The more I look at the Thunder, the more I get worried regarding Gordon. The Thunder are absolutely a crappy team, perhaps the worst in NBA history. They will never get any of the true max players, like Lebron James or Dwyane Wade to come play for them. They will have to go after a fringe allstar like Gordon, and while a lot of these fringe allstars and non-allstars could still get max and near-max from being all that's left in 2010, because those teams will want to spend their money, that is unlikely to be the case in 2009, so giving Gordon the max would be a bold move. Kevin Durant needs more help. Ben Gordon would give Durant his robin, and also help the Thunder become more competitive, which will help them in 2010, when they will be in position to give another player the max. Perhaps in 2010, they go for defense, and give someone like Gordon's old teammate, Tyson Chandler, the max. The Thunder could offer Gordon approximately $88 million over 5 years, or approximately 17.7 million a year. For Gordon, here is a short list of cons: -The Thunder are the worst team in the league. -He has always been in big cities: New York or Chicago. -Gordon grew up a Bulls fan, this was his dream. -He'd be even farther away from his family. -Sixth men don't make $17+ million a year. This will put the final deathblow in that label. And of course, the pluses: -$88 million over 5 years? Hard to pass that up. -Kevin Durant, potential for short term rebuild. -OKC might be a good fit for Ben, it has bowling alleys, churches, and stuff like that that Ben enjoys. The Thunder rebuild could be quick, especially if they get lucky in the lottery. Say they win the lottery and get Blake Griffin, and follow my rebuild plan. PG-Russell Westbrook SG-Ben Gordon SF-Kevin Durant PF-Blake Griffin C- Tyson Chandler That would be a nice little rebuild for OKC. Hopefully they don't catch onto this thinking and just swing for the fences in 2010 and strike out.
