The Oklahoma City Thunder find themselves in a sensitive state with the future of the franchise not looking so good. Kevin Durant has left and joined the Golden State Warriors leaving Russell Westbrook to man the fort.
The Thunder can build on Westbrook but the problem is that the score-first guard is likely to follow in the footsteps of Durant next year. His contract will lapse this coming season and the all-star guard is not expected to sign an extension to test NBA free agency in 2017.
The move is not surprising since most players would do the same. But it does leave OKC Thunder general manager Sam Presti in a pretty precarious position.
Will he use the same wait-and-see approach he did with Durant? Critics believe doing so would be catastrophic with the thought of the Thunder ending up empty-handed a big possibility.
Trade Westbrook now than wait
Given the scenarios, many believe that Presti and the Thunder would be better off finding a trade partner than end up with nothing for Russell Westbrook. There may be teams who will bite but the best option is believed to be the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics have a formidable roster heading into next season. They still have Isaiah Thomas and newly signed Al Horford. Inserting Westbrook could be a good move with team president Danny Ainge pulling some strings to try and keep the star guard.
The chances of the Celtics retaining Westbrook don’t really differ from the Thunder though no one knows. An NBA title run could alter that but at the end of the day, money talks.
Westbrook will do a Durant
It should be noted that all of these are rumors for now. They may or may not happen and Westbrook is not expected to touch on it.
Presti has been known to be always two steps ahead. He did it with players on the verge of free agency like James Harden, Reggie Jackson and Serge Ibaka before so is likely to do it again.
Rather than end up empty, Presti could be penning that roadmap right now.
