Thunder at a crossroads

If your team is pretty good ... do you try to improve?

BY HENRY ABBOTT AND DAVID THORPE

HENRY: It started out very simply: David Thorpe had an idea for a trade that he thought would make the Thunder much better right now.

The Thunder started out this season looking like captains of the Good Ship Tank-o-Rama. But the NBA is unpredictable. First they failed to move their “win now” players Chris Paul or Steven Adams. Then Dennis Schroder has been darn near great. With a Mike Muscala here and a Hamidou Diallo there, they have won seven of 10, including a road win against the defending champs. They are in line to be the seventh seed in the playoffs. 

Picture being the seventh seed, though: You probably get steamrolled by an L.A. team, and you don’t get a lottery pick, which is the only thing that rebuilding teams really value. And a player Chris Paul’s age may solve some problems, but not for long.

David’s thinking is that the trade deadline is five weeks away. The Thunder have near-infinite future first-round picks--one of the greatest collection…