What Should The Thunder Do Next?

By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - Russell Westbrook, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14610581

  The Oklahoma City Thunder took a big loss this off season by losing Super Star Small Forward Kevin Durant who signed with the Golden State Warriors. Not only losing one of their Super Stars, the Thunder's future seems unclear at this point seeing that Russell Westbrook's contract also expires next year, and rumors saying that Westbrook most likely won't resign. So what should OKC do?

  Well if the rumors are true that Westbrook most likely won't resign with the Thunder, then the Thunder must trade Westbrook to get value and not be left empty if he leaves. Teams that would be interested in Westbrook would most likely be win now Championship caliber teams, that by adding Westbrook would make them even more dominant.

 Teams like these would be the San Antonio Spurs which would make the team much better and quicker. Westbrook would also give the Spurs the defense they need to guard the Elite point guards of the West, even though they already have Defensive Player Of The Year Kawhi Leonard, a Spurs team with Westbrook would definitely make them contend against the Warriors. Now to get Westbrook the Thunder most likely will ask for a lot in return and if the Spurs don't want to give any valuable assets like: Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, or Pau Gasol, then getting Westbrook will be very difficult. Various players like Danny Green, Patty Mills, possibly even Tony Parker, and other bench players would have to be traded along with numerous draft picks, which wouldn't be that good of picks considering the Spurs amount of success. The Spurs would be giving up a lot to acquire Westbrook which doesn't really seem worth it considering he is on a One Year Deal.

  Another suitor for Westbrook would be the Boston Celtics. The Celtics may already have All-Star Point Guard Isaiah Thomas, but even if Thomas isn't included in a deal, Westbrook could possibly fit right in the Shooting Guard position, considering his size and explosiveness, he would have no problem playing the 2. The Celtics have lots of picks, some very valuable, and also have lots of valuable role players. The Celtics have a very valuable pick in the Nets 2017 First Round pick which could very well turn into another Top 3 Pick, which would definitely interest the Thunder. Along with the various picks the Celtics would probably give up, they have valuable role players as mentioned before. The Celtics could trade Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart, Amir Johnson, and or Jonas Jerebko in a deal. Including at least three of the players mentioned along with Nets pick and other picks the Celtics have, this could definitely catch the Thunder's interest in trading Westbrook to the Celtics.

  The third and final option would be the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have lots of young talent which is what Thunder would want if they are planning on rebuilding. The Lakers have high draft picks if they play like last year which would cause interest to the Thunder. Also their young talent like D'Angelo Russell, Ingram, Randle, Clarkson and others. Although the Lakers don't want to trade their future, to get Westbrook they are going to have to trade at least one of those guys, possibly two, to get Westbrook on the team. The best way for the Lakers to get Westbrook is not through trade. As mentioned before, Westbrook is a free agent next year so with all the money that Lakers have after Kobe Bryant retiring, the Lakers will have enough to sign Westbrook who went to college in California (UCLA).

The Thunder's future may seem unclear due to Durant's departure and Westbrook possibly leaving next year, the Thunder Roster still has good players like Oladipo who they traded for, Kanter who they matched an offer to last year, and they can add even more assets to the team if they end up trading Westbrook. So in conclusion the Thunder can either trade Westbrook and get valuable assets in return, keep Westbrook and let him have an MVP year and then start rebuilding from what they have on their roster, or just try their best to bring Westbrook back. The Thunder have lots of options that can definitely help them.