Oklahoma City had high expectations this season after trading for Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to join reigning MVP Russell Westbrook. Even with the added star power, the Thunder won just one more regular-season game than last year and lost in the first round of the playoffs again.
Presti noted that Donovan has been forced to deal with constant change. The Thunder went to the Western Conference Finals in Donovan’s first season with a fully stacked roster. A few months later, superstar Kevin Durant left for Golden State in free agency, and the Thunder scrambled to make the playoffs in 2016-17. This season, shooting guard Andre Roberson suffered a season-ending ruptured left patellar tendon in January.
”If you think about the last three years for our organization, and the last three years for him, it’s been a little bit of a whipsaw in respect to just the team he inherited in 2016, the performance of that team being within a couple minutes of going to the Finals, then not being able to capitalize on that,” Presti said. ”Obviously on the heels of free agency in 2016, we’re trying to put together a team on the fly and do the best that we can. We were able to get that team to the postseason. In his third year, there’s a significantly different roster. Again, I think the best thing for him, I think the biggest opportunity for him http://www.billsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jeremy-kerley-jersey , is in the continuity.”
The continuity depends largely on if George, who has a player option on his deal, stays. George, a 6-foot-9 forward, was an All-Star who averaged 21.9 points and 5.7 rebounds this season and was among the league leaders in steals. Presti noted the positive things George has said about the franchise and believes both sides have been upfront.
”From the day that he arrived, we really made a specific and intentional effort to build a relationship with Paul and his representation built on three things: collaboration, transparency, and trust,” Presti said. ”Those tenets were followed throughout the year and continued to be. I felt strongly about the relationship. I feel great about the communication and the honesty, about the way we started the relationship.”
Dealing with Anthony will be a critical element of the offseason. The 10-time All-Star was inconsistent and ended the season unhappy. He averaged just 16.2 points this season, the lowest average of his career. He was an isolation specialist most of his career before shifting to more of a catch-and-shoot role this season. He made it clear on Saturday that he’s not interested in coming off the bench and he doesn’t like the role he had last season.
The Thunder will owe Anthony $28 million if he doesn’t exercise his early termination option. If he stays, it creates a dilemma for Donovan. Presti doesn’t expect Anthony’s role to change.
”He has to decide whether or not he wants to do another year of trying to make this transition as a stretch player,” Presti said. ”That’s the first thing. I think he’s being very candid and very honest. I respect that. I respect the fact he’s being open about that.”
Regardless, Donovan’s future with the Thunder is clearer than that of George and Anthony. He has a 150-96 career regular-season record (.610) with the franchise.
”I think he comes in guns blazing every day looking for ways to get better Dorance Armstrong Jr. Jersey Elite , looking for ways to continue to build relationships with his players,” Presti said. ”I think he’s done an excellent job of that, as well, based on just the fact that this season, with some of the adversities we faced relative to expectations, relative to some injury, the newness of the team, the chemistry of the team, the strength of the team. I think he has a big hand in that, as well.”
WASHINGTON — The Vegas Golden Knights‘ storybook inaugural season is teetering on the brink. Given all they have accomplished thus far, they see no reason to panic.
Trailing 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Golden Knights must find a way to solve the Washington Capitals‘ defense in Game 4 Monday night at Capital One Arena.
“It’s been said all year,” forward James Neal told the Las Vegas Sun. “We know what we have in this room and we stick together. We got each other, we’ll pick each other up Kolton Miller Raiders Jersey , focus on the next one. We’ll have our best game of the year and tie it up.”
The Golden Knights rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the Western Conference Finals to win four straight games.
They have lost consecutive games for the first time in the playoffs and showed no signs of solving Washington’s smothering defense during Saturday’s 3-1 Game 3 loss. Vegas was limited to 22 shots on goal, its second lowest total in the playoffs.
The Golden Knights attempted 62 shots. Braden Holtby made 21 saves and his teammates blocked 26 shots.
“Offensive teams have certain tendencies, certain routes that they take through the neutral zone, plays they like to make,” Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen told NHL.com. “So if you can be on top of them, turn over some pucks, stifle them, make it hard for them to gain entry with possession, that frustrates skilled players.”
The Knights have managed just three goals in the last two games. Washington’s forecheck has disrupted the Vegas offense and forced turnovers like the one that led to Devante Smith-Pelly’s goal game-clinching tally on Saturday. Washington has also been quick to turn broken Vegas plays into rushes.
“I think we can hang onto pucks more instead of putting it in the slot blindly,” David Perron told NHL.com. “I think our line’s been guilty, for sure, of throwing some pucks in the slot that don’t result in anything other than transition for their team.”
The Capitals, playing their first home Finals game since Detroit completed a sweep in 1998, improved to 11-4 in the playoffs when scoring first as Alex Ovechkin’s goal made it 1-0.
It was his 14th of the playoffs and tied John Druce’s 28-year-old franchise record. Center Evgeny Kuznetsov http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-alex-mcgough-jersey , who left Game 2 with an upper body injury, did return for Game 3 and provided a goal and an assist.
In the first Stanley Cup Final of his storied career, Ovechkin is playing complete hockey: scoring goals, blocking shots and fighting for loose pucks.
“It’s the Stanley Cup final,” Ovechkin told the Washington Post. “What do you want to do? It’s all in for everybody.”
Added defenseman John Carlson: “He’s as engaged as anyone could ever be, I think. It shows in his game. And it shows in the effect it has on the rest of us.”
It is up to Vegas coach Gerard Gallant to find a way to stop Ovechkin and Co. and generate more good chances against Holtby.
“In the three games, we haven’t been good enough,” Gallant told NHL.com on Sunday. “If we don’t step up our game, the same result’s going to happen tomorrow night. So, we’ll see what we’re made of.”
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