Players Acquired: PG Cameron Payne (draft), C Dakari Johnson (draft), F Tomislav Zubic (trade)
Players Lost: G Jeremy Lamb (trade), G Luke Ridnour (trade)
Last season will be remembered as the season without Kevin Durant for Thunder fans. Durant had multiple fractures in his right foot that ended up forcing him to miss the first 17 games of the season, the last 21 games and a few sprinkled in the middle.
In total, Durant played just 27 games. Most teams without their best player would go straight to the lottery. Most teams don’t have a Russell Westbrook to go with their best player, though. Westbrook proved that he’s the team’s 1B. In 67 games, Westbrook led the league with 28.1 points per game to go with 8.6 assists and 7.3 rebounds. To say he was unstoppable in the second half of the season would be an understatement. Westbrook was unbelievable.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. The Thunder finished 45-37 and the New Orleans Pelicans squeaked by them for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. This ended with the Thunder firing Scott Brooks and hiring former Florida coach Billy Donovan.
The Thunder enter 2015-16 with a healthy Durant and Westbrook, something that scares the hell out of every team in the Western Conference.
A few other observations on the Thunder heading into 2015-16:
- The team traded for Enes Kanter at the trade deadline. Kanter isn’t even a good defensive player, but he’s a great offensive post player. With OKC, he averaged 18.7 points and 11 rebounds per game.
- The Thunder picked 14th in the draft and came away with guard Cameron Payne. Payne rose up the draft boards and looks like he can be what Reggie Jackson was before his attitude became a problem.
- Serge Ibaka worked on his 3-point shooting last season and he was pretty dang good at it for a power forward. Ibaka shot 37.6 percent from deep, but because of that was pulled outside. His offensive rebounds went from 2.8 in 2013-14 to 2.1 last season.
The Big Question
Will Donovan be able to handle Durant and Westbrook?
It seems easy enough to do. There are worse things than having two top-5 players on one team. But with Durant, Westbrook and even Kanter, you’re looking at three players who generally need the ball offensively to have the most impact.
In college, Donovan was the man in charge. If a player was out of line or not playing the type of ball Donovan wanted, he found himself on the bench.
Good luck doing that with Durant or Westbrook.
Again, there are far worse situations to be in as a first-year coach, but it is still a very interesting dynamic to keep an eye on throughout the season.
How Can The Wolves Beat Them?
The Wolves were 0-4 against the Thunder las season, losing by an average of 16.5 points per loss.
There’s no easy answer for how to beat the Thunder. If there was, well, they wouldn’t have had a winning record for the last six seasons.
Ratke’s Prediction
Oklahoma City is going to be hosting a series in the first round of the playoffs, barring any major injury. I just don’t see how a team with Westbrook, Durant, Kanter, Ibaka and even Dion Waiters doesn’t win at least 55 games in the Western Conference.
I know how stacked the West is, but this is a team that’s done it before. I see this team advancing to the Western Conference Finals. And then, who knows?
(Not me, obviously.)
Describe This Team In 15 Words Or Less
Stopping Durant and Westbrook? Sounds like a freaking nightmare.