The injury bug hit the Oklahoma City Thunder hard as they lost their two stars, Kevin Durant (foot fracture) and Russell Westbrook (hand fracture), along with several other players including Anthony Morrow, Grant Jerrett, Mitch McGary, Andre Roberson and Perry Jones III. Many people have said this is a lost season for them and even Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban hinted that they should tank.
via ESPN:
Cuban said he would not consider it a breach of NBA integrity if the Thunder essentially bagged this season to improve their odds of winning a title in the near future.
“The question I don’t think anybody has asked is, why don’t they pull a David Robinson and try to get Tim Duncan?” said Cuban
“I’m not suggesting anything,” Cuban said. “I’m just curious why the question hasn’t been asked because I’m curious what the answer is.”
“I don’t know, it would be a tough call,” Cuban said when asked whether he’d want Durant and Westbrook to miss the rest of the season if he owned the Thunder. “When Dirk got hurt, we didn’t. But it’s a little different.
“Because I had a lot of one-year guys and we had to see who we wanted to keep. And I never thought he’d be out that long. Honestly.
The Spurs situation he’s referring to is 1996-97, when David Robinson missed 76 games due to an injury. San Antonio went 20-62 and won the lottery. The Spurs used the No. 1 pick on Tim Duncan. This isn’t the same in my opinion because both Durant and Westbrook should be back soon and the guys left have been playing hard. They still have a chance to make the playoffs even if it’s a lower seed. Once they have their full squad in the playoffs they can then try to make a legitimate run. Of course it would be in Cuban’s best interest for them to tank since he considers his Mavericks championship contenders.
