Exploring the new look Oklahoma City Thunder

The new-look Thunder have put the league on notice, but how can all the pieces fit together?

The Oklahoma City Thunderadded more shockwaves to what has proven to be one of the more entertaining off-season’s in the NBA by acquiring Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks for Enes Kanter, Doug Mcdermott, and a 2018 second round pick via the Bulls. The deal caps what has been a very successful off-season for the Thunder. After losing superstar Kevin Durant to the Warriors last year, the team quickly was able to pivot to a new star-studded core by taking a gamble on Paul George and then lobbying hard for Carmelo Anthony to give their organization a chance to make a deal.

On paper, this team looks like the biggest Western Conference threat to the Warriors and are one of the few teams with the fire power to rival them. However, unlike the Warriors, this team is not a perfect fit. Russell Westbrook was at his best last year when lead the league with his 42.5 usage rate and was the sole engine that kept that offense moving. It also didn’t help that he took more mid-range shots than he did three pointers or shots at the rim. This has led to his dominating playstyle raising questions about whether he can make those around him better. Similar to Lebron, Westbrook seems to work best when surrounded by ‘3 and D’ players who don’t need the ball and can cover for him on defense. That will be a problem on this roster. Though Anthony and George are both excellent spot-up shooters and at times will benefit from the gravity Westbrook creates, neither will be okay just accepting that role, and each will be expecting to play big roles in the team’s offense.

There’s two ways these types of teams end up playing out. One, Westbrook, George, and Anthony end up taking turns creating for themselves similar to what James and Irving did in Cleveland and what Westbrook and Durant did in Oklahoma. These offenses usually don’t have much creativity and at times can be rough to watch. However, they have worked well in the playoffs where teams usually need to rely on their stars more. With three instead of two stars this type of offense will undoubtedly cause one of the three to be the odd man out, and that’s not good for a franchise that is banking on making all three happy so they can re-sign.

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