CHAPTER 1313: CHAPTER 530: ONE AGAINST TWO, CONQUERING THE THUNDER TWINS!

Last month’s schedule was so easy, but this month and next month are explosive.

Looking at the Thunder Team’s starting lineup posted on the big screen: Rose, Durant, Radmanovic, Krstic, DeAndre Jordan.

The guard line is strong. Second-year Rose averages 17.8 points and 7.2 assists, third-year Durant averages 29.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, temporarily ranking third on the scoring list; the power forward is strong offensively but weak defensively, averaging 13 points and 6 rebounds, can shoot from distance, which suits Rose and Durant. Center DeAndre Jordan averages 8.2 points and 8.8 rebounds, can catch lob passes, is willing to set screens, and provides some rim protection, currently considered a passable two-towers lineup.

But the small forward...

Zhang Yang remembered the news he saw this morning after arriving here - both the Thunder Team and Ray Allen expressed regret over their 2007 "breakup."

This news made him roll his eyes. Back then, the new management of the SuperSonics Team didn’t value Ray Allen, who averaged 25+ points but couldn’t make the playoffs, and Ray Allen also felt the SuperSonics Team was holding him back. Both sides despised each other to death.

Now the Thunder Team is lacking in the second and third positions, signing Radmanovic as a starter and moving Durant back to the shooting guard position of his rookie year, starting to regret it;

Ray Allen, who went to form a new Big Three with the top picks of the same class and the third pick of the 2003 class, got knocked out repeatedly by Kobe. Seeing his old team rising again and just lacking a wing shooter and a backup guard, he regretted not staying to tank together...

But the shortage in the second and third positions of the Thunder Team should be blamed on their general manager, Presley.

There are media reports that Presley’s initial draft target was Evans, aiming to pick him as a shooting guard, but the Timberwolves used the second pick to take this college talent projected to be third. At that time, there were no more shooting guards in the top ten projections.

There were two other players projected in the lottery, Duke’s Gerald Henderson and the University of Louisville’s Terrence Williams, but both were on the edge of the lottery and were aged 22 years old, junior and senior age draftees, with talents that could be seen at a glance, pure immediacy that Presley could not take seriously. Rubio, Johnny Flynn, Jennings, and other point guards were generally too small in size, not meeting his criteria for a combo guard...

After the Timberwolves picked their players, the Clippers sent a trade request to the Thunder Team, wanting to trade Al Thornton and a top-three protected 2010 draft pick for the third pick, but Presley declined and chose to take a gamble with Tabit, as they also lacked inside presence. As a result, this gamble wasted the third pick.

Tabit is not without merit. So far this season, he has played in 20 games, averaging 12 minutes per game, scoring 3.6 points, grabbing 3 rebounds, and blocking 1.3 shots, with a shooting percentage of 60%, and his efficiency in slow-paced half-court games is astonishingly high.

But this big center, over 220 cm tall, has a fatal flaw—his lower body strength is too weak. Compared to someone of similar weight like Big Z, he is like a paper tiger, and after testing by the Thunder Team, it was confirmed that he is not suitable for putting on more weight. He can’t bulk up to over 130 kg like Yao Ming while maintaining the average center’s mobility.

This flaw prevents Tabit from solo rim protection. A wing player is needed to help him block the opponent’s advance, and currently, the only wing on the Thunder Team capable of doing this is Durant. The two working together is indeed effective, but this further strains Durant’s already lacking stamina. After a period of execution, this defensive combination was abandoned.

Plus, Tabit’s stamina is exceptionally poor. In college, when he didn’t have to leave the basket and was standing post defending, playing 27 to 28 minutes per game, it wasn’t noticeable. After entering the NBA, he can’t even play 20 minutes per game, which is also one of the reasons he can’t gain weight. He cannot even become a pure "body in the way."

This gamble not only wasted the third pick but also missed the opportunity to bring in Al Thornton.

The Clippers proposed the trade because they saw the Thunder Team lacking in the second and third positions, but Presley was very confident at the time. With Rose showing amazing talent in his rookie year, Durant being the larger version of the Bad Boy, and DeAndre Jordan with high potential, he was certain free agents would join... In the end, not a quality second or third player came for tryouts during the entire summer.

They actively invited players, only receiving a response from Turkoglu, but his asking price was so high it made them want to hang up the phone they called actively. In the end, they could only sign a snowboarding man to make up the numbers.

The Thunder Team’s fruitless free agent market experience during the offseason taught Zhang Yang a lesson—don’t get too confident because things are going too smoothly.

Presley’s ability is unmistakable, but the few years after jumping ship to the SuperSonics Team went too smoothly, thinking everything would be as he wished, but the free market didn’t buy it.

Zhang Yang remembers that originally, three years later, after Harden’s third season, it was still like this. The Thunder Team management from 2007 to 2012 went too smoothly, thinking they could replace Harden with another player at any time, discarding him like a shoe, but until Durant was conquered by Curry, they hadn’t found a suitable perimeter partner for Westbrook and Durant.

A championship contending team with André Roberson as the starting shooting guard—it’s absurd just thinking about it...

...

At 7 p.m., DeAndre Jordan won the jump ball against Okafor, and the Thunder Team attacked first!

Durant executed the first attack, Zhang Yang defended with all his might... Durant executed a crossover during his breakthrough, creating an opportunity to catch the ball, pulled up for a mid-range shot before Zhang Yang caught up... scored!

Zhang San: Calling for Tony’s help!