How big of a threat is OKC, now and in the future?

[Who]

The question of "is J-Dub an All-Star?" made me wonder would I have him in my West All-Stars right now. So I got:

Guards = SGA, Steph, Ant, Fox
Forwards = LeBron, Luka, Durant, J-Dub, JJJ
Centers = Jokic, AD, Wemby

Those would be my top 12 guys right now.

Harden, Kyrie & Sengun would be next in line. I'd give Sengun a bump over D Sabonis due to team record. Houston deserves an All-Star.

[Goldstar88]

I don't see anyone in the West capable of beating OKC in a 7 game series. This reminds me of the Lakers in the 80s, Shaq's three peat teams, Kobe & Pau at peak. The rest of the West is competing for who gets to the Conference Finals.

OKC are good enough to go toe to toe with Boston and beat them in a 7 game series. It wouldn't be some shock upset like it would have been with Dallas. OKC are a peer competitor. An equal.

That?s what people said last year. Then OKC got spanked by Dallas in the second round. 

How can you say they are an equal when the Thunder have not even made it to a conference final.

[Who]

I don't see anyone in the West capable of beating OKC in a 7 game series. This reminds me of the Lakers in the 80s, Shaq's three peat teams, Kobe & Pau at peak. The rest of the West is competing for who gets to the Conference Finals.

OKC are good enough to go toe to toe with Boston and beat them in a 7 game series. It wouldn't be some shock upset like it would have been with Dallas. OKC are a peer competitor. An equal.

That?s what people said last year. Then OKC got spanked by Dallas in the second round. 

How can you say they are an equal when the Thunder have not even made it to a conference final.

Talent = much improved over last year with the addition of Hartenstein. Their young guys (J-Dub, Chet before he got hurt, Cason, I Joe) look better as well. Caruso has fit in well.

That is why I say they are an equal = Talent.

[Phantom255x]

OKC added Caruso and Hartenstein to fill some real needs on their roster, and most of their current roster including SGA is continuing to grow and improve each year. Then you add all the assets OKC has at their disposal still to potentially use thanks to Presti.

I personally would still pick BOS > OKC in this year's Finals, but they will absolutely be a threat for many years to come.

OKC in recent years has kind of reminded me of those bridgey Celtics with Isaiah Thomas and even the 2018 team with Kyrie/Hayward who would battle, have great regular seasons but were not quite there and would typically lose in the 2nd round or ECF to a superior squad and/or player (like a Lebron or those nice Hawks/Bucks teams in the mid-to-late 2010s). I would love to see an OKC-Dallas rematch in the playoffs. OKC did give Dallas the most trouble last year out West in the playoffs.

[jpotter33]

I don't see anyone in the West capable of beating OKC in a 7 game series. This reminds me of the Lakers in the 80s, Shaq's three peat teams, Kobe & Pau at peak. The rest of the West is competing for who gets to the Conference Finals.

OKC are good enough to go toe to toe with Boston and beat them in a 7 game series. It wouldn't be some shock upset like it would have been with Dallas. OKC are a peer competitor. An equal.

That?s what people said last year. Then OKC got spanked by Dallas in the second round. 

How can you say they are an equal when the Thunder have not even made it to a conference final.

Talent = much improved over last year with the addition of Hartenstein. Their young guys (J-Dub, Chet before he got hurt, Cason, I Joe) look better as well. Caruso has fit in well.

That is why I say they are an equal = Talent.

Until they actually show it in the playoffs, I don?t think you can count them as a true peer, especially as young and inexperienced as they are. They?ve only had one year in the playoffs thus far, and they were outclassed in the second round by an equal, more experienced opponent. Until they actually demonstrate that they can win in the playoffs, they?re a good team but no peer to Boston.

[jpotter33]

Also, for all their picks and assets, their historically cheap ownership plus the new CBA is going to limit how much more they can realistically add to this team. They?ll get more improvement from internal development than any of their picks/assets at this point.

[scaryjerry]

They?re not a huge threat to the Celtics as of now imo, they?re a great young team but both the Celtics and them will have to win 3 rounds before this is even relevant, and if that?s to happen I just like the Celtics experience to win a finals series against them.

[Goldstar88]

OKC gets spanked by the Bucks in the NBA cup championship game.. Not a threat.

[scaryjerry]

OKC gets spanked by the Bucks in the NBA cup championship game.. Not a threat.

Losing the cup means absolutely nothing. We haven?t even made the nba cup championship game yet, does that mean we aren?t a threat?
They?re also missing one of there best players. If that was us that?s all we would hear about. Also the bucks are rounding into form and will be a serious threat.

[Roy H.]

OKC gets spanked by the Bucks in the NBA cup championship game.. Not a threat.

Eh.  I wouldn't go that far.  Every team is entitled to a bad game.  Their shooting was shockingly bad, and I don't think that will happen often.  Plus, they're missing Holgrem.

But, it is refreshing to see them get squashed.  They're the only team this season that I think could challenge us.  Maybe I'm discounting Cleveland too much, but I like a healthy Celtics over anybody.

[Vermont Green]

It is true that losing the cup or any single game does not entirely define a team but I think we learned something about both MIL and OKC in this game.  How many people were saying that MIL was cooked after their slow start.  There was even talk of trading Giannis.  MIL now looks like a legit threat, more so than OKC last night.

Yes, I know that Holmgren didn't play but neither did Middleton.  And Porzingis has missed most of the season for BOS.  No doubt OKC is better if they have Holmgren but that doesn't mean you can't watch the game and take things away as to how good OKC is.

Their defense was as advertised.  They play a swarming defense, much like GSW did against us in an earlier game.  It is especially affective in defending the 3.  The way to beat it is to post up and cut when they double, exactly what MIL was able to do.  In the end, size won out over small.  OKC missed a ton of shot also.  That won't happen every night but I still don't think OKC has enough size overall.

[Donoghus]

It's mid December.  I'm not taking too much away from a contrived tournament.

Also, no one is beating a healthy Celtics team in a 7 game series this season.

[keevsnick]

They need one more high level ball handler/scorer who doesn't compromise their defense, ideally a wing type guy. Their offense is too one dimensional, and grinds to a halt with Shai off the floor.

Now granted that kind of guy is an all-star type, and those are hard to find. Basically they need a Jaylen Brown type. But they have the resources to get it done.

[Vermont Green]

I think what OKC needs is some power forwards.  Julius Randle or Jerami Grant or some one like that.  Someone who can give them more size while still maintaining their defensive scheme.  John Collins would be a good target for them.  Siakam would be a good get for them.  Maybe even take a shot at Zion.  If they were able to get a veteran for now and then try to draft for the position, they could address this.

What is ironic of course is that they had a 6'-9" guy who would fit this pretty well but they decided they didn't even want him on the team and traded him away for peanuts (that would be Al Horford of course).  How much do you think Al Horford would have helped this team over the last few seasons?  Or how about just in the game vs MIL last night?

[Roy H.]

I think what OKC needs is some power forwards.  Julius Randle or Jerami Grant or some one like that.  Someone who can give them more size while still maintaining their defensive scheme.  John Collins would be a good target for them.  Siakam would be a good get for them.  Maybe even take a shot at Zion.  If they were able to get a veteran for now and then try to draft for the position, they could address this.

What is ironic of course is that they had a 6'-9" guy who would fit this pretty well but they decided they didn't even want him on the team and traded him away for peanuts (that would be Al Horford of course).  How much do you think Al Horford would have helped this team over the last few seasons?  Or how about just in the game vs MIL last night?

I don't think they need a $20 to $30 million PF.  I think that Holgrem and Hartenstein will be able to share the court together, and that will actually give them a size advantage. 

What they need is some depth upfront.  They have almost none, which is quite surprising to me.