Russell Westbrook secures the victory with a go-ahead layup

The narrative of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season has continued along its troubling path. They’ve held their own with some of the best teams in the NBA and they’ve struggled mightily to beat teams that long ago locked in their bid for the 2018 draft lottery.

There’s such a thing as playing down to your competition, but this season the Thunder have taken it to a new level. OKC boasts a decent 17-13 record against the league’s top 20 teams, but they also lay claim to a shameful 10-7 record against the worst 10 teams the NBA has to offer.

If you take a minute to look closer, you’ll find that not only do they have a worse record against terrible teams, they have horrific games against them as well. Whereas the Thunder hold a 4.9 point margin of victory over the league’s top squads, they only post a 2.1 point margin against the bottom third.

OKC has plenty of blame to go around, but it all begins with their starting unit. Sure, Russell Westbrook is an MVP candidate, Paul George is an All-Star snub and Steven Adams is a severely undervalued commodity, but between Carmelo Anthony’s evident decline and Andre Roberson’s atrocious shooting percentages, the five are hardly a cohesive unit.

Tuesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets was just more evidence to add to their growing body of work that continues to prove they just can’t function together. Yes, the Thunder won 109-108 thanks to a clutch last second layup by Westbrook, but they are simply too good to be playing a game that goes down to the wire with a team as bad as the Brooklyn Nets.

Again, this is a team with a handful of All-Stars, key role players, elite defenders and an MVP candidate. So when you square off against the Nets, a team with less serviceable NBA players than you have fingers on your right hand, there’s something horribly wrong with your execution.

It’s not that any of these players on their own are the sole reason for their disappointing season thus far. Rather, it’s the fact that for each major flaw that each player has, there is no one to pick up the slack in that area. To make matters worse, they can’t even begin to think about looking at their bench for production since they traded nearly every asset they owned to get PG13 and Melo.

Now I know that I’ve been particularly hard on the Thunder all season, but when you take a look at the roster they’ve handpicked and the money they’ve spent, it’s hard to feel anything but disgust for their level of play. It appears as as if the entire Thunder organization had no real game plan going into the season other than stockpiling big names onto one mess of a team.

So here’s my solution. Admit you were wrong, and just get rid of one of those big names. No, it’s not Westbrook. And no, it’s not George. If you’ve watched any OKC basketball this season, and my sincerest condolences if you have, then you know who’s got to go.

Carmelo Anthony must be sent packing. He’s been fun to watch on occasion, but more often than not, he’s an obstacle to his team’s success. Anthony no longer brings efficient scoring, elite shooting, supplemental playmaking or any semblance of adequate defense, and that just can’t fly anymore. At least not in the role he desires to play on this team.

I’m not saying Carmelo Anthony is completely useless in this league, he just can’t be the volume scoring All-Star he once was because he’s not the player he used to be. If he can put his pride aside and take a significantly smaller role on a competitive team, I truly believe he has the capability to make a playoff team into a championship contender.

One such team on my Carmelo Anthony trade wishlist is the Denver Nuggets. It’s probably the nostalgic 2005 basketball fan in me, but I really can see Carmelo making an impact mentoring Denver’s young stars in a sixth man or supplementary role. It would be different from anything he’s ever done in his career, but if successful, could be incredibly beneficial to both parties.

One deal that pans out for both teams is a Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler swap for Carmelo and a first rounder. Chandler could immediately be inserted into the staring lineup for some much needed defense and shooting while Faried bolsters the bench. Anthony on the other hand could offer Denver a steady late game go-to scoring presence to relieve Nikola Jokic and Gary Harris of their scoring duties when the offense is stale and the game’s on the line.

All hypotheticals aside, it’s not going to be easy, rarely anything in this league is. However, it’s a necessary pain for a greater gain if you’re OKC. It’s time to face reality. The Thunder must cut ties with Melo or suffer the consequences of mediocrity that has marred their season.