mandrel
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I always like the panic-mode "if only we could trade our 23 year old, top 5, secondary scoring option combo guard for *whatever other pass-first point guard*". You guys understand that just having somebody like Rondo or whoever running the offense doesn't necessarily mean KD and Harden get better looks and more points, right? Like, it's not as though if only Westbrook would pass to KD more, he could average 50. Durant is getting better across the board, but his freedom to improve his assist and rebounding numbers as much as he has, while also improving his scoring efficiency is just as much a function of Russ's talent as a dynamic and willing scoring threat. People are continually getting caught up on this "how can a PG average more TOs than ASTs? We need a real PG! Give KD the ball!" when it's a complete non-point. As Westbrook has improved as a scorer (his natural game), both in efficiency and in range, it's been as the entire team has (literally) improved their assist numbers. All the Thunder 5 can move the ball well, and continue to improve, our offense and the players we keep contracted to play within it is designed to operate without a "true" PG running the floor. It's not like Scotty is on the sidelines desperately pleading with Westbrook to be a point guard, while he stubbornly shakes his head and makes "pew pew" noises with his mouth. Westbrook isn't a pass-first point guard, he never has been, nobody in the organization has ever thought that was he was going to become one. He's an all-star scorer and offensive weapon who happens the be the guy in the 1 slot who brings the ball up the floor.
This isn't some unconventional wild new-age theory of team-building doomed to failure. There have been an awful lot of extremely successful teams (and I'm talking like, 5-6 championship dynasty teams. You've probably heard of some of them) who functioned offensively entirely without an effective point guard to "run the floor", depending instead on the ball-movement and individual offensive talents of wings and/or the front-court. There is no fundamental rule in NBA basketball that a team without an effective pass-first point guard is doomed to failure. The only fundamental rule is having good guys, who play well together. We've got that. We just need to apply it consistently, and that's not just on Westbrook, that's on everybody, from the players to the coaching staff. I think we'll get there soon, and I don't think it's going to require blowing up the team to do it.
Like Chuck says, LeBron needs to come home. Just shave your head dude, seriously. When you're wearing two headbands to cover your hairline it's time to throw in the towel.
@dream catcher It's kind of important to keep in mind that several of Durant's turnovers came from uncalled reach-ins, and Ibaka and Perkins blowing easy inlet passes. It's also important to note that a large part of Westbrook's misses at the rim came during that ridiculous 80s-NBA style run where the refs basically weren't calling anything, and he was getting hard contact on several lay-ups with no whistle. That numbers don't tell the whole story; the team as a whole made a bunch of silly errors, along with a lot of unforeseeable bad luck (ref calls, open shots not falling, guys fumbling passes). Blown offensive rotations resulted in KD not seeing the ball for multiple possessions at a time, and that leads to stagnant and out-of-sync offensive isolations.
The team as a whole didn't play well enough to win, but I think it's telling that despite the Heat coming on like a freight train in a way we haven't seen them play in months, maybe even since last season, and our generally sloppy play, we still had a chance to tie or win it in the final minutes. That's encouraging for any OKC fan who notes how evenly matched these two teams seem to be.