The Thunder’s road to NBA playoff glory begins where the road to their playoff hopes ended last year. After a well-matched series with the eventual-champion Los Angeles Lakers, the Thunder captured the hearts and minds of NBA pundits and fans alike.
In a quiet offseason, the Thunder did not make much of a splash in free agency and instead, took a back seat to the TV-ratings beast that was "The Decision."
The re-signing of star player Kevin Durant was an incredible coup for the franchise although under-reported at the time. As people took their talents to South Beach, the Thunder trio—Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green—made their way to Team USA camps and all seemed settled in Oklahoma.
But soon the nails began to drop.
In what now looks to have been a foreshadowing of sorts, Jeff Green failed to make the final cut for the Team USA squad that headed to Europe for the FIBA World Championships. Instead, he was forced to watch teammates Durant and Westbrook excel, as they captured the trophy at their first time of asking.
For Green, the writing was on the wall; the relationship the franchise had with him was set to change. A constructed reality—which saw Green, Westbrook and Durant treated as the pillars of the franchise's growing success—was soon set to have its foundations shaken.
After the summer of gold, it was clear to the Thunder that Green was no longer a star on equal footing as Westbrook, let alone the guaranteed franchise player that Durant had developed into.
Sure as the sun, Westbrook started off the season in electric fashion. He electrified the franchise, fanbase and the NBA on his way to scooping multiple Western Conference Player of the Week accolades.
Through all this, the soft-spoken and even softer-playing Green continued to fade into the shadows at the Oklahoma City Arena. He could not have been more of a spectator in some games unless he was sitting in the rafters themselves.
Worse yet, Air Congo off the bench was pushing coach Scott Brooks for more play. This threat to Green’s position coupled with the destructive offensive tandem of Westbrook and Durant often—unintentionally—banished Green into the back of Thunder fans’ minds. But yet, the franchise kept a hold.
As the trade deadline approached, the franchise continued to hold its cards close to its chest as rumours whirled about them like leaves in a tornado. Finally, the deal happened.
In an ironic twist of fate, Green was traded to the green side of Boston in a transaction that saw the Thunder add the much-heralded Kendrick Perkins and bench-dynamo Nate Robinson.
In a more hushed deal, the Thunder added yet more depth inside—a weakness that had been ruthlessly exploited by the Lakers the year before—by trading away the rarely used D.J White and getting back a serviceable center in Nazr Mohammed. These moves positioned the Thunder well and as much as the losses of Green and Krstic would be felt in the locker room, the franchise knew they made the right call going forward.
Perkins added the toughness, Mohammed added the depth but no move was more important and underrated than the insertion of Serge Ibaka into the starting lineup.
With Perkins at center and able to guard the league’s most dominant post players, Ibaka was left with the task of focusing on what he did best: Roaming the paint, challenging shots at the rim and providing crucial, highlight-worthy help-side blocks became Air Congo’s full-time calling card.
With all of this on the forecast, the Thunder stormed (see what I did there) through the rest of their schedule, managing to knock off the Lakers and Heat on the road en route to a 55-win season. As the No. 4 seed, they are all set to play the Denver Nuggets in the first round and, with the added bonus of home-court advantage, look set to surpass their playoff accomplishments from a season ago.
In what could be an important test of the Thunder’s ability to defend in a playoff series, the Nuggets come in boasting the No. 1-ranked offense in the league. A high-octane offense such as Denver’s could pose a serious threat to the rising playoff expectations of the Thunder and for all the hyperbole about how the Nuggets would have preferred to play the Mavericks, this should be a well-matched series from start to finish.
Matt Martin Frans Nielsen Dwayne Roloson Jon Sim Jason Arnott David Clarkson
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