Training camp is a hopeful time for NBA teams. Everyone feels like they’re undefeated and that they’ll be able to play in June if the going gets tough, but the reality is that only a handful of teams can truly lift the Larry O’Brien trophy when the time comes. is.
Currently, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the favorites to win the West Division and are also the favorites to win the NBA championship for the first time in franchise history.
Those expectations were earned after the OKC Thunder overcame 57 points a year ago to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and won their first playoff series in 2016. They haven’t been sitting idle this summer either.
The Thunder strengthened their roster with two big moves to acquire Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein while keeping their elite young core intact.
These moves give Oklahoma City even more versatility. Especially as a team that has fire in the size department and can’t close out games in 48 minutes with rim protection.
Whether the Thunder want to play big, play small, go out and run, or slow the game down, they can flip through the rolodex and find lineups to accomplish those plays.
As Mark Denault explained after the first day of training camp, that versatility isn’t just a great luxury, it’s also a requirement in the NBA to be able to bring home a title.
“It gives us a lot of flexibility system-wise, it gives us a lot of flexibility in terms of the lineups we can put on the court…We have to do a lot of different things well to be good,” Thunder Bench said. said the boss.
So while the Thunder thoroughly downplay their role in sorting themselves into lineups and defining roles for rookies, rest assured that roster exploration will once again be a theme this season.
Rather than a specific role, the most important aspect for the Thunder will be getting to victory lane through multiple different means and dictating conditions for other teams.
Song of the day: “Blame It on the Boogie” by Michael Jackson.
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