Oklahoma City Thunder Offseason Grade

 If the gods bless KD and OKC with good health, could this be the year they reach the NBA’s summit?

IN

Enes Kanter—four years, $70 million

Kyle Singler—four years, $19.4 million

Josh Huestis—two years, $2.3 million

Cameron Payne—no. 14 overall

OUT

Perry Jones III—traded to Boston

Jeremy Lamb—traded to Charlotte

OVERVIEW

In the big scheme of things, the offseason is surely secondary to the health of KD, Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka. Yet, it was a pivotal summer for the Thunder. They parted ways with coach Scott Brooks, who insisted on playing Dion Waiters, a dormant defender who primarily scores in isolation and struggles to spread the floor, for 30 minutes per game. They drafted a promising guard in Cameron Payne, who could be a long-term solution backing up Westbrook if all goes well.

But then they matched Portland’s preposterous four-year, $70 million offer sheet for Enes Kanter. His matador defense will be less of an issue if coach Billy Donovan calls for a lot of small-ball or Steven Adams and Mitch McGary continue improving, but the Kanter deal reeks of desperation. If you were following the rumor mill last summer, there was a stretch where it looked like Josh McRoberts could be the signing to convince LeBron to remain in South Beach. I’m not saying Durant is out next summer—in fact, I’d be thunderstruck to see him leave Russ and Ibaka. But if OKC loses KD in free agency, they have only themselves to blame.

Year after year, at least until 2014-15, Oklahoma City has fallen just short of a championship. Regarding Durant’s foot, all updates have been encouraging, but the true test will be time. Will his foot be ready for the regular season? How will it respond to constant pounding on the hardwood? Will Donovan have him on a strict minutes limit?

One interesting dynamic for a hopefully healthy Thunder will be that of KD and Russell Westbrook. They have always been a lethal combination of thunderbolts and lightning—very, very frightening. But this year, might we see Westbrook really take the wheel? Durant has always excelled away from and moving without the ball, scoring off the catch with ease. In 2014-15, “Point Godzilla” assisted 72 of Durant’s 238 made field goals. Now that Russ has made the leap to MVP-level, it’s conceivable that Batman and Robin will swap roles for a season, effectively playing out the famous comic book issue where the bird saves the bat and emerges from the fields of battle carrying him in his arms.

I expect Donovan will give more minutes to the trio of sharp spot-up shooters (Anthony Morrow, D.J. Augustin, and Kyle Singler) who combined to average only 70 minutes per contest in 2014-15, and in the process lessen Waiters’ load. But this situation is going to be one to follow—as there will be a lot of players fighting for tick in the Thunder rotation. The breaks of the game have not been kind to KD, Westbrook, and the Thunder of late. Still, their title window remains open, even despite a questionable offseason.

Offseason Grade: C-