Oklahoma City Thunder: Trading Kevin Durant Would Be A Huge Mistake

With “rumors” swirling around the possibility, it would be a catastrophic mistake for the Oklahoma City Thunder to trade Kevin Durant

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It’s easy to get caught up in the moment, especially when it comes to sports.

That’s what’s exactly happening to the Oklahoma City Thunder, its fans and the rest of the NBA faithful. Two months ago, if someone would’ve even brought up the topic of the Thunder trading Kevin Durant, that person would’ve been laughed off. It’s amazing how perceptions can change in the matter of weeks.

Then again, that’s just how impressive Russell Westbrook has looked over the last month. Despite that, everyone that believes the Thunder could survive without Durant is completely out of their mind.

They’ve lost it.

And it all started after ESPN’s Tom Penn commented on the issue, basically saying that if Thunder GM Sam Presti can’t get a commitment from Durant, he believes they will trade him. Go figure.

"“I think this burst from Westbrook makes it much more likely that Durant ultimately gets traded next year. … Sam Presti has proven that he does not ever want to lose anybody for nothing. So he traded James Harden a year early to avoid a potential luxury tax problem a year later.“The Kevin Durant drumbeat next year is going to be so loud because he will not commit early to Oklahoma City contractually because the rules are against that. He can’t get the same contract if he signs early as if he just goes to free agency and resigns.So if Sam Presti doesn’t get that commitment, he’ll look to to trade Kevin Durant. And looking at the performance of Westbrook and the team around Westbrook will make it easier for him to do that potentially.”"

While it seems like the right hot take to have, especially after the month Westbrook just finished, averaging 31 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists per game in the month of February, we’re failing to realize one key thing that Durant excelled at that Westbrook has failed to do so far this season: make his team(mates) better.

As of today, the Thunder have currently fallen behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the 8th seed in the Western Conference. We’re 63 games through the season, Westbrook has played in 48 of those games and OKC still isn’t assured of anything this season.

If Kevin Durant had played 48 games this season, including 46 of the team’s last 47, and roles were reversed, the Thunder would be IN the playoffs — and better than just seven games over .500, I’m certainly confident in that.

The perfect example was last season, when Westbrook missed a 27-game stretch from late-December to mid-February. During those games, the Thunder went 20-7, with Durant averaging 35 points, eight rebounds and six assists. That stretch also happened to catapult him into the lead for the NBA MVP award.

With Durant out this season, and with Westbrook playing alone, the Thunder have gone 11-7. Not exactly lighting the schedule up with wins.

But, hey, as long as Westbrook keeps getting those numbers, right?

I like how people want to take this extremely small sample size of Westbrook filling up the stat sheet much bigger than a grain of salt, but also want to ignore his W-L record during Durant’s time in a suit this season. You can’t take one without the other. That’s just to be fair.

So, yes, it would be an absolutely great idea for Presti to trade Durant when he hasn’t indicated that he’s leaving the team in free agency next summer. The irony in all this is the fact that there’s probably a greater probability that Westbrook leaves in a few years than Durant leaves this summer.

Make the knee-jerk reaction, though, before looking at the ramifications that it’d make to the team. That seems like a great idea. After all, someone from ESPN did bring it up.

What could go wrong?

Next: op-10 Most Disappointing Players Of The 2014-15 Season

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