The Oklahoma City Thunder has lost two of their best players after they have decided to trade both Paul George and Russell Westbrook. And as painful as it is for the team executives, particularly general manager Sam Presti, they will have to go through the long process of rebuild once again.
Since 2008, the Thunder have drafted three players who won the season MVP honors; Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Westbrook. Unfortunately for them, none of those guys are with the team now. Still, Presti is optimistic that they will be able to form a championship-contending team, but he wants to temper the fans' expectations.
In a letter Presti wrote for Oklahoman.com, Presti said that the team will do everything that they can to make the Thunder successful again, but also admitted that nothing's going to be easy, especially considering the fact that they are one of the NBA's small-market teams.
Oklahoma City expects, and deserves, extraordinary success. Delivering this is what drives us. But I want to be transparent and realistic about the process that meeting these types of expectations may require. Despite our city’s rapid rise and growth, Oklahoma City remains the second-smallest market in the NBA. While this brings many benefits, it also poses strategic challenges. Given the way the league’s system is designed, small market teams operate with significant disadvantages. There is no reason to pretend otherwise. This in no way means we cannot be extraordinarily successful — we, and several other small to mid-market teams, are our own best examples of the ability to overcome these realities. It simply means we must be thinking differently, optimistically, finding our advantages by other means.
Over the past several years, there has been non-stop discussions and debates about whether or not a small-market team is at a disadvantage in terms of convincing stars to play for them. Franchises like the Thunder usually have to compete with the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors in free agency, and oftentimes, they lose. It is one of the reasons why they choose to build through the draft.
Yes, their success in the draft is well-documented, but the chances of them landing three generational talents in a span of three-five years are already unlikely. Moving forward, they'll have to make wise decisions in order for them to make the Thunder competitive once again.
Presti is one heck of a great general manager. He probably has plans for the future, but whether or not they can execute everything remains to be seen.
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