OKC: Part III - Tough ending in Milwaukee

Well, my Suns game unfortunately came to a premature end. But I'm excited to start fresh in 2k19 with the team that started my journey on this forum nine years ago.

I don't really have any specific goals beyond just trying to contend for the title, but beating KD and the Warriors in the playoffs at some point would be sweet.

Settings

Game: NBA 2K19
Console: PS4
Game Type: MyLeague
Qtr Length: 10 Min
Sim Length: 12 Min
Season Length: 82 games (Play 1, Sim 1)
Normalise Minutes: Off
Normalise Stats: Off

Playoffs: 7-7-7-7
Difficulty: All-Star
Sliders: Default
Rosters: Latest 2k19 rosters
Rookies: 2019 real

Last edited by Phil89 on Wed Jun 23, 2021 4:50 pm, edited 220 times in total.

Archives

Season Records

Year	Regular Season	Playoffs	Final Result
2018-19	65-17	12-6	Eliminated in Conference Finals by Golden State
2019-20	26-56	-	-
2020-21	30-52	-	-
2021-22	4-4	-	-

Playoffs

2018-19 Season

Round	Opponent	Preview	Series Result	Games
First Round	Los Angeles Lakers	Preview	Thunder won series 4-1	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Conference Semis	Houston Rockets	Preview	Thunder won series 4-1	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Conference Finals	Golden State Warriors	Preview	Warriors won series 4-2	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Team Achievements

Northwest Division champions (2018-19)
NBA Summer League champions (2020)


Individual Achievements

Most Valuable Player
Russell Westbrook (2018-19)

Rookie of the Year
Anthony Edwards (2020-21)

Sixth Man of the Year
Isaiah Mobley (2020-21)


All-NBA First team
Russell Westbrook (2018-19)

All-NBA Third team
Paul George (2018-19)

All-Defense First team
Russell Westbrook (2018-19)
Chris Paul (2019-20)

All-Rookie First team
Anthony Edwards (2020-21)
Isaiah Mobley (2020-21)


Coach of the Year
Billy Donovan (2018-19)


NBA Steals Leader
Russell Westbrook (2018-19)
Chris Paul (2019-20)

NBA All-Star Game
Russell Westbrook (2018-19)
Paul George (2018-19)

NBA Rising Stars Game MVP
Isaiah Mobley (2020-21)


Player of the Month
Russell Westbrook (April 2019)

Rookie of the Month
Anthony Edwards (November 2020)
Anthony Edwards (January 2021)
Isaiah Mobley (February 2021)

Player of the Week
Russell Westbrook (October 14th, 2018 - October 20th, 2018)
Russell Westbrook (December 9th, 2018 - December 15th, 2018)
Russell Westbrook (December 16th, 2018 - December 22nd, 2018)
Russell Westbrook (January 13th, 2019 - January 19th, 2019)
Russell Westbrook (March 31st, 2019 - April 6th, 2019)

Steven Adams (November 24th, 2019 - November 30th, 2019)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (February 16th, 2020 - February 22nd, 2020)

Articles
01/10/18 - Thunder off-season recap: George stays, Melo traded & bench depth added
29/01/19 - Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis officially requests trade
10/04/19 - Westbrook crowned MVP for second time in three years after outstanding season
20/04/19 - Disaster for Lakers as LeBron set to miss remainder of series with injury

03/06/19 - Dirk and Wade headline 2019 NBA Retirements
03/06/19 - Coaching changes announced ahead of the 2019-20 NBA season
30/06/19 - 2019 Free Agency preview
01/10/19 - Thunder facing a direction change as Westbrook era abruptly ends
15/01/20 - As trade deadline gets nearer, Thunder are reportedly taking calls on several players
20/03/20 - 2020 NBA Draft - Latest Top 10 Mock Rankings
31/05/20 - 2020 NBA Finals: Sixers ready to defend their title, whilst LeBron looks to strengthen his legacy
19/06/20 - Lakers defeat defending champions Philadelphia in thrilling 7-game finals series

03/07/20 - Carter and Gasol headline 2020 NBA Retirements
07/07/20 - Bulls and Thunder make coaching changes ahead of the 2020-21 NBA season
03/08/20 - Summer League 2020 preview
23/08/20 - Summer League 2020 summary
01/10/20 - A positive off-season has spirits high in Oklahoma City
02/01/21 - Bucks give their fans a late Christmas present as Giannis re-signs

Transactions

2018-19 Season
05/11/18 - Thunder sign former Grizzlies big man for the rest of the season
13/12/18 - Schroder set to regain starter status as Pacers acquire German point guard

2019-20 Season
24/01/20 - Oklahoma City conclude two separate deals as their rebuild enters its next phase

2020-21 Season
19/07/20 - CP3 finally gets his Lakers move as Thunder trade veteran to 2019 champions
23/01/21 - Thunder re-sign Lu Dort on multi-year deal

29/01/21 - Bucks acquire all-star Holiday in three-team mega deal
30/01/21 - Thunder gain more draft assets by taking on Horford contract

League Transactions

2018-19 Season
31/01/10 - Knicks send all-star Porzingis to Dallas

2020-21 Season
03/12/20 - Knicks acquire all-star Lowry from Raptors
20/12/20 - Warriors acquire former number one pick from Timberwolves

All-Star Events

2018-19 Season
2019 Rising Stars game
2019 All-Star Three Point & Dunk contests
2019 All-Star game

2019-20 Season
2020 Rising Stars game
2020 All-Star Three Point & Dunk contests
2020 All-Star game

2020-21 Season
2021 Rising Stars game
2021 All-Star Three Point & Dunk contests
2021 All-Star game

Draft
2019 Draft Lottery & Draft Preview
2019 NBA Draft - Part One
2019 NBA Draft - Part Two
2019 NBA Draft - Part Three

2020 Draft Lottery & Draft Preview
2020 NBA Draft - First Round
2020 NBA Draft Full Summary

2021 Draft Lottery & Draft Preview
2021 NBA Draft - First Round (Part One)
2021 NBA Draft - First Round (Part Two)
2021 NBA Draft Full Summary

Free Agency
2019 Free Agency Summary - Eastern Conference
2019 Free Agency Summary - Western Conference
Teams finalise rosters ahead of season tip-off

2020 Free Agency Summary - Eastern Conference
2020 Free Agency Summary - Western Conference

2021 Free Agency Summary - Eastern Conference
2021 Free Agency Summary - Western Conference

Monthly Summaries

2018-19 Season
November 2018 summary
December 2018 summary
January 2019 summary
February 2019 summary
Season 2018-19 summary
2018-19 Season awards
2018-19 NBA Finals summary

2019-20 Season
November 2019 summary
December 2019 summary
January 2020 summary
February 2020 summary
Season 2019-20 summary
2019-20 Season awards
2019-20 Playoff summary
2019-20 NBA Finals summary

2020-21 Season
November 2020 summary
December 2020 summary
January 2021 summary
February 2021 summary

Season 2020-21 summary
2020-21 Season awards
2020-21 NBA Finals summary

_

Last edited by Phil89 on Wed Jun 23, 2021 4:49 pm, edited 222 times in total.

1/10/18

Thunder off-season recap: George stays, Melo traded & bench depth added

The phrase "make-or-break" is thrown around a lot in these days of social media and 24-hour news cycles. But that is exactly what the last twelve months have been for the future of the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise.

In July 2017 general manager Sam Presti took a huge gamble by trading promising young talents Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis for all-star Paul George, who was on an expiring contract and still not looking fully recovered from a horrible leg break in 2014.

Most NBA fans and media experts believed that it was a fait accompli that George would return home to Los Angeles once his contract expired. But Presti had faith that his organisation could convince George to stay in Oklahoma.

---

In September 2017 Presti took another gamble by acquiring ten-time all-star Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks. It was a bold move to add another star to the team as they pursued a championship. In hindsight though, it seems more like a move made based on reputation, rather than his fit with the team.


The next part of the potential championship-winning puzzle came just days after Anthony arrived. Recently crowned MVP Russell Westbrook signed a five year, $205 million extension, effectively committing to playing his remaining peak years in Oklahoma City.

So the Thunder had their new 'big three', as is the fashion with contending teams in the modern NBA. Now it was time to chase that title.


---

After a rocky 8-12 start through November, things picked up in December and January as they went 22-9 and started looking like a genuine contender.

They just couldn't find consistency in the following months though. An 18-13 close to the season saw them finish with a 48-34 record, which was good enough for the fourth seed.

A match-up against the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs awaited them. Despite holding home court advantage and winning the opening game, the Thunder couldn't deal with the defense of Rudy Gobert and the offense of rookie Donovan Mitchell. They lost four of the next five games and were eliminated.


---

Questions were immediately raised about what the result would mean for the future of Paul George. Commentators suggested that he would leave because he didn't fit alongside "selfish" Westbrook and "lazy" Melo. Speculation about him continued all throughout the Summer, but the man himself remained silent.

Understandably Thunder fans were wary that history was going to repeat itself. It was only two years earlier that superstar Kevin Durant quit the team to join the Golden State Warriors (in one of the weakest moves by a star player in professional sports history).

But the organisation itself never wavered in their belief that they could persuade George to remain.


---

As the off-season arrived everyone was waiting for George to announce that he would be wearing purple and gold.

But then something happened which took everybody by surprise. On July 7th Oklahoma City announced that George had signed a four-year, $137 million extension. Naturally, Lakers fans were quick to claim that they never wanted him anyway.

It turned out that after all the speculation about him heading home to Los Angeles, George hadn't even met with the franchise. He had made his mind up several weeks earlier that he wanted to stay in Oklahoma.


So why didn't George give the Lakers a meeting in free agency?

"It was absolutely tempting," George said. "Honestly, I wanted to come back home. But again, I got traded to Oklahoma. Loved the situation. Loved where I was at. I decided to stick around a little longer."

He added, "I just wanted my free agency to be over with. In my heart, I felt great about Oklahoma and I wasn't going to prolong it if I felt good about it already."


---

With George and Westbrook locked in long-term, Sam Presti then set about trying to give them the best supporting cast that he could.

On the same day as the George announcement, former number six overall pick Nerlens Noel signed with the Thunder on a two-year deal for the minimum salary. The next day athletic forward Jerami Grant signed a three year, $27 million extension.

About two weeks later Presti cut ties with controversial veteran Carmelo Anthony in a three-team trade that involved Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Oklahoma City sent Melo and 2022 protected first-round pick to Atlanta. They received Dennis Schroder from the Hawks and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot from the Sixers.

Melo was then bought out by the Hawks and went on to sign with the Houston Rockets.


---

Schroder had been a starter during his time in Atlanta and now had to adjust to backing up Russell Westbrook. He quickly gained the label of best backup point guard in the league.

Meanwhile, Noel is trying to resurrect his career after turning down a $70 million extension with Dallas last season. He should provide some much needed backup for Steven Adams.

The pair join a solid group or role players on the Thunder team with Andre Roberson, Patrick Patterson, Alex Abrines and Raymond Felton. Although Roberson is still recovering from a ruptured patellar tendon that he suffered in January and looks set to be out until at least the new year.

Recent draft pickups Terrance Ferguson and Hamidou Diallo have shown promising glimpses in the Summer League and could be solid contributors this season.


---

So from facing the potential loss of an all-star in his prime, the Thunder instead kept him and dumped an ageing and inefficient volume shooter.

If Westbrook can reproduce his MVP-level play; if George can score efficiently and defend at an elite level; and Steven Adams can improve his offensive output, then there is no reason why they can't be a genuine title contender for the next few years.

All of their key players are locked in for the next two or three seasons and their salary expenditure is astronomical. So if this group can't get it done, there isn't much room to improve things.

But you just know that Sam Presti loves the challenge of finding diamonds in the rough on draft night. He'll probably need to unearth a couple to keep this team up near the top of the standings.

2018-19 Roster Depth

Last edited by Phil89 on Mon Jan 21, 2019 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Good luck with this one!

Well I hate the Thunder but I like you so go Thunder!

16/10/18

Golden State Warriors [0-0] vs Oklahoma City Thunder [0-0]

Westbrook upsets Warriors' championship celebrations on opening night

GSW | 21 | 30 | 21 | 11 | 83 |
OKC | 28 | 18 | 27 | 18 | 93 |

Player of the Game: Russell Westbrook
(30pts, 7reb, 7ast, 1stl)
(11-17 FG, 1-2 3PT, 7-9 FT)

We led 24-5 in the first quarter, before they fought back and eventually took the lead midway through the second. It went back and forth for the rest of the night.

It definitely wasn't a pretty game, but I'll take any win over Golden State.

Simmed Game

LAC | 14 | 23 | 27 | 21 | 185 |
OKC | 38 | 20 | 22 | 30 | 110 |

POTG: Russell Westbrook (22pts, 10reb, 12ast, 3stl, 2blk)


Record: 2-0

Good luck with this one!

Thanks. It's going to take a little while to get used to the AI in this game. I tried a few practice games on superstar difficulty and it did not go well All-star is challenging enough for now.

Well I hate the Thunder but I like you so go Thunder!

Haha thanks. I could always move the Pelicans to Seattle again, if that makes it a bit easier for you

Strong start! Are you going to try to get Westbrook to average a triple-double?

Strong start! Are you going to try to get Westbrook to average a triple-double?

Right now I'm just trying to figure out consistent ways to score.

I'm sure he'll get a few triple-doubles over the course of the season, but I wouldn't bet on him averaging one again. The fact that I'm only playing 8 minute quarters makes it pretty difficult to stat-pad.

If you normalised the stats to twelve minutes, it might happen. All up to you, of course.

Pick & Roll should be pretty effective. It's one of the weaknesses of the defensive in NBA 2K19.

21/10/18

Oklahoma City Thunder [2-0] vs Sacramento Kings [0-2]

Thunder grind out ugly win over scrappy Kings

OKC | 23 | 16 | 19 | 26 | 84 |
SAC | 21 | 20 | 13 | 23 | 77 |

Player of the Game: Russell Westbrook
(19pts, 4reb, 9ast, 3stl, 1blk)
(9-16 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-2 FT)

Simmed Game

OKC | 32 | 27 | 26 | 22 | 107 |
BOS | 20 | 22 | 31 | 36 | 109 |

POTG: Kyrie Irving (26pts, 6reb, 6ast, 3stl, 1blk)


Record: 3-1

If you normalised the stats to twelve minutes, it might happen. All up to you, of course.

Pick & Roll should be pretty effective. It's one of the weaknesses of the defensive in NBA 2K19.

I guess I could do that, but I'll probably mess around with the quarter length first.

Hopefully it won't take too long to find a good balance between difficulty and quarter length so that the game is challenging but the scores look reasonable.

28/10/18

Oklahoma City Thunder [3-1] vs Phoenix Suns [3-2]

Shocking first half condemns Suns to loss in Oklahoma City

OKC | 22 | 21 | 26 | 32 | 101 |
PHX | 19 | 14 | 26 | 35 | 184 |

Player of the Game: Russell Westbrook
(19pts, 4reb, 10ast, 3stl, 1blk)
(8-9 FG, 3-4 FT)

I rested my starters for most of the second half. I can't tell if this result was due to all-star difficulty or if Phoenix are just garbage.

Simmed Game

OKC | 25 | 29 | 24 | 34 | 108 |
LAC | 29 | 26 | 24 | 30 | 112 |

POTG: Lou Williams (21pts, 4reb, 10ast)


Record: 4-2

In another timeline, it might've been a different story for the Suns!

1/11/18

Charlotte Hornets [3-5] vs Oklahoma City Thunder [4-2]

Westbrook explodes for 34 points in just three quarters against Hornets

CHA | 24 | 18 | 12 | 34 | 188 |
OKC | 19 | 29 | 28 | 24 | 100 |

Player of the Game: Russell Westbrook
(34pts, 4reb, 5ast, 3stl)
(14-18 FG, 1-3 3PT, 5-7 FT)

Simmed Game

WAS | 25 | 24 | 20 | 25 | 194 |
OKC | 24 | 27 | 21 | 35 | 107 |

POTG: Russell Westbrook (32pts, 10reb, 1ast, 1stl)


Record: 6-2

In another timeline, it might've been a different story for the Suns!

Luckily Booker had a horrible shooting night. I imagine they will be a tougher proposition when he is on form. Rookie Ayton is a beast as well, averaging like 15p/15r.

14/18...blistering!

14/18...blistering!

One thing about the way I play is that I'm usually pretty efficient on offense. So there will be no realism with Westbrook in that regard

Great start with the Thunder! It seems, like you mentioned, this Rus traded away his triple-doubles and sometimes stat-chasing for effective scoring and picking his moments to help the team win. Maybe maturing in some people's eyes.

5/11/18

Oklahoma City Thunder [6-2] vs New Orleans Pelicans [2-7]

Westbrook grabs his first triple-double of the season against Pelicans

OKC | 45 | 41 | 34 | 32 | 152 |
NOP | 27 | 31 | 34 | 52 | 144 |

Player of the Game: Russell Westbrook
(19pts, 10reb, 14ast, 1stl)
(8-10 FG, 3-6 FT)

I decided to try 12 minute quarters for this game. Safe to say it makes a big difference to the stats.

After the blow-out in the first quarter I changed from all-star difficulty to superstar. It didn't make much difference, until the fourth quarter when they Pelicans went crazy against my bench players.

I'll try out 10 minute quarters next game to see if the scores are a bit more realistic.

Simmed Game

CLE | 15 | 11 | 29 | 18 | 173 |
OKC | 27 | 30 | 28 | 24 | 109 |

POTG: Russell Westbrook (29pts, 13reb, 8ast, 3stl, 1blk)


Record: 8-2

Great start with the Thunder! It seems, like you mentioned, this Rus traded away his triple-doubles and sometimes stat-chasing for effective scoring and picking his moments to help the team win. Maybe maturing in some people's eyes.

Things are going well so far.

I probably could get Westbrook more rebounds by sagging off on defense, but I prefer guarding on the perimeter myself. The AI fouls too much.

You definitely have to wander a bit on defense if you want to get rebounds as a point guard. I must admit I've mastered/abused the technique in MyCAREER.

5/11/18

Thunder sign former Grizzlies big man for the rest of the season

Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti announced today that the team had waived forward Donte Grantham and signed former Memphis center Deyonta Davis on a one-year deal.

As per team policy the terms of the contract were not released. But according to a source, Davis is set to earn nearly $6 million.


"Firstly, we want to thank Donte for his contribution to our organization and wish him well for the future", Presti said.

"We felt that we had a lot of wing guys already, with Paul [George], Andre [Roberson], Terrance [Ferguson], Hamidou [Diallo], Alex [Abrines], Timothe [Luwawu-Cabarrot], Abdel [Nader] and Deonte [Burton]."

"We wanted to add some more frontcourt depth as insurance against injury or foul trouble. Deyonta will hopefully give us solid backup minutes when called upon."


The Thunder also announced that they have sent Abdel Nader and Deonte Burton down to their G-League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.

8/11/18

Oklahoma City Thunder [8-2] vs Houston Rockets [7-2]

Westbrook stars as Thunder come out on top in battle of western contenders

OKC | 29 | 39 | 26 | 35 | 129 |
HOU | 30 | 24 | 32 | 26 | 112 |

Player of the Game: Russell Westbrook
(34pts, 8reb, 11ast, 4stl, 2blk)
(13-26 FG, 1-2 3PT, 7-11 FT)

10 minute quarters seem to be the sweet spot.

We led by 25 at one point, but the AI fought back to single digits in the last quarter. Westbrook and George got us home though.

Simmed Game

DAL | 29 | 32 | 32 | 30 | 123 |
OKC | 21 | 34 | 30 | 35 | 120 |

POTG: Russell Westbrook (36pts, 7reb, 5ast, 3stl)


Record: 9-3

You definitely have to wander a bit on defense if you want to get rebounds as a point guard. I must admit I've mastered/abused the technique in MyCAREER.

I usually do it a few times during a game, but as soon as the AI hit an open three it's time to stop