Oklahoma City Thunder’s 2013 Off-Season Moves

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s playoff hopes, while down 3-1, are nearing their end.  If they end up losing, their focus will then be on how to create a better roster for next season.  Below are a few options the Thunder can do in order to improve their chances at winning a national championship next season:

Option 1

This would have to be the best option of the Thunder.  If they can sign a low-post scorer in Al Jefferson and a creator off the bench in Monta Ellis, the Thunder’s chances at greatness are supremely increased.  Both Al and Monta come from small market losing franchises, so convincing them to come to Oklahoma City should not prove to be difficult.  The only difficult aspect of this option is making the money match.  With an 8 million dollar Perk contract and 12 million K Mart contract (with the bump of Serge’s wages by about 10), the Thunder will only have about 10 million dollars to work with.  They may have to go over the salary cap to add these two great pieces.

Option 2

Amnestying Kendrick Perkins absolutely must be done.  When first acquired, he brought a degree of toughness to the franchise, however has since fallen off tremendously.  David West brings experience, the same toughness, and low-post scoring to the Thunder.  The Thunder will need his size and presence if they intend to challenge the Heat going forward.  In addition, Andre Iguodala’s wing scoring will help out coming off the bench, which is what the Thunder absolutely need since losing All-star James Harden.

Option 3

Jose Calderon is a natural creator off the dribble.  Again, the Thunder will need a player that can create his own shot; Calderon is as good as they come.  Leandro Barbosa is a good player to have in your back pocket in case the Thunder have another injury (like the one they had with Westbrook).  Although he himself is coming off an injury, Barbosa wouldn’t be needed until later in the season anyway, plus his services would come relatively cheap because of his injury.  His explosiveness will match that of Reggie Jackson’s and Russell’s, so would be a great addition.

It is clear that Kevin Martin is not the answer to this team’s success.  His inability to create his own shot hinders the Thunder from having an effective bench like they once did when James Harden graced this squad.  Perkins, too, must go.  He was brought in to handle players like Zack Randolph and Marc Gasol, and his presence has been nothing more than embarrassing during the 2013 playoffs (I even remember last year when he made NeNe look like a hall of fame power forward).  He can’t shoot, can’t score or rebound, and doesn’t seem to bring the same toughness and fortitude.  (Luckily, we can get rid of him without a trade).  If the Thunder make any of the above moves this off-season, they will undoubtedly be the favorite to win a title next year.

-Deshawn (@ShonJay714)