Once the explosive and popular darlings of the Western Conference, boasting four of the NBA's most promising young talents, the Oklahoma City Thunder (17-19) are now a mere shell of their former selves. In fact, with an exceedingly sloppy and embarrassing 104-83 loss in Sacramento last night, they may have fallen to the rock bottom point of the Kevin Durant era.
So what exactly is plaguing this talented team?
First and foremost, once and for all, Oklahoma City's brass needs to fire head coach Scott Brooks. To try to summarize Brooks' many shortcomings as a head coach would be an exercise in futility, so here are some of the highlights of his inexplicably long tenure:
1. Knowing there was a good chance he'd be traded or lost to free agency in the future, Brooks still refused to start James Harden in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat -- a series the Thunder lost handily, four games to one -- instead opting to go with the offensively-challenged Thabo Sefolosha, whose above-average defense never made up for the black hole he created when the Thunder had possession of the ball.
Though behind Durant and Russell Westbrook on the marquee at the time, most knowledgeable basketball enthusiasts had already recognized that Harden possessed superstar offensive ability. I think it's fair to assume that OKC would have put together a better showing in that series if Harden had played as many minutes as both Durant and Westbrook. Fans will forever think, what if?
2. Brooks has been seemingly obsessed with Kendrick Perkins throughout his head coaching tenure, despite the fact that Perkins' slow, lumbering style is in complete and utter contrast to the uptempo nature of his team's core (Durant, Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson and of course Harden, at the time). Perkins has never played well with the Thunder -- in fact, he's always been a below-average NBA player -- and yet he has stolen minutes from more useful and style-appropriate bigs like Steven Adams and Nick Collison.
3. Brooks' offensive system cannot be considered "professional." In all honesty, there is no system. Brooks just speaks in broad generalities and then lets Durant, Westbrook and Jackson play one-on-one while he sits on the bench crossing his fingers.
Now I will grant him this: His situation is kind of a catch-22. Over the span of the past five seasons, the Thunder have been very successful allowing Durant and Westbrook to freestyle and create opportunities for themselves; however, they've never won it all. What separates the Spurs, Heat and Mavs championship teams from OKC is unselfishness, passing, cutting, spacing and sound technical basketball. The Thunder may still have the best athletes in the league, but Brooks has done absolutely nothing to refine that raw talent. Simply put, he has to go.
Here's what I would do to turn it around:
1. Establish a consistent rotation and stop giving playing time to guys who are essentially useless. Brooks has been starting Andre Roberson at shooting guard in recent weeks, and he's probably the worst perimeter-shooting guard on the roster. Brooks likes his length and defense, which sounds an awful lot like what he used to say about Sefolosha. Look where that got him. Roberson should be out of the rotation altogether. Same goes for Perkins.
2. Make sure there aren't too many one-on-one players on the court at once. The Thunder have four of those: Durant, Westbrook, Reggie Jackson and now Dion Waiters. The solution is clear: Durant and Westbrook start together, Jackson and Waiters come off the bench together to carry (what should be) a strong second unit. Jackson and Waiters should both be instructed to work on their catch-and-shoot game because I'm sure they'll be instances where they need to play off KD and Westbrook down the stretch of games. They can't be one-dimensional shooters off the dribble if this team is going to contend with the likes of the Warriors, Spurs and Mavs.
3. Make sure the floor is spaced at all times. One-on-one players need drive-and-kick lanes. Opposing defenses need to be kept honest. So here's my solution:
C: Steven Adams
PF: Serge Ibaka
SF: Kevin Durant
SG: Anthony Morrow (savvy pick-up by Sam Presti. Brooks uses him incorrectly.)
PG: Russell Westbrook
6th man: Reggie Jackson
7th man: Dion Waiters
8th man: Nick Collison
9th man: Perry Jones
That's it. That's all there is to it. Play your best players and those who complement each other's style of play.
The Thunder can be fixed, but Scott Brooks isn't the right mechanic.
Mr. Presti, I'm available for an interview.
John Frascella is the author of "Theo-logy: How a Boy Wonder Led the Red Sox to the Promised Land," the first and only book centered on popular executive Theo Epstein. Looking for a sports columnist? John can be reached at john.frascella@gmail.com.
