Oklahoma City Thunder: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Oklahoma City Thunder made solid moves to round out their roster this summer, but lost their best shot at a championship with Kevin Durant’s departure. Here are OKC’s 2016 offseason grades.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: The Oklahoma City Thunder had the worst summer of any team in the NBA. When you lose a future Hall of Famer in the middle of his prime like Kevin Durant, there’s almost no coming back from that.

That being said, OKC’s situation is not completely miserable moving into the future. They’re as far away from a championship as they’ve been in more than half a decade, but they still managed to get a few positive things done with the roster this offseason.

From locking in Russell Westbrook for a bit more precious time to a huge draft-day trade that set the tone for OKC’s summer and long-term future, the Thunder will still look to be playoff-competitive in 2016-17, while also preparing their next contender with plenty of young talent.

Here’s how the Thunder braced for — and got through — the most depressing summer of any fan base in the NBA with OKC’s complete 2016 offseason grades.

Next: The Ibaka Trade

The Ibaka Trade

The Thunder would eventually lose Kevin Durant to free agency, but you can’t fault their draft night efforts to reconfigure the roster and convince him to stay.

In a draft-day trade with the Orlando Magic, OKC shipped away Serge Ibaka for a nice haul of Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and the No. 11 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Domantas Sabonis. The funny thing is, with Durant gone, this trade to get younger actually looks even better for OKC.

Ilyasova, a 29-year-old stretch-4, was meant to be Ibaka’s replacement at the 4, if only in his ability to spread the floor with his career 37 percent shooting from three-point range. He was never going to replicate Ibaka’s defense or rim protection, but he would’ve played spot/starter’s minutes well enough until OKC went to whatever Death Lineup it wanted.

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With Durant and Dion Waiters gone, Ilyasova is less important for the rotation and the true value of the trade — getting younger — shines through. That starts with the 24-year-old Oladipo, who will pair with Westbrook to form one of the league’s most athletically dynamic backcourts.

Though Oladipo struggled to find his footing last season, vacillating between a starting job and sixth man duty, his underwhelming numbers — 16.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.9 APG, 1.6 SPG, 43.8 FG%, 34.8 3P% — may have just been a case of right player, wrong coach.

Scott Skiles‘ resignation and the changing roles for many of Orlando’s youngsters were tell-tale signs of a need for change on both sides, and Oladipo’s inconsistency may have been the poster child for those issues.

In OKC, Oladipo will get his chance to start living up to his potential, and his defense — along with Westbrook’s, when Russ is fully locked in — will be terrifying for opposing backcourts. At the very worst, he’ll be a more efficient shooting version of Andre Roberson. At best, he’ll have a better chance at becoming a star alongside one of the best point guards in the NBA.

With Sabonis, the Thunder added to an already crowded, young frontcourt of Enes Kanter, Steven Adams and Mitch McGary. However, McGary and Ilyasova are really the only ones suited to play the 4 for long stretches, which should eventually open up some minutes for Sabonis, one of the most polished rookies from this year’s draft class.

At Gonzaga last year, Baby Arvydas averaged 17.6 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 61.1 percent from the floor and 35.7 percent from three-point range (on a very limited number of attempts, but still).

Sabonis is one of the best rebounders in this year’s draft class, he’s a polished low-post scorer, his high basketball IQ and passing ability are reminiscent of his father, and he’s NBA-ready now. He’ll need to improve his perimeter game and develop more of a right hand, but Sabonis is yet another promising piece of OKC’s young core.

Losing Ibaka, the third member of OKC’s Big Three following the departure of James Harden, was not the reason Durant left. It probably hurt to send away such a pivotal part of the Thunder’s floor spacing and team defense, but Ibaka’s rim protection had been steadily declining over the last few seasons, along with his numbers across the board:

• 2013-14:  15.1 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.7 BPG, 53.6 FG%, 38.3 3P%
• 2014-15:  14.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.4 BPG, 47.6 FG%, 37.6 3P%
• 2015-16:  12.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.9 BPG, 47.9 FG%, 32.6 3P%

Ibaka will also be an unrestricted free agent next summer, and with Durant gone, the Thunder may have had a hard time committing max money to keep a player who hadn’t improved much over the last few years. Oladipo will also make $5.8 million less than Ibaka next season, and OKC has a better shot at keeping him next summer as a restricted free agent than Ibaka.

Since Ibaka never hit that star threshold that was envisioned for him when the front office first prioritized his re-signing over James Harden’s, Oklahoma City easily got the better end of this deal.

Ilyasova is a non-essential piece, but the Thunder got younger for their retool/rebuild around Westbrook. They got great value for Ibaka in the process, and though the deal wasn’t enough to convince KD to stay, it actually put the Thunder in a better position for their future plans while also keeping the team competitive in the here and now.

Grade: A-

Next: The Rest Of The Draft

The Rest Of The Draft

The Ibaka trade to bring in Oladipo was OKC’s biggest move of the draft, but they also used their 56th overall pick on Daniel Hamilton, a 6’7″ wing out of UCONN.

He has yet to be signed to a deal, and Hamilton did little in NBA Summer League to prove his value to the Thunder, averaging a meager 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on uninspiring .346/.333/.700 shooting splits.

Heading into the draft, a playmaking point forward like this would’ve been taken much higher if not for his shooting woes, as Hamilton shot 38 percent and 38.7 percent from the field in his two seasons with the Huskies.

His versatility in playing multiple positions could be useful for the Thunder down the line, but OKC already has enough long, playmaking wings who can’t shoot. Hamilton will likely spend the 2016-17 season playing overseas or for OKC’s D-League affiliate.

Grade: C

Next: Losing KD

Losing KD

Avert your eyes, Thunder fans. This won’t be easy to read, especially for about the 100th time this summer.

Heading into the offseason, Oklahoma City had one major goal: re-signing Kevin Durant, their franchise player and best shot at a championship. They failed.

FanSided

The Thunder did everything in their power to get him to stay. They were able to offer him the most money, even in the same kind of 1+1 deal he signed with the Warriors. They got younger and more athletic by bringing in Oladipo and Sabonis. They had Russell Westbrook, his brother in arms and another bonafide top-5 player.

In the end, the lure of playing with a group that won 73 games last season was too strong, especially for an MVP-caliber player who wants his name forever enshrined in the history books with an NBA championship. That hurdle was seemingly too great for him in OKC, where the Thunder just couldn’t stay healthy and then stared up into the face of a Golden State juggernaut.

If not for Klay Thompson‘s 41-point explosion in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder probably would have won the NBA title, or at least made an appearance in the Finals and been able to re-sign Durant over the summer.

Instead, OKC squandered a 3-1 series lead in the most excruciating fashion possible and had to watch the Warriors do the same in the Finals, wondering what might have been. The Thunder were the best teaming the playoffs to that point, but for the umpteenth time, still couldn’t get the job done. It’s understandable that doubt began to creep in.

But even if the Thunder did all they could to keep their franchise player, his departure left them with no backup plan. I guess you could say the Oladipo trade was something of a Plan B, but by the time Durant made his decision, most of the free agents who might have served as serviceable replacements on the wing had been scooped up already. It’s the nature of the beast.

OKC was right to go all-in on bringing back KD, because without him, they’re no longer legitimate contenders (as currently constructed, at least). But after losing him to the Bay, the Thunder — who were so close to finally reaching the precipice — can only hope the Russell Westbrook Show makes for a somewhat smooth transition into a new era.

Grade: F

Next: Re-Signing Russ

Re-Signing Russ

The Thunder lost Kevin Durant, and with Russell Westbrook’s 2017 free agency hovering over the franchise like a dark cloud, OKC did very well to lock their other franchise player in with a contract extension.

With a three-year, $85 million contract extension that includes a $30 million player option for the 2018-19 season, OKC staved off the full-on rebuild that might’ve been brought on by Westbrook’s free agency departure in 2017 — or a premature trade brought on by the fear of Westbrook’s free agency departure in 2017.

The Thunder cannot win a championship with a Big Three of Westbrook, Oladipo and Steven Adams, but they’ve got a solid, young foundation to build upon moving forward.

This contract extension buys them an extra year or two to do so, and if Russ opts out in 2018, he could sign a mammoth five-year, $200 million extension with the Thunder at that point. From a financial and loyalty perspective, staying in OKC makes sense.

Last season, Westbrook averaged 23.5 points, a career-high 10.4 assists, a career-high 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. Though he only made 29.6 percent of his three-pointers, he led the league in triple-doubles with 18, breaking Magic Johnson‘s record for most triple-doubles in a single season in the modern era.

The season before, however, provides a clearer indication of what to expect with KD gone, since that was the year Durant missed 55 games.

That season, Russ averaged a league-leading 28.1 points, 8.6 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, racking up triple-doubles at a pace rivaling a young Michael Jordan, donning a mask that made him look like an honest-to-God Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and dominating opponents with speed, athleticism and pure power. Now he has even more motivation.

Unfortunately, it should be noted the Thunder missed the playoffs that season, even though Russ also missed 15 games of his own. This is a stark contrast to 2014-15, when Westbrook missed 36 games and Durant carried OKC to 59 wins, the second seed in the West and his first MVP award.

In 2016-17, the world will be treated to the Russell Westbrook Show. If Russ misses any time, the Thunder may be in danger of missing the playoffs, but if he and Oladipo come together, and if Adams continues his rapid development into one of the league’s dominant centers, OKC could be a tough out in the postseason. Hell, Russ should probably be the MVP favorite at this point.

The prospect of Russ showing long-term loyalty to the franchise that drafted him and playing with a chip on his shoulder is the biggest silver lining from Durant’s departure. It doesn’t make up for the loss of KD, but securing Westbrook for another 2-3 years is far preferable to the Thunder waving goodbye to all of their All-NBA talent in one summer.

Grade: A

Next: Adding Abrines

Adding Abrines

With roster spots suddenly open in the wake of KD’s departure and hardly any quality free agents left on the market to fill them, the Thunder turned to their 32nd overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Alex Abrines.

A 6’6″ shooting guard who has spent the last three years playing for FC Barcelona, Abrines is a three-point marksman who shot 41.7 percent from downtown and won the Euroleague Rising Star award last season.

It’ll take a $2.2 million buyout to get him out of his contract with Barcelona (and the Thunder can only contribute $650,000), but he’ll be properly compensated with his three-year, $18 million contract from OKC.

Though he needs to improve defensively and get a bit stronger to keep up with NBA athletes, Abrines signaled the end of the Dion Waiters era — if the Oladipo trade hadn’t already done that — and provides the Thunder with a young, 23-year-old reserve to groom.

Grade: B+

Next: The Price Is Right

The Price Is Right

With Randy Foye gone and Cameron Payne still on the up-and-up, the Thunder signed veteran point guard Ronnie Price to a two-year, $5 million deal for a bit of backcourt stability.

Payne disappearing from Billy Donovan‘s rotation was a puzzling development last year, and it came back to haunt the Thunder in the playoffs for a few disastrous stretches when the Thunder rookie was virtually unplayable.

Hopefully Payne gets more opportunities for growth in 2016-17, but if he crumbles under the pressure again in the playoffs, OKC can turn to a more seasoned hand in Price, an underrated addition if only for his positive locker room influence and defensive intensity.

Last season in Phoenix, Price averaged only 5.3 points and 2.4 assists per game, but his impact extended far beyond the stat sheet. More encouragingly for the Thunder, he shot a career-high 34.7 percent from three-point range, provided a positive example for the younger Suns and consistently brought energy and effort.

He’s not a flashy addition, but there’s a reason Price is an 11-year veteran. The Thunder won’t be competing for a championship next season, but Price can bolster their depth and help foster a new culture in OKC.

Grade: B-

Next: Overall

Overall

The Oklahoma City Thunder got younger this summer, added a terrific talent in Victor Oladipo, got tremendous value out of Serge Ibaka on the trade market and locked in Russell Westbrook for at least an extra year…and yet, their offseason was still a failure overall because of Kevin Durant.

Moving forward, the Thunder will be an entertaining team with a promising future. There’s plenty of young talent to groom from Adams to Roberson to Sabonis to Oladipo to Josh Huestis to Cameron Payne. These young pieces coming together to eventually complement a top-5 player like Westbrook will be a joy to watch unfold.

But with Durant’s exodus to Golden State, OKC’s “title or bust” mode that they’ve been in for years is officially out the window. Speaking of windows, it’s hard to ignore that as enjoyable as this team may be to observe, they’re no longer a championship-caliber threat to the Warriors, Spurs or Cavaliers; their championship window may be closed forever after this.

In 2012, the Thunder made their first Finals appearance and it seemed like the four-man core of Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden was a dynasty in the making. Four years later, Westbrook is the last man standing and Oklahoma City was nearly on the verge of a complete roster tear-down.

Re-signing Russ ensures that won’t happen (not yet, at least), but the guarantees stop there. As currently constructed, this young team may not make it past the first round of the playoffs, and if they have any injury problems, they may not even make the playoffs.

More hoops habit: Minnesota Timberwolves: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Thunder are about as well poised to move on from Kevin Durant as one could hope for, but when you lose a top-5 player, former MVP and future Hall of Famer in his prime, a passing grade just isn’t possible.

Grade: D