OKC Thunder are the new Western Conference Dynasty Team

OKC Thunder have some faults, they have a mediocre coach, no legitimate post scoring threat, and a PG who can consistently make low BBIQ plays.

However they've all grown together and they know their roles and play them exceptionally well, they're the best offense in the league despite having no low-post scorer, and they have an elite defense as well.

Skeptics often present the argument "what happens when their jump-shots stop falling?" Durant, Westbrook and Martin are all exceptionally great at driving inside and drawing fouls or finishing at the rim.

As long as they have their Westbrook-Durant core, they'll be favourites to at least make or win the WCF every year.

Westbrook is a one man fast-break, Durant is an all-time great scorer who is basically unguardable in this league. Their third option is Kevin Martin off of the bench who provides a great scoring spark, he spreads the floor by being a threat from three and doesn't need to isolate, and he's an elite flopper who can draw fouls so between the three of them they can easily put their opposition in foul trouble.

Wisdom suggests that an elite centre and interior scorer is the best formula to win a championship, but the game has changed. The Heat have won it with Joel Anthony and Turiaf as their centres and they are considered favourites to win it again.

OKC complement Westbrook and Durant with a stable of quality bigs, an elite perimeter defender who can drain threes and looking towards the future they've still got a pool of young prospects like Houston's own Jeremy Lamb and lottery draft picks they can draw more talent from to replace role-players, and they may even become a destination that veteran players with ring aspirations will sign on to.

 

As long as their core stays intact they should expect to make it out of the West every season for the foreseeable future i.e. they'd be the West champs for quite a while. Of course the West is quite stacked and I could see the Spurs or GSW pulling off an upset, but otherwise I'd pencil them in to the WCF every season.

Even if Houston landed Dwight we're still not on their level imo.

 

Agreed, Westbrook is pretty dumb and it's unfortunate because he has Brooks as a coach which has stunted him. If he had played under the guidance of someone like Popovich he'd be exceptional, and the Thunder would look like a well-oiled machine. Instead there are games where they live and die by the Westbrook jumper.

The great thing about Westbrook and Durant though is that they've both fed off of each other and grown as they're both highly competitive basketball junkies. Supposedly they were a major reason for Harden's development because he always had a low motor.

 

http://www.hoopsworld.com/oklahoma-city-thunder-team-salary

They'll need to shed Perkins salary if they want to keep Kevin Martin around, but they've got a lot of options.