7 Reasons the Oklahoma City Thunder Shouldn't Tank
Mark Cuban says OKC should lead the race to the bottom.
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Mark Cuban Says Thunder Should Race to The Bottom This Season - Seeing that the Oklahoma City Thunder (2-5) are struggling early on this season without superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Mark Cuban has an idea for them. The outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner suggested Sunday that the Thunder should strongly consider tanking the rest of its 2014-15 season in pursuit of landing a franchise-changing player in the NBA Draft. Cuban cited the San Antonio Spurs’ 20-62 finish in 1996-97 enabling them to land Tim Duncan in the 1997 NBA Draft and subsequently collect five league titles. "We already specialize in a race to the bottom," Cuban told ESPN. "More participants won't change anything. They're all high-profile participants." We highly suspect Cuban is simply trying to put something in the Thunder’s ears in hopes of improving his own Mavs’ chances this se...
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The NBA MVP Will Be Back - Before the 2014-15 NBA season even began, it was announced that reigning league MVP Kevin Durant would miss up to eight weeks of action due to surgery on his right foot. Eight weeks is roughly two months of the season. That means Durant could be back as early as December or definitely early on in the New Year. Having the MVP back to lead the squad is the main reason why OKC shouldn’t tank its season. Even if the Thunder are struggling well below .500 when he returns, we all know what KD is capable of. The guy put up a ridiculous stat line of 32 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game last season.(Photo: EPA/LARRY W. SMITH /LANDOV)
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Westbrook Is Scheduled Back - In addition to Kevin Durant, the Thunder are also scheduled to return point guard Russell Westbrook in four to six weeks after having surgery on his broken right hand on Halloween. KD and Russ should be returning at roughly around the same time. That’s double trouble for the rest of the NBA. Is there a better tag team in the league? Coming off an injury, Westbrook only played 46 regular-season games last year, but still managed to average 21.8 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game. That’s work!(Photo: Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
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The Team Is Still Built to Win Now - Another reason why the Thunder shouldn’t tank this season? We’re talking about a team which made it to the Western Conference Finals against Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs last season and still has most of its core intact. The time to win is now. Not later, Mark Cuban. (Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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Reggie Jackson Is Playing for a Contract - Usually when a player is in his contract year, he puts up big numbers. That’s been the case with Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson, especially while playing without Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant thus far. Jackson has averaged 20 points, 8.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds through seven games this season. Whether the Thunder decide to extend his contract or another team gives him a max deal, Reggie is going to be action Jackson this season. Players in their contract year equals maximum effort. Numbers on the board all day! (Photo: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
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