Thunder diagnosis: Cold feet
Did you check out Tyson Chandler’s stat line in his first game back with the Hornets: 15 points, 10 rebounds. Chandler has turf toe. The Thunder had cold feet.
The rescinded trade will be analyzed for years, and it’s far too early to tell which was the right way to go. But the early returns show Oklahoma City made a mistake. Chandler obviously was healthy enough to perform at a high level against Sacramento on Monday night. And since the trade was rescinded, the Thunder’s defense has gotten even worse.
Field-goal percentages for Thunder opponents since the trade was rescinded: Phoenix 58.2; Golden State 56.3; Lakers 52.6. That’s losing basketball and best explains why Oklahoma City is back in the hunt for the league’s worst record. OKC is 13-44; only Sacramento (12-46) has a worse record. The Thunder is 26th out of 30 teams in points allowed per game (104.4, besting Sacramento, Indiana, New York and Golden State) and 27th in field-goal percentage defense (47.61, besting Washington, Sacramento and the Knicks).
The addition of Thabo Sefolosha obviously will help the defense, but without interior help, the Thunder will be a soft defensive team, unable to defend the basket.
That’s where Chandler would have made a difference. Something in his physical — X-rays, probably — scared off the Thunder. But sometimes a franchise has to take risks to make dramatic improvement in the NBA, and Chandler seems like a good risk. A center like him will be almost impossible to find.
Of course, telling other people to risk their $25 million is easy, so you can’t blame the Thunder for being careful. But now that $25 million over the next two years must be spent on someone else. The Chandler trade bolstered belief within the organization that the Clay Bennett administration would spend the money required to build a solid roster. That belief will wither if the salary cap space now available again isn’t used.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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Comments
Let’s not judge based on one week since the trade that almost happened. There have been instances where guys have tried to play with injuries only to wind up being out of action for even longer than if they had treated it right the first time. If Chandler plays regularly for the rest of the season and playoffs and produces, THEN we have a reason to be upset. I say it’s too early to tell.
For the first time I find myself agreeing with Berry…..this is really strange. I also think the Thunder made a HUGE mistake, but only time will tell.
Of course they got cold feet. Wait until they have to compete to pay Durants salary demands. He will be gone to a big league city.