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Oklahoma City Thunder: 2016 Offseason Grades

By Gerald Bourguet

Apr 23, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) and guard Russell Westbrook (0) react at the end of the second quarter against the Dallas Mavericks in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) and guard Russell Westbrook (0) react at the end of the second quarter against the Dallas Mavericks in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oklahoma City Thunder
May 24, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) and forward Kevin Durant (35) react after leaving the court during action against the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter in game four of the Western conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

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

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