Headlined by generational superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, it remains an unfortunate stain on the OKC Thunder resume to have just the single finals appearance to their name.
Many around the NBA were predicting a rewrite of the classic Celtics and Lakers rivalry of the 1980’s as Durant and LeBron James, the two most dominant players of their generation, went toe to toe on the big stage in 2012.
Fast forward to the present and OKC are coming off a disastrous 2015 season in which the unthinkable happened and the team missed the playoffs on the back of a year punctuated by injury.
Incredibly, the Thunder are suddenly facing a murky future after an offseason which saw the firing of head coach, Scott Brooks and signing of Turkish big man, Enes Kanter to a max deal.
Couple this with the uncertainty around Durant’s upcoming free agency and one can start to understand the pressure surrounding General Manager, Sam Presti heading into the upcoming season.
While OKC probably remain in the box seat to re-sign the Slim Reaper, his leaving is the reoccurring nightmare keeping every Thunder fan awake at night.
The lure of home has never been more appealing around the league.
Paul Pierce, LeMarcus Aldridge, Deron Williams and of course LeBron James have all returned to the familiar comforts of their hometown in the past 12 months.
There has been plenty of rumours that Durant will follow suit and do the same.
And it’s not as if Washington aren’t turning themselves into a viable option.
Salary cap flexibility and a quality young roster combined with the Wiz hiring Durant’s favourite high school coach have catapulted Washington into becoming a viable destination.
Another mediocre season, an early play off exit, or a Westbrook injury, and suddenly it’s not hard to see Durant packing his bags and lobbing on Mum’s front door step.
Farewell ‘Reaper and the chances of Westbrook following suit and splitting for the familiar comforts of the Hollywood Hills the season after increase expediently.
Presti made moves over the off season to try and appease Durant and put the team in a position to ensure they are again contending for titles.
But none of these moves came without risks.
The firing of head coach, Scott Brooks and appointment of friend and former Florida Gators Coach, Billy Donovan has been lauded as a positive.
While Brooks had undoubtedly run his race with OKC the pressure will be on Donovan from the word go.
David Blatt will be the first to tell you that success in other leagues doesn’t count for much when coaching superstars in the NBA.
He will need to be up to speed from the opening tip off.
The other big move of Presti’s summer was the signing of big and potential defensive sieve Enes Kanter to a max contract.
Kanter’s advanced metrics have shown him to be an unmitigated disaster on the defensive end.
And while his offensive numbers appear good, they mask the fact that he has no reliable jumper and lacks any sort of mobility, ability to space the floor, or positional ambiguity in a rapidly evolving game.
Despite the rising cap this is a contract that could come back to really hurt the Thunder in the age of ‘pace and space’.
Presti received widespread praise for putting together his young core of Durant, Westbrook and James Harden.
His motives for dealing last year’s MVP runner up James Harden in the summer of 2012 have been hauled over the coals.
Every 40 point plus game that Harden unleashed on the league last year must have been a dagger in the heart for an executive already under the pump.
Presti will be doing everything in his power to ensure he is not watching Durant do the same in the coming seasons.
Having the ability to draft three generational talents is one thing.
Having an inability to keep any of them is another.
Presti will be staring down the barrel of achieving both unless he sees success this year.
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