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[In the 30 days leading up to the season opener, we'll preview all 30 NBA teams, from Tanking Teams to Lottery Leaders to Warriors Wannabes. Tanking Teams are fighting for the No. 1 pick. Lottery Leaders could make the playoffs, or they could land in the lottery. Warriors Wannabes are title contenders. Then there are the Warriors in a league by themselves. Team 7 in our preseason rankings is the Oklahoma City Thunder. Check back every day for previews of every team in the NBA followed by our complete preseason rankings.]
Key Losses: Carmelo Anthony, Kyle Singler, Dakari Johnson. All three of these losses are actually gains for the Thunder. The biggest move here was clearly Anthony, who
Key Returns: Paul George, Steven Adams,
As you could've guessed, the real plus here is George surprisingly re-signing. He's one of the top 20 players in the game, is a force on both ends, and takes the pressure off of Westbrook offensively. He's one player who can take over games and could be an MVP candidate, if he stays healthy.
Paul George tallies 22 PTS, 6 REB, 6 STL for the @okcthunder in their #NBAPreseason win! pic.twitter.com/6Ng38XSfQ3
— NBA (@NBA) October 7, 2018
Key Additions: Dennis Schroder, Nerlens Noel, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Hamidou Diallo. The Thunder's second unit looks infinitely better thanks to some of the moves they made. Diallo and TLC are both lengthy wings who can end up being nightmares for opposing offenses. They'll be competing for minutes, but both could end up being defensive stoppers when this team desperately needs one.
Excellent signing for the Thunder, plus a wonderful opportunity for Nerlens Noel to rebuild his value in the same system that has helped Steven Adams develop. Noel is still only 24 and has shown plenty of elite defensive upside. Great deal. https://t.co/TYL7xi5ezr
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) July 2, 2018
X-Factor: Andre Roberson. Yes, we all know how good this team is thanks to Westbrook and George. The former is the greatest triple-double machine this league has ever seen and he might not even be the best player on this team, thanks to the latter. Adams is another monster who needs to be watched closely, but this team is different with Roberson on the court. The Thunder have the luxury of not needing him as a scorer, but desperately need him as the lock-down defender he is. With him on the court, Roberson can guard the opposition's best guard, allowing Westbrook to save his energy for offense. He can essentially cover any player who isn't a big man as one of the best on-ball defenders in the league. If Roberson returns to his old form, prior to the knee injury that kept him out for the majority of the 2017-18 season, this team goes to the next level -- one that can compete for a title.
Betting Odds: The Thunder's over/under win total is 49.5 and their odds to win the NBA championship currently sit at +3400.
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