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NBA Season Preview 2019-20: Every team’s biggest question

By Daniel Poarch

Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images /
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Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images /

Oklahoma City Thunder: Can Chris Paul keep this team competitive?

After his iconic, buzzer-beating 3-pointer in Game 5 of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, Damian Lillard waved goodbye to the 2018-19 Oklahoma City Thunder. Little did we know that he wasn’t just waving goodbye to that year’s incarnation of the team, he was waving goodbye to the entire modern era of the Thunder as we know it.

The ripple effects of Lillard’s shot proved to be substantial. In a stunning shift in fortune, Paul George requested a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers to team up with Kawhi Leonard. To Sam Presti, the departure signaled a full-blown tear-down; shortly thereafter, the Thunder dealt the last remaining piece of their erstwhile NBA Finals roster, Russell Westbrook, to the Rockets in exchange for disgruntled guard Chris Paul and a significant haul of draft picks.

The Thunder made this deal with the expectation of flipping Paul to a team with championship aspirations, but the 34-year-old’s onerous contract left them lacking in meaningful offers. This has left both Paul and the Thunder in a unique situation. It’s arguably in the best interest of both parties for Paul to play out the season in Oklahoma City, reestablishing his trade value with an eye on the trade market next summer.

So where does this leave the 2019-20 Thunder? Perhaps in a better place than you might think. The Thunder no longer have Westbrook or George, but they still have a respectable platoon of talented NBA players. The George trade yielded two pieces with immediate on-court value: blue-chip second-year prospect Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and 31-year-old scoring wing Danilo Gallinari, fresh off the best season of his career and entering a contract year with an eye on earning one last major contract. Alongside useful NBA talents like Steven Adams, Andre Roberson, Nerlens Noel and Terrence Ferguson, don’t be surprised if the chip-on-their-shoulder Thunder put together a season that surpasses expectations.