The Thunder did not have the talent as he did before the trade deadline.
Because he did not bring anyone as well as Jeff Green.
In one of the biggest surprises of the trade deadline, the Thunder sent the swingman versatile and processed for the Celtics away an important piece of its young, talented core. Green is a starter, a contributor, let alone a baseball player, big-time.
No player has acquired the Thunder Thursday is as good as it is. Not Nazr Mohammed. Not Nate Robinson. Kendrick Perkins even.
So why green business?
He became the odd man out.
Although it has been a cornerstone player since the franchise moved to town three years ago, we could see a change over the last year. It was not a gesture overnight, but rather a slow and steady change.
First, Russell Westbrook has emerged as a power point guard. Thunder brass always maintained they saw the potential for greatness in him, but I'm not someone who never expected it to Westbrook. He terrorizes opponents ability to shoot, drive, score, pass and defend.
It is a game-changer.
More than that, Westbrook is the perfect complement to Durant. There is fire in the ice during the grain of its sweetness, the Robin to his Batman.
Not so long ago, Green was complicit in Durant. They were the yin and yang. They have been the hallmark of one to two.
Westbrook emergence changed places on the green team.
Serge IBAK has cemented.
Green has played out of position as long as the Thunder was in Oklahoma City. From time to time he would have a chance to play winger, but if the Thunder wanted his best players on the floor at a time, Green had to play power forward. This was not a place During might play. Ditto for Thabo Sefolosha.
Green was forced to play out of position because he could. It was too small, but flexible enough to manage.
Then came IBAK.
Last year we saw a glimpse of what he could do. This season, his scoring and rebounding, defense and shotblocking are becoming more predictable and more dynamic.
Now, the Thunder is ready to take off the training wheels and see what can IBAK full time.
That is clear to the team's decision to trade Green. If IBAK was not ready to assume the No. 4 spot and give the Thunder a real power forward, the Thunder would not trade Green for sending the Celtics.
This franchise has not been the case because he does not like green. He did it because he has become a sustainable part of the soul.
Maybe the players have even acknowledged the change at a subconscious level. When the first team arrived here, Green was one of the guys who hung with Durant and Westbrook on the sidelines. They went to dinner. They play video games. They cold.
In the past year, Green does not work with these guys as much. James Harden, Eric Maynor and IBAK done. The group even went together for this weekend of stars.
They went without green.
Now they will go without him permanently.
There is a chance, of course, the Thunder could offer tender green during the offseason and return to Oklahoma City. There will be a restricted free agent, after all, and if the Thunder really wants him, he might make a bid, just like any other team.
But where would all that green?
That's the problem now, and it will remain the problem of the four months from now.
The Thunder took action Thursday, it will be larger in the post. This will make it more defensive. That will be well equipped for a long playoff.
It is the theory anyway.
If things do not go as planned, this movement will be a clunker, trading a player as talented as Green and not putting as good in person he is. But if Sam Presti and Scott Brooks and all other makers Thunder're right, this trade deadline is the day the Thunder did something amazing.
He has gone without more talent.
