It鈥檚 easy to say the Thunder severely underperformed. Prior to the start of the season, they were expected to crowd the top of the West, perhaps even the league. They had pulled off two stunning trades in two months, netting them star power in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to backstop Russell Westbrook, reigning Most Valuable Player and modern-era triple-double machine. In this context, getting eliminated in the first round is nothing short of disappointing. They had grand plans which all fizzed out in the face of a spirited challenge from supposed patsies.
In truth, the Thunder鈥檚 failure to make a deep postseason run was fueled as much by sheer bad luck as by systemic infirmities. True, they boasted of great pieces; apart from the aforesaid marquee names, they had Steven Adams (a monster in the middle) and Andre Roberson (an all-world defender across four positions). Then again, their whole could not wind up greater than the sum of their parts, in no small measure because their style of play remained Westbrook-centric. It also didn鈥檛 help that injuries derailed their stabs at synergy.
In retrospect, the absence of Roberson became a hurdle the Thunder could not overcome. Before he went down for the season with a ruptured patellar tendon, they appeared to be on the verge of a collective breakthrough. After his sidelining, they were instead compelled to make adjustment after adjustment — and, as they learned in the end, no one could quite replace him. He did all the little big things on both ends of the court that derail the opposition and spell success. And without him, they struggled.
Moving forward, the Thunder have even more questions to ponder on than at this same point last year. Will George choose to return to the fold or, in exploring free agency, opt to move? Will Anthony exercise his option to trigger the last year of his megabucks contract even though he鈥檚 unhappy with his role as a poor — make that very poor — third option? And is he even considered a boon given his waning skills and diminishing importance to the cause? Seemingly headed to the bench against his wishes expressed in no uncertain terms, he carries with him a humongous $28-million price tag that looks to be an albatross.
The good news is that the Thunder have an outstanding front office who can squeeze, and have squeezed, the most of resources at their disposal. The bad news is that they鈥檙e in a highly competitive conference, and for all the skills Billy Donovan has, he hasn鈥檛 yet shown he can optimize his charges鈥 worth in three years at the helm. In short, they have enough to dream big, but are apparently ill-equipped to make those dreams come true. They鈥檙e stuck between the mythological rock and a hard place, with no legitimate avenue for redress in the near term.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994.
