How much can one team’s narrative change in just two years? If Nylon Calculus could come up with a metric for it, it doesn’t seem likely that anybody could beat out the Thunder.
In 2015-16, the Thunder, led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, were this close to putting away the 73-win Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Less than two months later, Durant was gone. The next 12 months debuted The Russell Westbrook Show, culminating in an MVP trophy for the fiery point guard. Westbrook’s own free agency loomed in the summer of 2018, so Thunder general manager Sam Presti did what he does best: swindle other general managers in trades.
First was the Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis for Paul George trade, whose timeline matched Westbrook’s. The Thunder were all in in 2017-18. They pushed their chips further into the middle of the table by trading Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott for a disgruntled Carmelo Anthony, another player who could become a free agent in July 2018. The roller coaster continued, as Westbrook signed a supermax extension, tying him to Oklahoma City through at least 2022 and easing an entire state’s minds about the future of the team. No franchise has had turnover at the top like this.
The ride isn’t over for Oklahoma City, who go into the season as the most interesting team in the league, both because of the mix of personalities (they still have Steven Adams and his solid-gold quotes!), the mix of on-court skills (how will they use everyone?) and the brevity hanging over everything.
George, for all he’s said his preseason about how much he loves the Thunder franchise and how Westbrook’s extension makes it easier for him to come back, can still leave for greener pastures — or, perhaps, purpler and golder pastures — next summer. If George leaves after one season with his new team, that puts Oklahoma City in the same place they were a year ago: a transformational superstar leading a team filled with good but flawed one-way role players.
Getting Westbrook and George to mesh is one thing, but the Thunder also have a slew of guys behind them who can either take significant steps forward or are already elite in their role. Anthony leads this crew as one of the best offensive players still in the game, capable of scoring at all three levels and isn’t as unwilling to create for others as has been portrayed by his detractors. Andre Roberson might be the most impactful perimeter defender in the league. Kawhi Leonard sits on the throne as the “best,” but Roberson’s ability to guard opposing point guards — something Leonard can do in stretches but not for an entire game due to his offensive workload — makes it almost impossible for teams to take him out of the game, as opposing offenses were able to do to Leonard with some success last season.
Adams plateaued last season after breaking out in the 2016 playoffs and earning a $100 million extension before the 2016-17 season opened. He’s still an excellent defender and quality offensive option as a roll man, but it’s hard not to compare him to Rudy Gobert and not be disappointed in Adams’ 2016-17 campaign. Of course, most of the Oklahoma City team had relatively disappointing offensive seasons last year as Westbrook one-man-wrecking-crew’d his way to becoming the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double over the course of a season. Adams, with more room to operate and a more democratic offense, should be able to bounce back and get to the heights he reached in 2016.
Oklahoma City’s lineups will definitely change as the season progresses, but their projected best five of Westbrook, Roberson, George, Anthony and Adams looks to be a terror on both ends of the court. Even with the defensively limited Anthony manning the four, they should finish the season as one of the five best defenses in the league, and the offensive firepower of Westbrook, George and Anthony is going to be lethal on most nights.
Next: George and Anthony will help Steven Adams reach a new level
Whether this is a one-season wonder or a sign of things to come for the Thunder, it’s almost certainly going to be a lot of fun to follow this season.