Comparing the Thunder to Teams at the Bottom of the Standings
The Oklahoma City Thunder sit at 4-6 on this young season, and have had one of the most difficult schedules in the league. They caught a break with the Lakers wins, as LeBron James sat out of both of those games. Still, they have more wins than five other teams in the NBA through one full month of the regular season.
The Thunder have the 14th best defense in the NBA right now, and they have the best player out of many of the other losing teams in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, which has separated them from the pack so far.
Keeping in mind the Thunder's goal of getting a lottery ball to fall within the top 3 picks of next year's NBA draft, these teams might end up being their main competition in the loss column. How do they compare in some important stats, and what might shift in the standings over the next month?
Orlando Magic
jalen Suggs of the Orlando Magic
Kim Klement / USA TODAY Sports
Sitting at 25th in defensive rating, and 27th in offensive rating, the Magic have been a tough watch. Jalen Suggs has not played well early into his rookie campaign, so Cole Anthony has taken the role of leading scorer on this team. Were it not for Anthony's hot shooting, they have an even worse record than 3-9.
Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr. have shown some growth for them though, and their defensive rating should go up a bit as the season progresses. They have second most difficult strength of schedule for the remaining 70 games.
Detroit Pistons
Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons
Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA TODAY Sports
Cade Cunningham is playing now, and just had the best game of his young career against the also-tanking Houston Rockets. Jerami Grant's 3-point shot has gone Ghost Protocol and sits at 31% after the first month of the season.
The Pistons are the worst offensive team in the NBA right now, but as Cunningham gets going and finds his post-ankle injury rhythm, that should increase. Their defense sits at 20th in the NBA, and they sit at 2-8 on the season so far. Tankathon projects they have the third most difficult schedule in for the rest of the season.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves
Nick Wosika / USA TODAY Sports
The Timberwolves had high expectations for themselves this year. Before the 2018 Jimmy Butler season, they hadn't made the playoffs in 14 years. As of now, even a play-in spot seems difficult. Anthony Edwards is electric, and has already become the vocal leader of this team.
Karl Anthony-Towns simply hasn't been consistent enough with his rebounding or defense, and he liked a Tweet that read "#FreeKAT". So, things are bad! The T-Wolves are 3-7. They have the 17th ranked defense in the NBA, and 25th ranked offense. Tankathon projects they have the toughest remaining schedule out of any NBA team. A play-in berth would be a colossal achievement for this team.
Houston Rockets
Jalen Green of the Houston Rockets
Erik Williams / USA TODAY Sports
The Rockets are 1-10, and have officially sat John Wall for the remainder of the season unless a buyout agreement is accepted between he and the team. Things are bleak, which is great for their lottery odds.
Their top-pick, Jalen Green, has been largely up and down, with a plethora of highlights under his belt already but an even larger bag of inefficient scoring nights. Christian Wood is upset that he isn't more involved in the offense. The Rockets are 28 in offense and 19th in defense , and have the 10th most difficult remaining schedule.
New Orleans Pelicans
Mike Muscala of the Oklahoma City Thunder
Stephen Lew / USA TODAY Sports
The Pelicans are officially in the Toy Story 3 incinerator scene. Zion Williamson is hurt and out of shape. Brandon Ingram is hurt. David Griffen might get the boot any day now, and a team trying to impress Williamson is 1-10 with the 4th most difficult remaining schedule.
This is a team that lost Lonzo Ball for nothing, and signed Devonte Graham–a nice 3-point shooter but certainly not the player Ball is–as his replacement. They rank 26th and 29th in offense and defense, respectively.
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