NBA Season Wrap-Up = OKC and Indiana

            Our latest edition of our NBA year-end recap looks at the two clubs who lost in their respective conference finals.

4. Indiana Pacers

No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 8
Fantasy MVP = SG-SF Paul George (for the first three months of the year, was a top-4 ranked fantasy player, and finished the year inside the top-10)
            Indiana might have been the worst passing team in the history of man to make it to a conference finals. They couldn’t even get the ball into the post to take advantage of their size against the Heat. While most of the talk surrounding the Pacers revolves around whether or not they should resign Lance Stephenson, they really would benefit from adding a quality point guard. A star point guard isn’t necessary, just someone that can adequately get the ball into the post.
            As for Stephenson, No Credentials can’t figure out if Stephenson made or lost money during his wild and wacky playoff run. For all of his goofiness, he was still Indiana’s most important defender during their series against Miami, and at times was their best playmaker. There isn’t a viable replacement for him available on the open market, so for better or worse the Pacers and Stephenson are likely going to be together for the foreseeable future.

 

 

3. Oklahoma City Thunder

No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 6
Fantasy MVP = SF Kevin Durant (don’t need to explain this one)
            Fresh off a loss in the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder are at multiple cross roads. We’ll address them in bullet form.

Would it be more beneficial long-term to split Durant and Russell Westbrook?

            The answer here is simple…only if a team makes a ridiculous offer for Westbrook. There were times against the Clippers and Spurs that Westbrook was the catalyst instead of Durant, and seems that they both are comfortable complimenting each other. Some stronger coaching (more on that later) is needed to reaffirm Russell’s place in the team pecking order, but that’s something that can be fixed. In a league dominated by rosters with multiple stars, it would make no sense to split the second best player and another top-10 player.

Should the Thunder finally amnesty Kendrick Perkins?

            Yes, yes, and yes again. Perkins is the easiest go to person to look at when evaluating how Oklahoma City built it’s supporting cast. The Thunder’s greatest advantage is the athletic ability of Durant-Westbrook-Ibaka, but with the exception of Reggie Jackson and Steven Adams, the rest of their playoff roster was made up of old washed up veterans. The fact that they went down in Game 6 with Derek Fisher as one of their five guys on the court is laughable (not as laughable as the amount of times Fisher found himself getting posted up on due to a pick-and-roll switch, but close). Perkins being let go would free up $9.5 million on their cap, which they should be able to spend on a player or players that would post a PER higher than –3.0. We’d also like to see them give guys like Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones III some more run during the regular season, as they do possess the natural athletic ability to compliment the core players. Amnestying Perkins makes tons of basketball sense, but we’re guessing the Thunder are too cheap to do it (they would still have to pay Perkins if they amnestied him, even though it wouldn’t count against their salary cap). At the very least, hopefully they don't play him very much next year.

Is Scott Brooks the right fit as Head Coach?

            Normally, I’m rational when discussing whether or not a coach who led his team to the NBA Final 4 should be kept, but the Thunder feel like a team that hasn’t hit it’s potential yet, and I don’t see Brooks being the guy to do it. He’s a good coach, but his offense is vanilla (it’s the talent of Durant and Westbrook that generate points here, not the Xs and Os), and his refusal to sit washed up veterans (to reiterate, Derek Fisher played the entire overtime in Game 6. Derek fucking Fisher!) rather than develop than roll with their younger bench players is detrimental to the team. Brooks is a good coach, but good isn’t good enough when given the talent he has at his disposal. The Chicago Bulls faced a similar situation when they fired Doug Collins after the 1990 season. Chicago was an up-and-coming team that couldn’t get past the Detroit Pistons. After losing in the Conference Finals, the Bulls canned Collins, hired Phil Jackson, and the rest is history. Oklahoma City should go down the same path here, but we’re guessing they are too cheap to fire Brooks and pay his buy out. So after all these words, we expect the Thunder to return in 2014-15 with virtually the same roster, and again be a championship contender.