The Architects
There’s one more piece, the oft-overlooked aspect of this team’s growth this year. Those young Thunder teams needed a coach with the ability to reach a team full of unproven potential and youthful ways.
Like Scott Brooks for Durant, Westbrook, and Harden, Jason Kidd has found the right tone for this collection of young talent, and like Brooks, with his own NBA career not too far in the rearview, it’s a voice they’re listening and responding to.
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Kidd’s time as one of the premier floor generals the NBA has ever seen gave insight into the kind of coach he was capable of becoming, one with the vision, leadership, and challenging demeanor needed to make a team better. He was a poor fit for the veteran Nets, but Hammonds made the right call in trading two second-rounders for his coaching potential.
This young team needs a veteran, and Kidd is the perfect fit even if his playing days have passed.
And that leads to the secret to all of this recent success. What John Hammond has done recently as GM has been on par with the run of success that turned Sam Presti into the darling of NBA front offices with the Thunder.
His recent drafts have meant everything to this small market team, from rolling the dice with Antetokounmpo to stealing Brogdon in the second round of this year’s draft, he’s come up smelling roses. Even the Monroe signing, which was widely panned, has turned into a decent signing in light of his renaissance as sixth man and his now-not-so-large contract.
Another solid draft and finding a few more role players (like plucking Michael Beasley from the trash heap the past offseason) in free agency should have this team, and it’s fans, thinking of deep playoff runs in the years to come.
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For now, enjoy this season. It’s not hard to see this team continue to blossom and peak at the right time to make waves as a 5th seed. Thunder 2.0? Nah, this is what Hammond envisioned all along for his Milwaukee Bucks team.