Vegas Over/Under: 51.5
The Record Projection: 52-30 of fromal The Bet: Avoid but lean over
Since Kyle Wagner broke down for FiveThirtyEight, the inclusion of Paul George immediately reversed the Oklahoma City Thunder back into contention in the Western Conference:
“The top-5 of Westbrook, George, Enes Kanter, Steven Adams and Andre Roberson are worth 53 wins all on their own. But CARMELO thinks so little of this Thunder bench that the remainder of the roster is worth -2 wins. That bench was bad this past year, but young players like Alex Abrines and Doug McDermott may improve with an additional season with the team, and this season’s first-round draft pick Terrance Ferguson has potential as a spot-up shot on the wing, and also the staff desperately needed last season. However, with Taj Gibson likely leaving in free agency, the Thunder will be sparse. But while their projection does not put the team nearly at the amount of this Golden State Warriors, or even the newly minted Chris Paul Houston Rockets, acquiring George should have an outsize effect on the Thunder.”
The TL;DR version here is that even without factoring in the upside which stems from potential internal advancement, the Thunder already should’ve been expected to acquire 51 games. And this was written before OKC inked Patrick Patterson–a power forwards who matches perfectly with the other anticipated starting pieces–into a deal of a bargain.
Improving much beyond the 51-win benchmark is a difficult job as the Thunder attempt to weave in fresh players seamlessly. But after viewing Russell Westbrook function as a one-man show throughout his MVP-winning effort, they get to place much more talent .
Expect big things.
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