Mark Cuban suggests Thunder should tank this season

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are both nursing serious injuries. The Oklahoma City Thunder stars are not expected to return for at least another month, and the team is struggling in their absence. Mark Cuban wonders if it’s time for the Thunder to pack it in.

“The question I don’t think anybody has asked is, why don’t they pull a David Robinson and try to get Tim Duncan?” Cuban said over the weekend, via Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.

As many of you know, Cuban was referring to the 1996-97 San Antonio Spurs. David Robinson missed all but six games that season and the Spurs won just 20 games. They later drafted Tim Duncan with the No. 1 overall pick, and we all saw how that turned out.

“We already specialize in a race to the bottom,” Cuban added. “More participants won’t change anything. They’re all high-profile participants.

“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just curious why the question hasn’t been asked because I’m curious what the answer is.”

For what it’s worth, the Mavericks didn’t tank two seasons ago when Dirk Nowitzki underwent preseason knee surgery and took a while to regain his pre-injury form. Cuban said the Mavs had “a lot of one-year guys and had to see who we wanted to keep,” so punting wasn’t an option.

Unless there’s something the Thunder aren’t telling us about the injuries to Durant and Westbrook, there’s no reason to hit the panic button. One bad month isn’t a death sentence in the NBA — especially at the start of the regular season. If the Thunder can somehow float around .500 until their two best players return, they should be fine down the stretch.