OKC Thunder 2016 off-season news

[Jersey Boss]

Orlando is crazy. For Ibaka.

Excellent point. However the signing of fellow countryman, Bismack Biyombo, will help Orlando in retaining Serge. Who knows what has been said behind closed doors.

[Patrick]

Bad retail, bad grocery stores(just because a Trader Joe's and WinCo is coming in doesn't change this statement), overall culture, lack of mass transit, horrible infrastructure, lack of quality suburbs, and lack of beautification among other things.

Bad retail? I think you have to compare us to other cities our size. It's really unfair to compare us to LA, Dallas, or wherever. Our retail is pretty comparative to other cities our size.

Bad grocery stores? It's not great but most superstars aren't going to our grocery stores anyways.

Overall culture? We have our own unique culture here dominated by Native American and Western themes. That's just who we are. A lot of people visit here simply for that culture. So, to say we don't have our own unique culture is I think foolish.

Lack of mass transit? Most superstars are not using the mass transit system. They have expensive sports cars. And how are we any worse than cities like LA, Portland, DFW, Houston, San Antonio? All of those cities are pretty car dependent.

Lack of quality suburbs? Yukon, Edmond, Mustang, Norman - they're pretty comparable to any suburb in DFW or San Antonio. Norman alone is one of the nicer suburbs I've ever been too. And it's a large college city to boot.

Lack of beautification? Due to geography, we have what we have to work with. But, we're not much different from cities like San Antonio, DFW, and Houston.


One thing you have to realize is that most of these superstars aren't living here full time. They have homes elsewhere. This is simply their place of work. So, these things don't really matter. This isn't true for every market, but it is true for smaller market teams like Sacramento, Charlotte, NOLA, Milwaukee, Portland, etc.

[catch22]

Portland is car dependent in some ways, but you really can live comfortably without a car. ^^^

[Patrick]

Portland is car dependent in some ways, but you really can live comfortably without a car. ^^^

Compare us to any of the teams in Texas and we're not much different. Yes, Dallas has DART, but it's not like the majority of the citizens there use it. You still pretty much have to have a car in DFW.

[Patrick]

I don't really think it's fair to blame the city of OKC for being the reason why FA's don't come here. If the city was the problem, then OU would also have problems attracting athletes there. Bob Stoops is drawing recruits from all over the country, and he doesn't seem to have any problems bringing in people.

[catch22]

Compare us to any of the teams in Texas and we're not much different. Yes, Dallas has DART, but it's not like the majority of the citizens there use it. You still pretty much have to have a car in DFW.

I agree with all of your points, I just wanted to point out that Portland really does have excellent mass transit that every citizen uses at least a few times per month. Some people use it exclusively, some people used it like I did...trips to downtown or the mall without having to worry about parking.

[Patrick]

I agree with all of your points, I just wanted to point out that Portland really does have excellent mass transit that every citizen uses at least a few times per month. Some people use it exclusively, some people used it like I did...trips to downtown or the mall without having to worry about parking.

I agree. It think it's more fair to compare us to the teams in Texas though because we're more closely related to them geographically.

Kansas City, although they don't have an NBA franchise, they do have an MLB and NFL franchise. Really, Kansas City has little more to offer in terms of quality of life than we do. I think it's easy to compare it to OKC, although it's a little larger. They have pretty good and well traditioned major league teams. I mean, the Royals won the MLB last year.

St. Louis is another city that isn't much larger than OKC and offers about the same.

So, to blame it on the city, I think is unfair.

[Jersey Boss]

I don't really think it's fair to blame OKC for being the reason why FA's don't come here. If the city was the problem, then OU would also have problems attracting athletes there. Bob Stoops is drawing recruits from all over the country, and he doesn't seem to have any problems bringing in people.

I went to Austin recently and spent some time there, and even though Austin is a larger city, I think we have a lot more to offer than they do. Our downtown area is nicer for one.

Norman is not OKC, different vibe, College is not the pros. A guy comes to play for Stopps, he is here for 3-4 years and he is not under contract. If he does not like it in Norman, he can leave for other shores at anytime. You can't compare college recruiting with fishing in the fa market. The pitch is different, the experience is different. To compare the two is apples to tomatoes.

[OKCRT]

I agree. It think it's more fair to compare us to the teams in Texas though because we're more closely related to them geographically.

Kansas City, although they don't have an NBA franchise, they do have an MLB and NFL franchise. Really, Kansas City has little more to offer in terms of quality of life than we do. I think it's easy to compare it to OKC, although it's a little larger. They have pretty good and well traditioned major league teams. I mean, the Royals won the MLB last year.

St. Louis is another city that isn't much larger than OKC and offers about the same.

So, to blame it on the city, I think is unfair.

STL metro around 3 mil number 20 tv market. KC 2.1 mil. number 29 tv market. So OKC is quite a bit smaller and of course wouldn't have as many options and not nearly as many suburbs to choose from.

My hope is that KD loses his shot somewhere in Ca. and is never as good as he was here. Lets also hope that Curry loses his as well and they never win a championship. That is about the best we can hope for with KD leaving. I don't hope he breaks his leg or anything just hope he loses his shot and never finds it again. He has made enough money.

[PhiAlpha]

Difference between me and Bchris? I don't go around talking sh!t about the place on other forums. I talk the place up. I tell people it is and up and coming city and I leave out the negatives because a million other people already have that covered.

Oh, and let me let you in a little secret here. Here doesn't post here anymore because he was tired of being unfairly looked down upon because he did have love for the place but couldn't stand it for certain reasons that I have no place to state without his permission. But go ahead and keep living in your fantasy land.

Unfairly looked down upon???? Right....

LOL, you act like I should be disappointed, that's the best news I've heard all week! And I know the reasons you speak of because he constantly blasts them on other forums, not a very well kept secret.

[TU 'cane]

Honestly man, I don't want to get too off topic, just share a little insight as to why the Thunder will probably have issues recruiting quality players, which I hope I'm wrong on.

Bad retail, bad grocery stores(just because a Trader Joe's and WinCo is coming in doesn't change this statement), overall culture, lack of mass transit, horrible infrastructure, lack of quality suburbs, and lack of beautification among other things.

Granted, a lot of these things are improving but it will take time. Unfortunately, not the amount of time it would take for some of these people like Geographer(who I actually respect and am starting agree with more and more) to write GTFO because I actually will say what's on my mind.

With this kind of attitude towards people and overall view of the city, it isn't going to change. I'm not sitting here claiming OKC sucks and there's nothing that can be done. If I thought that, I wouldn't invest so much time into browsing this site, hours on end creating a development map, going around other forums updating the OKC development page, if I hated the city. It's laughable that other users(most of which are old) are saying things like "I'm sorry you have so much hate in your life." Like dude, if you actually knew me, you would laugh at yourself for saying that. But please, go ahead and make that assumption off of a few posts of mine. lol

No issue from my end, I was just genuinely curious.
Things take time. OKC is growing in leaps and bounds, truly. It takes people dedicated to the city to see these things through and appreciate them when they're completed. I know several families in Tulsa that go down to OKC for weekend trips as they genuinely believe there is more to do down there, mostly because that's a true sentiment. But, what I will say is that in my brief travels, Oklahoma isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Disclosure: no, Oklahoma is not and, most likely will NEVER be a Seattle, NYC, L.A., Miami, etc. But then again, most cities in the world aren't and won't ever be.

Within the next 5 years, much of the core of OKC is going to be either transformed or complimented by the likes a massive central park, light rail system, a new skyscraper, etc. and to add a massive new retail and entertainment district in an entirely other part of the city (Chisolm Creek). All this fueled by a growing city and a city WANTING to change and proclaim to the world that "we are here!"

[Plutonic Panda]

Bad retail? I think you have to compare us to other cities our size. It's really unfair to compare us to LA, Dallas, or wherever. Our retail is pretty comparative to other cities our size.

Bad grocery stores? It's not great but most superstars aren't going to our grocery stores anyways.

Overall culture? We have our own unique culture here dominated by Native American and Western themes. That's just who we are. A lot of people visit here simply for that culture. So, to say we don't have our own unique culture is I think foolish.

Lack of mass transit? Most superstars are not using the mass transit system. They have expensive sports cars. And how are we any worse than cities like LA, Portland, DFW, Houston, San Antonio? All of those cities are pretty car dependent.

Lack of quality suburbs? Yukon, Edmond, Mustang, Norman - they're pretty comparable to any suburb in DFW or San Antonio. Norman alone is one of the nicer suburbs I've ever been too. And it's a large college city to boot.

Lack of beautification? Due to geography, we have what we have to work with. But, we're not much different from cities like San Antonio, DFW, and Houston.


One thing you have to realize is that most of these superstars aren't living here full time. They have homes elsewhere. This is simply their place of work. So, these things don't really matter. This isn't true for every market, but it is true for smaller market teams like Sacramento, Charlotte, NOLA, Milwaukee, Portland, etc.

I disagree with almost all of that, but that's okay. Anyways, if you want discuss this issue, feel free to start a thread. I will respond.

[Plutonic Panda]

No issue from my end, I was just genuinely curious.
Things take time. OKC is growing in leaps and bounds, truly. It takes people dedicated to the city to see these things through and appreciate them when they're completed. I know several families in Tulsa that go down to OKC for weekend trips as they genuinely believe there is more to do down there, mostly because that's a true sentiment. But, what I will say is that in my brief travels, Oklahoma isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Disclosure: no, Oklahoma is not and, most likely will NEVER be a Seattle, NYC, L.A., Miami, etc. But then again, most cities in the world aren't and won't ever be.

Within the next 5 years, much of the core of OKC is going to be either transformed or complimented by the likes a massive central park, light rail system, a new skyscraper, etc. and to add a massive new retail and entertainment district in an entirely other part of the city (Chisolm Creek). All this fueled by a growing city and a city WANTING to change and proclaim to the world that "we are here!"

A lot of stuff in that post wasn't meant in a direct response to you.

[Plutonic Panda]

Unfairly looked down upon???? Right....

LOL, you act like I should be disappointed, that's the best news I've heard all week! And I know the reasons you speak of because he constantly blasts them on other forums, not a very well kept secret.

You know the reasons? I haven't heard him say it... then again we all have our reasons.

Look dude, I love OKC. End of story in regards to that. Every time I come back, I come back hoping things have improved, and they are, very slightly. I will leave it at that for now unless someone else wants to discuss it in another thread.

My main response also was in response to the fact the Thunder have a hard time recruiting other NBA players. I'm giving my 2 cents as to why that may be.

[soonermike81]

Soonermike,

Not sure what the context is, but I agree that burning his jersey is just plain silly and immature. But, every team has those fans.
.

I get that every team has those fans, but I had no idea this is how OKC would treat someone like KD. Lebron made a huge spectacle out of everything during "The Decision" and was rubbing it in Cleveland's face, whether intentional or not. I can see why Cavs fans were so butthurt. But again, KD has been nothing but good to us and good for our city. I mean everyone is acting so shocked like he completely pulled a 180 out of nowhere. Well, there's a reason why he set up meetings with 5, I repeat 5 f*%&ing teams, in the Hamptons! He obviously wasn't sure he wanted to be here anymore. So when I see douchebags like the Pink Parrot guy, it makes me sick. KD doesn't owe anyone ****, especially that self-promoting asshole. He definitely took the easy road, and it'll hit his legacy regardless if he wins a few rings or not.

So for someone that has been so good to our city, I'm just shocked at the jersey burning and the extent of the verbal attacks on this kid. Used to tell people we had more class than that. But like I said, only a matter of time before most of these Thunder "fans" disappear anyways. Bunch of bandwagon losers. It really makes me sick.

[OKCRT]

I get that every team has those fans, but I had no idea this is how OKC would treat someone like KD. Lebron made a huge spectacle out of everything during "The Decision" and was rubbing it in Cleveland's face, whether intentional or not. I can see why Cavs fans were so butthurt. But again, KD has been nothing but good to us and good for our city. I mean everyone is acting so shocked like he completely pulled a 180 out of nowhere. Well, there's a reason why he set up meetings with 5, I repeat 5 f*%&ing teams, in the Hamptons! He obviously wasn't sure he wanted to be here anymore. So when I see douchebags like the Pink Parrot guy, it makes me sick. KD doesn't owe anyone ****, especially that self-promoting asshole. He definitely took the easy road, and it'll hit his legacy regardless if he wins a few rings or not.

So for someone that has been so good to our city, I'm just shocked at the jersey burning and the extent of the verbal attacks on this kid. Used to tell people we had more class than that. But like I said, only a matter of time before most of these Thunder "fans" disappear anyways. Bunch of bandwagon losers. It really makes me sick.

Welcome to Pro Sports. It's very common for players to be trashed and a jersey burning and trash thrown on players lawns ect ect. when a player leaves a city. Sometimes it makes the headlines and the bigger the player the bigger the headlines. But KD deserves the bashing IMO. He ran off like a little girl instead of standing up and taking the challenge. Not only that but he goes to the team that just beat his team. It's weak any way you look at it. He could have stayed for one more year and took the challenge and then moved on. But he xxxxxxx out. What KD did was worse than what Lebron did.

[Anonymous.]

I get that every team has those fans, but I had no idea this is how OKC would treat someone like KD. Lebron made a huge spectacle out of everything during "The Decision" and was rubbing it in Cleveland's face, whether intentional or not. I can see why Cavs fans were so butthurt. But again, KD has been nothing but good to us and good for our city. I mean everyone is acting so shocked like he completely pulled a 180 out of nowhere. Well, there's a reason why he set up meetings with 5, I repeat 5 f*%&ing teams, in the Hamptons! He obviously wasn't sure he wanted to be here anymore. So when I see douchebags like the Pink Parrot guy, it makes me sick. KD doesn't owe anyone ****, especially that self-promoting asshole. He definitely took the easy road, and it'll hit his legacy regardless if he wins a few rings or not.

So for someone that has been so good to our city, I'm just shocked at the jersey burning and the extent of the verbal attacks on this kid. Used to tell people we had more class than that. But like I said, only a matter of time before most of these Thunder "fans" disappear anyways. Bunch of bandwagon losers. It really makes me sick.

Dude, KD is literally going against everything he has ever touted here in OKC. You can be mad at someone who was also good for the city, there doesn't have to be constant nut-hugging for someone who donated .8% of his Net Worth to charity. Yes it was extremely genuine and unexpected for anyone to do.

The fact he is leaving is already enough reason to be sour to him. Add all of the additional factors and the hypocrisy - boom - you have a recipe for hate. KD did this to himself on Monday morning. People have been over-the-top and burned jerseys for decades, it isn't new - it is just recorded on video and shared more now. Fans are passionate, let fans sulk the way they please.

[Jake]

People blaming Durant's departure because "OKC sucks" are ignoring the fact that the team that literally just won the title is from Cleveland, Ohio.

Not to rag on Cleveland, I'm sure it's a nice city, but the self-depreciating, insecure attitude people have towards OKC is tiresome.

Players leave much larger markets and cities all the time in all of the 4 major sports. That's just what happens. Welcome to the big leagues.

[OKCretro]

My main response also was in response to the fact the Thunder have a hard time recruiting other NBA players. I'm giving my 2 cents as to why that may be.

This is the same for every small market team and even some large market teams. Name me one big free agent that Denver or the teams in New Orleans have signed ? Or even DC???

Also acting like added a bunch of vets solves the team's problem

What if other players in the league saw or heard through the grapevine that kd was leaving a while back. Players text each other all the time. Read the articles about Green recruiting kd for the last few years....
If other players know of it maybe they knew not to to commit to play Here when kd wouldn't commit himself.

[Plutonic Panda]

This is the same for every small market team and even some large market teams. Name me one big free agent that Denver or the teams in New Orleans have signed ? Or even DC??? .

I don't keep up with sports man so I honestly don't know.

[Teo9969]

If anyone ever doubted the real passion of this forum, we have spent a good deal of time talking about development in a thread about the OKC Thunder centered around the most collosal development in Oklahoma sports history (aside from the Thunder actually coming to OKC in the first place).

To be honest, I don't think there's a better take on this in print than Royce Young's. It's the best writing he's ever done:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16...a-city-thunder

There's so much to be said about this that will occur over the next few months/years/decades, but Royce's piece is really a must read at this point.

But I've had this thought stirring in my head today: So much of this situation really is representative of OKC today. We have a lot of problems to overcome as a city (as personified by KD and KD leaving), and yet we're well in the process of overcoming them (even losing KD, we're a competitive playoff team). The question is are we going to do the things necessary as a city (/franchise) and cash in on our greatest asset(s) (Westbrook, etc.) to continue an upward trajectory toward becoming the amazing city we could eventually become (eventually a Championship).

KD leaving also brings it all home. We voted for improvements to the 'Peake in order to bring a professional franchise to OKC under the guise that we want to become a "Big League City". Well...this was the final test of a "Big League City": Learn how to lose a franchise built superstar.

[G.Walker]

The Thunder team I will remember!

[G.Walker]

[ljbab728]

I don't keep up with sports man so I honestly don't know.

plupan, I hope you know you're posting in a sports thread.

[KenRagsdale]

Don’t Sweat Kevin Durant’s Departure. You’re Doing Fine, Oklahoma City!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/..._all_dt_tw_top