45 wins. Westbrook-led OKC won't win anything.
They went 3-7 this year in games Durant missed.
Last year, they went 26-29 in games Durant missed.
They missed the playoffs because of it. I'm bolding that, because it's a big one. The Thunder went 19-8 last season in games Durant played (their typical 57 win pace). But because he missed a large chunk of games, they failed to make the playoffs. Think about that. They literally couldn't make the playoffs without a full season from Durant. We basically have our answer.
Over the past two seasons, the Thunder have gone 29-36 in games Durant has sat. That's a 36 win pace.
As far as I can tell, the Thunder would be lucky to crack 40 wins without Kevin Durant.
Celts came close to winning 50 last season without Durant. Imagine how good they can be with him, another max contract and a big trade addition.
People look at it backwards. They see the Thunder won 55 games and assume if Durant left it would be a set-back. But when you consider that the THunder might be a 36 win team without Durant, and Boston is a 48 win team without Durant - you can easily make the case that joining Boston gives Durant the better opportunity to win.