It's draft time, and that means it's time for endless speculation. Our thoughts turn to the future directly after the season ends and the present is settled. Team needs, mock drafts, player comparisons. I love it. I try to be nonpartisan at draft time, but it isn't always easy. Although I am not from Oklahoma or Seattle (we feel for you, Seattleites), I love the Thunder. But then again, who doesn't? They are champions of FD. They have universal appeal. They can be revolutionary. And that is why they cannot draft Hasheem Thabeet.
Clearly, OKC has a bright future. They have a young core based around the offensive genius of Kevin Durant, caught somewhere between savant and assassin. Jeff Green is a perfect complement to Durant's explosive ability. He can guard all positions, and is as skilled on the perimeter as he is posting up. That doesn't mean he can be that idiomatic franchise player, but paired with someone like Durant, Green becomes more than he is. Russell Westbrook, the most volatile of the three, mans the point. He is capable of all things at all times. In fact, they all are. They are an organic expression of athleticism and apositionality, and they represent change that is distant from D'Antoni's exiled plotting.
And while he could be a great player, Hasheem Thabeet counteracts the Thunder's meaning. He will be a defensive force, that cannot be denied. He will learn how to rotate efficiently, he will continue to improve his footwork, and he will be able to disrupt any opposing offense. In time. And I even think his offense will come around. After all, Thabeet has only played basketball for a few years. If he wants to be great, and he goes to the right place and gets the right instruction, he will be. Oklahoma City could even be that place.
But no, any further pieces the Thunder acquire need to fit into their apositional vision. Drafting Thabeet rejects this framework and entrenches convention. Unlike D'Antoni's teams, this model cannot be emulated or moved. Their athleticism and versatility, combined with the freedom of Brooks' system, makes them unique and eminently interesting. Nevertheless, there is a certain kindred spirit underlying this experimentation in Oklahoma, and embracing Thabeet is tantamount to giving up on it. In the short-term, he is a prototypical center who is only capable of accomplishing the tasks of his position. A developing team with such enormous creative potential needs players who expand its options, not limit them.
Both Ricky Rubio and James Harden can add to this team without fundamentally altering it. Rubio can't shake the Nash comparisons, and for good reason. His type of playmaking can be an orienting force, one that would catalyze the athletic gifts of his teammates. In this system, his poor shooting wouldn't even matter. Harden would become another cog in the machine, adding excellent midrange shooting and a tremendous passing ability. He practically ran the Arizona State offense and compiled great pace-adjusted assist totals, which allows Russell Westbrook more freedom to develop on or off the ball. Rubio will probably be off the board at the third pick. And the Thunder will have options. DeMar DeRozan, Tyreke Evans, and yes, Thabeet, will be available. Resist temptation, draft James Harden.
Hasheem Thabeet will be a good NBA player, but the Thunder shouldn't draft him. We need Oklahoma City to become what they were meant to be. And the only way they can move forward is without the big man from Connecticut.
