I still think if the OKC figures it out they pose the biggest threat to the Warriors. They are the one team that has enough offensive and defensive firepower (and at the right positions) to really give the Warriors fits in a series. You saw what they could be in the game they played earlier this year. Westbrook is a match-up nightmare for Curry. George will make Durant work on both ends of the floor. Roberson is a great defender to handle Thompson. Anthony pulls Green out of the paint or can easily post up Iggy if they play smaller. Adams and Patterson are an interesting combo at center. Grant, Felton, Abrines, and Huestis are quality bench guards/wings. They clearly have some growing pains, but if they figure it out, the West should take notice.
Not sure how you come up with this stuff but OKC's bench looks absolutely pathetic. Reminds me of how you used to overrate all of Philly's scrubs who aren't even in the league anymore. Huestis averages 2 points and has a PER of 3. Abrines averages 4 points and has a PER of 6. They aren't NBA players.
I don't see the team making much noise. Besides having no bench they seem to play pretty lazy. I think George is the best piece on the whole team. Westbrook is a ballhog who tries to do way too much, Melo is a ballhog who does far too little except for shot attempts. I'm not impressed at all with the team.
Abrines and Huestis are 9th and 10th men. San Antonio for example has Bryn Forbes and Brandon Paul in those slots right now. Houston has 37 year old Nene and Tarik Black manning those spots. The Warriors have Omri Casspi and Kevon Looney (though 37 year old West has played less, so maybe he bumps them down a slot). Even Boston's 9th and 10th men are Semi and Theis (who have played well for rookies, but aren't exactly world beaters and are rookies). I'd take my chances with Abrines and Huestis as compared to any of those teams 9th and 10th men, especially Abrines who had a fairly decorated European career before coming to OKC prior to last season.
Over at bball-ref, OKC's projected W/L is 12-7. They have the 2nd best DRTG at 101.4 (giving up just 98.1 ppg). Their ORTG is 105.4 (21st) and they are scoring 102 (23rd). Their SRS is 2.96 or 6th out of 30. The metrics love OKC. They've had a lot of close losses and have blown out teams when they win. As they find a bit more consistency and comfort, they will start winning some of the close games they've been losing and their record will start to reflect that.
OKC is the most dangerous team in the NBA if they can figure it out and they have the talent to figure it out.
The OKC bench is bad. Of the 343 players who’ve seen at least 100 minutes of playing time this year, Huestis, Patterson, and Abrines are all in the bottom 20 for PER, at the 5th, 15th, and 19th-lowest numbers. I think PER is imperfect as a stat, as are all gestalt stats, but having three guys in your rotation in the 5th percentile and below is terrible. And the bench behind them is even worse — Singler is only in the NBA because the Thunder can’t figure out how to move his contract, Collison is simply a locker-room presence, and Dakari Johnson and Terrance Ferguson are non-contributing rookies.
And this isn’t surprising. When you make trades to acquire two players on max contracts, necessarily you’ll have to send a lot of depth just to match salaries, never mind matching talent. Ultimately their record will come close to matching their point differential, and they should be a playoff team. But if an injury strikes any of their top 7, they’ll be forced to rely on this trio even more, and likely have to slide someone even worse into the rotation as well. They’re definitely walking a bit of a tightrope. Ultimately, this will cost them in playoff seeding, and the home court advantage that comes with it, perhaps even in the first round.