Limited Upside NBA podcast: This is the most important season in Oklahoma City Thunder history
Paul George and Russell Westbrook will form a dynamic duo in OKC, but for how long? And what happens if they don’t mesh?
Sam Presti pulled a rabbit out of his hat to bring Paul George to Oklahoma City, but with both he and Russell Westbrook under contract for only one more season, this union could be a short one.
How will the Thunder handle it?
Repeat guest Eddie Maisonet of The Sports Fan Journal and newcomer Joshua Broom of SB Nation’s Thunder blog, Welcome To Loud City, join the show. Topics include:
- The Russell Westbrook show was something last year. Can Russ step back a bit to help the rest of the team thrive with Paul George now here? Does he even need to?
- Getting George was a no-brainer, and now OKC has a year to sell him on staying. What has to happen for the Westbrook-George pairing to be more than a one-year reunion? Do Thunder fans view this as a real long-term option or a one-year thing? (This was explained with a Major League analogy. Yup.)
- Will Russ and George be invested in this franchise? If so, the roster looks awesome. If not ...
- How George and Russ can help each other on the court, assuming they are able to mesh personality-wise.
- Which three players work best with George and Russ? What should the starting lineup be? What should the closing lineup be? Can Billy Donovan properly manage the rotation, or is he in over his head?
- Let’s take a second and marvel some more about what Russ did last year, because we should never take that granted.
- Is it fair to say that Steven Adams’ growth stagnated last year? How do the Thunder get him to take the next step?
- The three Thunder players you want on your all-time banana boat ... i.e. the three you want on your vacation. This was an excuse for Eddie to shout out Enes Kanter for his eventful summer.
- So ... is Russ gonna sign that designated player extension, or no?
- Predictions, which are very hard for this team. Do they have enough to get to the conference finals? Will that keep George in OKC?
This podcast was part of the Limited Upside podcast’s 2017-18 offseason series previewing all 30 NBA teams with members of SB Nation’s team communities and other friends of the show. We’ve spent the last two-and-a-half months gauging the temperature of every fan base heading into what should be a terrific NBA season. There’s no better way to understand what makes NBA fans in each market tick.
We began these in August and counted down worst-to-first leading up to the season. Here’s how to listen to them all:
- Nets with Kristian Winfield and Nets Daily’s Anthony Puccio
- Lakers with Zito Madu and Silver Screen and Roll’s Anthony Irwin and Harrison Faigen
- Suns with Bright Side of the Sun’s Dave King and Evan Sidery
- 76ers with Tyler Tynes and Liberty Ballers’ Kyle Neubeck
- Knicks with Kristian Winfield and Posting and Toasting’s Seth Rosenthal
- Magic with Orlando Pinstriped Post’s Zach Oliver and Cory Hutson
- Kings with Kenny Carraway and Sactown Royalty’s Tony Xypteras
- Mavs with Tim Cato and Mavs Moneyball’s Kirk Henderson
- Wolves with Canis Hooups’ Eric Goldman and John Meyer
- Pelicans with The Bird Writes’ Oleh Kosel and Travis Tate
- Hornets with James Dator and At the Hive’s Nicklaus Denning
- Pistons with John Ketchum, Kofie Yeboah and Detroit Bad Boys’ Lazarus Jackson
- Nuggets with Denver Stiffs’ Adam Mares
- Heat with Kelly Cohen and Hot Hot Hoops’ Surya Fernandez
- Bulls with Ricky O’Donnell and Blog a Bull’s Jason Patt
- Pacers with Whitney Medworth and Indy Cornrows’ Caitlin Cooper
- Blazers with Blazers Edge’s Brian Freeman and Peter Sampson
- Bucks with Kevin McCauley and Brew Hoop’s Mitchell Maurer
- Hawks with Harry Lyles Jr. and Peachtree Hoops’ Brad Rowland
- Grizzlies with Grizzly Bear Blues’ Joe Mullinax
- Thunder with Eddie Maisonet and Welcome to Loud City’s Joshua Broom
- Thunder addendum! Carmelo Anthony trade emergency pod with Eddie Maisonet
- Wizards with Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Sharp and Bullets Forever’s Michael Sykes
- Jazz with SLC Dunk’s Mychal Lowman and James Hansen.
- Raptors with Raptors HQ’s Daniel Reynolds and freelance writer Seerat Sohi
- Cavaliers with Fear the Sword’s Chris Manning and MMA Fighting’s Eric Jackman
- Clippers with Clips Nation’s Lucas Hann and former L.A. video coordinator Mo Dakhil
- Celtics with Paul Flannery and Celtics Blog’s Nick Gelso
- Rockets with The Dream Shake’s Ethan Rothstein and Jeremy Brener
- Spurs with Pounding the Rock’s J.R. Wilco and Bruno Passos
- Warriors with Golden State of Mind’s Bram Kincheloe
