01-08-2020, 01:15 PM
Great article and expresses how it is for me the fan. Had no expectations which has made this year funner than the last 2:
The Thunder’s Rebuild Has Hit the NBA’s Sweet Spot
[color=rgba(27, 27, 27, 0.65098)]Oklahoma City is having its cake and eating it, too, experiencing stunning success in the present while its front office is focused on the future[/color]
[color=var(--body-font-color)]Dan DevineJanuary 8, 2020 10:39 am[/color]
My friend Paul Flannery of SB Nationtold me something last year that stuck with me: “The best time you can have in [the NBA] is right before you get good.” There’s a vibe, an electricity, and a warmth that seems to pulse through a team that’s figuring out what it can be while it’s still free from the weight of expectations and the need to have all the answers right this second.
Tune in to an Oklahoma City game these days, and chances are you’ll find yourself feeling that kinetic energy. A mix-and-match Thunder roster stitched together in the aftermath of two foundation-rattling trades—a bunch of dudes with two or fewer years of NBA experience, a couple of journeyman vets, a giving tree, a pair of potent and underrated scorers, and a point god—has blown past underwhelming preseason projections and cemented itself as a bona fide playoff team rather than a resident of the shaky lower half of the Western Conference. While Russell Westbrook and Paul George continue to enmesh themselves in the fabric of their would-be title contenders—a process that figures to get a little emotional for Westbrook on Thursday, when he’ll enter Chesapeake Energy Arena as a visitor for the first time—the rebooted and retooled Thunder are finding their own way to win. And they’re having fun doing it.
https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/n...=theringer&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true
The Thunder’s Rebuild Has Hit the NBA’s Sweet Spot
[color=rgba(27, 27, 27, 0.65098)]Oklahoma City is having its cake and eating it, too, experiencing stunning success in the present while its front office is focused on the future[/color]
[color=var(--body-font-color)]Dan DevineJanuary 8, 2020 10:39 am[/color]
My friend Paul Flannery of SB Nationtold me something last year that stuck with me: “The best time you can have in [the NBA] is right before you get good.” There’s a vibe, an electricity, and a warmth that seems to pulse through a team that’s figuring out what it can be while it’s still free from the weight of expectations and the need to have all the answers right this second.
Tune in to an Oklahoma City game these days, and chances are you’ll find yourself feeling that kinetic energy. A mix-and-match Thunder roster stitched together in the aftermath of two foundation-rattling trades—a bunch of dudes with two or fewer years of NBA experience, a couple of journeyman vets, a giving tree, a pair of potent and underrated scorers, and a point god—has blown past underwhelming preseason projections and cemented itself as a bona fide playoff team rather than a resident of the shaky lower half of the Western Conference. While Russell Westbrook and Paul George continue to enmesh themselves in the fabric of their would-be title contenders—a process that figures to get a little emotional for Westbrook on Thursday, when he’ll enter Chesapeake Energy Arena as a visitor for the first time—the rebooted and retooled Thunder are finding their own way to win. And they’re having fun doing it.
https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/n...=theringer&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true
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