NBA Season Preview 2017-18: 20 things to watch this NBA season

OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 12: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors shoots a foul shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Five of the 2017 NBA Finals on June 12, 2017 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Bruce Yeung/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MARCH 19: Paul George /

14. Paul George and Carmelo Anthony in OKC

In 2016-17, Russell Westbrook became the first player in more than 50 years to average a triple-double across an entire season, which helped him cruise past Harden and Kawhi Leonard for his first-ever MVP award. This year, rather than having to share a backcourt with a poorly utilized Victor Oladipo, he’ll have two All-Star wing partners in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.

The Thunder stole George from the Indiana Pacers just hours before free agency began, sending only Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in exchange. On the eve of training camp a few months later, they liberated Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks for the hilariously low price of Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and the Chicago Bulls’ 2018 second-round pick. Considering how little OKC gave up for either player, it suddenly may be the second-best team in the West.

Over the next nine months, the Thunder must convince George that his future rests in Oklahoma City, not Los Angeles. In a conversation with Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated in mid-July, George made it sound as though he isn’t a sure thing to sign with the Lakers next summer, saying, “If we get a killer season in Oklahoma, we make the conference finals or upset the Warriors or do something crazy, I’d be dumb to want to leave that.”

That may be lip service, but with Anthony also eligible to leave as a free agent in 2018, the stakes are enormous for the Thunder this season. Their range of outcomes — from Westbrook, Anthony and George coalescing and them toppling the Warriors to the trio clashing and OKC missing the playoffs — will go a long way toward determining how long the Thunder will be in the Western Conference postseason picture moving forward.

Next: 13. Jimmy Butler and Tom Thibodeau, reunited again