Return Of Kevin Durant Hinges On Actions Of Sam Presti
After a disturbing collapse, the OKC Thunder must do what they can to keep Kevin Durant around, starting with trading Enes Kanter.
As Game 7 ended, both of the ‘Stache Bros were on the bench, all $19 million per year of them.
The lineup of Russell Westbrook–Dion Waiters–Andre Roberson–Kevin Durant–Serge Ibaka finished the game for the OKC Thunder Monday night. Both Steven Adams and Enes Kanter had made an impact in the time previous of crunch time, but now they weren’t necessary.
Head coach Billy Donovan preferred to utilize Durant and power forward and Ibaka at center for the majority of fourth quarters while playing the Golden State Warriors. For that to work, the sub at guard had to be effective, and Dion Waiters was anything but effective the last few games.
Waiters put up five points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field and 0-for-5 from distance in a whopping 32 minutes off the bench. In Game 6, he was 1-for-5 from the field and in Game 5 he was 0-for-4.
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Oklahoma City was close to winning all three games, and it’s a compliment to their stars that they were still in games with such horrid production from their sixth man.
Waiters now becomes a free agent and he will potentially command $10 million per year or more on the open market from a franchise looking for a bench scorer. If I’m the Thunder, there’s no way I pay that for Waiters to continue his terribly fitting game with Westbrook and Durant.
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What the Thunder truly need is a bench shooting guard who can legitimately space the floor and handle the ball seamlessly. They need to have scoring punch for when the starters leave the floor, but they also need to fit in as an off-ball player when the starters return.
Waiters is certainly not the guy they need and they should be happy to see him walk in free agency.
Kanter’s contract is also unsightly and the fact that he will make just as much as Westbrook means something is wrong with the Thunder payroll.
Kanter played nine minutes Monday night and he certainly did his job offensively, being a roll man for Westbrook and Durant as well as a terror on the offensive glass. He finished with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting.
The problem is on the defensive end. Kanter finished minus-1 in the plus/minus department, and truly played some horrid defense during his time on the court. He was late to rotate, couldn’t switch effectively on to the Warriors’ guards and just looked like a mess out there.
Donovan had two better options Monday night than the overpaid center. Kanter will make $17.1 million in 2016-17, but his ceiling for the Thunder is likely as a bench player because he is simply unplayable at one end of the court.
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That’s why general manager Sam Presti has some work to do before looking to re-sign Durant. The Thunder have a ceiling at the Western Conference Finals behind the Warriors if they can’t make the moves necessary to appease Durant.
Money must be recommitted to players who complement Westbrook and Durant on both ends. Roberson, Ibaka, and Adams have proven to be good fits in the starting lineup and while Ibaka has slowed down just a bit, his mobility on defense proved vital in keeping the Thunder’s hopes alive.
That being said, when Durant moves to the 4 and Ibaka to the 5, Kanter and Waiters have proven to be basically nonessential. There can be no nonessential pieces on a championship contender. Durant knows that.
If the Thunder truly want to seem interested in retaining their star piece, they will need to let go of Dion Waiters and come up with a trade package of Enes Kanter and other pieces that nets a quality shooting guard.
They could also try and recruit one in free agency, but they won’t be able to truly afford anyone unless they trade salary for nothing.
Next: Kevin Durant's Options In Free Agency
Either way, Kevin Durant is waiting, and showing him that the Oklahoma City Thunder have true championship prospects will be priority number one, starting now.