Wow, great deal for OKC...they were without a 4 and they got Patterson with a terrific contract, this looks like a steal...if George and Westbrook are going to find some sort of chemistry watchout, they have still an ugly ass bench, but their starting 5 is really good, balanced with terrific defensive potential. On a side note, Patterson 5x...Anderson 20x...welp, and some people wonder why we couldn't unload him...
Thunder, with Patrick Patterson signing, up to $115M guaranteed to 11 players, with Andre Roberson RFA. Tax line is $119M. Any chance they lose Roberson?
Before this trade trade i had them at 6th Warriors Wolves Spurs Rockets Thunder Pelicans Nuggets Portland Memphis Utah I had the pelicans above them because the thunder had no depth or a PF. They might be 3rd or 4th now that russell has space to operate. They really match up well with the rockets and i would want to avoid them in the playoffs.
Patterson wasn't good enough to start for the Raptors, but now he's an upgrade starting on the Thunder....okay, sure. He's a poor man's Ryan Anderson in that he doesn't play defense, he doesn't rebound, and all he can really do is shoot.
Not sure cause: 1. i don't think there's a team willing to pay him enough to make OKC pass the chance to match 2. i don't think they would be ok with starting Grant or McDermott, not sure though
Why do you keep saying he doesn't play defense? He's a positive in every defensive statistic and the eye test says the same thing. Not a good rebounder and can't handle big bigs, but he's a solid defender
Adams > Capela/Thompson > Spurs center (?) LMA > Patterson > Love/Anderson Leonard > Lebron > George > Ariza Roberson > Green > Shumpert > Harden Paul > Parker/Westbrook/Irving It's basically between them and the Spurs, but while the Spurs are probably the best defensive system, OKC have by far the most strong and physical defense. They have two, basically three elite defenders in their starting 5, one will guard KD, one will guard Green and one will guard Curry or Thompson. Lol, their only week spot is Westbrook who has all the tools to be at least decent.
They are complete with offense, defense, shooting, length, rebounding and athleticisism. Teague Butler Wiggins Gibson Towns Dieng Shabazz
The Thunder added shooters this offseason, one being an elite talent in George. On paper, they look great. Westbrook will have plenty of space on his drives and George will need to do a lot less creating. Their defense should be solid as well .They'll be very tough to beat next year. Thankfully, their bench is crappier than ever.
They still have to prove it. I don't trust Thibs as a coach. The team he had last season was good enough talent wise to get to the playoffs and they were horrible.
They didnt have the shooters. Now hey have teague and butler. If wiggins learns how to shoot they're easily 2nd.
I don't see any shooting there, there's not a single true shooter in that starting 5. Outside of that yeah, they should be good, even though i don't see them higher than a 5th seed.
The thunder will be pretty good next year. They have solid role players, problem was just few of them could shoot last season and it didn't fit the NBA's WB narrative
