the team to promised land but that's not the point. Acquiring him is the necessary first domino that must fall. We say FA2019? Great. Another year with everything in our control. Who knows what will happen next season?!? We may have a chance of landing great FA/s in 2019 but think of that same chance with PG in our lineup? The plan is 1 year with PG and an improving young core. Then the following with most probably additional MAX STAR and a further improved young core. At this point all starters maybe sharing equal loads on both ends of the floor. Kuz-Ingram-PG-Ball. Then we maybe looking at a championship run the following season. That's 3 years from now with an old OKC, GSW and HOU. Our competition could be UTA and DEN then. I get that our young players have enormous potentials. But you know what they say about potential, it's a fickle thing. One time it's there, the following day it's gone as we've seen it appear disappear this entire season. I say cash in now and maybe next year and go get at least something that could keep and grow those potentials together. Sent from my E6533 using Tapatalk
^^^Alot of us get that and understand that PG had to say favorable things about OKC while he's in that uniform. Alot of what he says sounds similar to what he said in his final season with the Pacers, so it's safe to assume that it's just lip service. However there's a way to edit yourself and establish your bottomline without sounding disingenuous. Hate "The Decision", but other than that I don't mind LaBron's approach to free agency...He states that he's all about the Cavs this season and will approach free agency when it comes. Meanwhile you got PG trying to convince anybody that wants to listen that he's a company guy and will even try to help OKC recruit past this year...Wtf? Stfu and play out the season, then start talking about your upcoming years once its decided. Now if he chooses LA, I'm looking at the dude sideways thinking is there ever going to be anything he says that is sincere? Meanwhile OKC fans will burn his jerseys thinking he was full of s*** with that recruiting quote. He could have established a company line without going the extra mile...Unless of course he really meant it and plans to stay, in which case, f*** him!
It really is. I read that PG actually has an injury to his arm that he isn't talking about. He can be seen rubbing it a lot. Can you imagine replacing Reddick with PG right now? If Embiid were back for the playoffs, and they had PG instead of Reddick, I'd have them favored to come out of the East. Fortunately, Philadelphia as a city is one of the worst places a person could live in the United States. OKC looks like heaven compared to Philly. I've been to Philly twice, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to live there for anything other than the cheesesteaks, and how often can a person eat those things anyway?
Westbrook is playing injured.Whiteside just fell on him If he's not close to 100 % they will be swept no matter who's they are playing
If PG decides to stay, he wasn't the guy for us anyways. I think he will be easy to get over, but I certainly hope we have an equal or better replacement.
Well, Thunder are in, now it’s a matter of seeing. Currently at 5th, Utah at 4th, I don’t like that matchup for Utah. Would like to see them fall and play GS, Portland, or even Houston.
NBA currently shows Oklahoma -Portland CURRENT MATCHUP (3) Portland (48-32) Games remaining: 2 (1 Home, 1 Away) vs. +.500: 2, vs. West: 2 (6) Oklahoma City (47-34) Games remaining: 1 (1 Home, 0 Away) vs. +.500: 0, vs. West: 1
I don’t like Utah for OKC at all, I think Utah would be favourites there. Their defence is stifling. I think Portland has a better offence thank OKC and is a tough matchup too. GSW is their best matchup ironically right now. Durant is the best player in the series, followed by Westbrook and playoff PG. I think Adams is more impactful then this season’s version of Green and Klay. Then Melo is the worst of the top billing players. Either way OKC should have 3 of the top 4 players in the matchup. That goes a long way to winning a series.
