Key Questions Leave Thunder Last in NBA Offseason Power Rankings
Despite an eventful offseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder won't be regarded as the team to beat heading into the season.
The Thunder are ranked dead last in the Western Conference in the NBA’s most recent offseason power rankings.
Oklahoma City didn’t finish on a high note in the 2020-21 season, and are expected to continue that stretch of play into next season.
Notable additions in the offseason include sixth overall pick Josh Giddey and big man Derrick Favors. Key departures include Kemba Walker and Al Horford.
While Walker and Horford weren’t favorable keepers for the rebuilding Thunder, their departure certainly doesn’t help OKC’s outlook in the wins and losses department.
There’s plenty of questions surrounding the Thunder and their identity: can they defend again, can they extend their range, can star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carry the load for 82 more games?
"The Thunder were 16-19 (with seven wins over eventual playoff teams) with Gilgeous-Alexander and 6-31 without him," NBA.com's John Schumann wrote. "They had the 11th-ranked defense through the last game that he played (March 22) … and then the bottom fell out as he sat the final eight weeks of the season. It will be interesting to see if they can defend at that level again, and if Gilgeous-Alexander can score so efficiently (his true shooting percentage of 62.3% ranked eighth among the 48 players with a usage rate of 25% or higher) over a full season."
Even more than the overarching questions will be OKC’s most important factor: development.
Should Darius Bazley, Aleksej Pokusevski, or any other number of young players make a jump, the Thunder could rise through the ranks quickly.
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