Dean's Blog: Thunder's Disappointing Draft Night

Confusing. Deflating. The net result from a draft night that had so much suspense and so much promise--at least through nine picks.

I hear the "win now" proclamations but watch the "and win later" moves

I'm all in with GM Sam Presti....however....believe he low-balled Cleveland and Orlando for the first and second picks. I imagined KD and Russ with an offensively-gifted center (Alex Len) or a ball-of-fire winner (guard Victor Oladipo). But it turned out to be only in my imagination. Good chance there were others, because there were valuable players who could have contributed THIS NEXT season avaiable for the first hour.

No doubt he tried to dump Perk and his salary. That would have been a home run. But when it's a homer for a team it's usually a strike out for the other. That seems to be the case. No disrespect, but who could excite their fan base by telling them "we traded away the No. 1/2 pick but got Perk and some draft picks"??? The only other human commodities were Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones and Reggie Jackson. Only Jackson would give a team any security at all. No reason to believe Jones is gonna bust out anytime soon. Lamb is full of that most dangerous words in all of sports--potential.

So after not offering Didly Squat, OKC was left to watch any chance they had of adding a potentially quality contributor NEXT SEASON slide by the wayside, and usher in another player whose description looks awfully familiar. And suspicious. "Center, long, 28 foot wingspan, nice upside, but raw offensively and not ready for prime time players."

Steven Adams joins Cole Aldrich and Byron Mullens as the third first-round center to get a jersey in five years. But the jersey he'll wear will say TULSA across the front.

Which is where I'm headed. All three players they drafted (Adams, Andre Roberson and Alex Abrines) will wear jerseys that are not Thunder blue. Adams and Roberson will get their playing time in Tulsa. Abrines will get his in Spain (he's frrom Spain and plays for FC Barcelona).

Not adding a single player who will make a positive impact next season is compounded with the fact that there's no money to buy a shooter to replace KMart in free agency.

So, what you see is what you get. Or actually, what you SAW is what you get. Again. The 2012-13 OKC Thunder is about to become the 2013-14 OKC Thunder. Sans Martin.

The only thing the Thunder definitely did by adding the 19-year old New Zealander, is ensure that no team can match them when it comes to abundant siblings. Serge is one of 18 siblings. And yes, so is Adams. 36 siblings betwixt two players. World record. Won't help OKC on the scoreboard, but impressive nonetheless.

Can OKC improve enough to beat the Miamis, San Antonios, Clippers of the world with no new blood? I'd don't think so...and had hoped to not find out. But apparently and unfortunately that's where we are after a promising draft draft turned south. Confused, deflated, and headed home hoping there's something I'm missing.

"Win now" is what I was thinking. But "and win later" is what I'm feeling. Maybe Sam is gonna do both. If so, he really is a genius.