Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunders’s breakout player will be… This is tough as there figures to be some roster movement throughout the season. I don’t see Chris Paul, Danillo Galinari, or Steven Adams finishing the year with the team. In saying that, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will have to be the guy. Once Paul is moved out to a contender SGA will be the man in Oklahoma City and one of the key components they are going to be building around going into the future. SGA isn’t the greatest of offensive threat right now, but he has the tools to build up on it. He also needs to work on his defense.

It all goes wrong if Sam Presti misses on the numerous draft picks he has at the end of the season. Yes, he’s drafted three MVP’s, but his draft history isn’t all that stellar after picking Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden in consecutive seasons. Whatever his roster strategy is going forward he needs to stick to and not deviate. If the Thunder are playing above their heads and can fight for a playoff spot he should make sure to blow it up. Losing in the first round is not an option this year, getting the right pieces in a probable weak draft is.

The window on the past is officially closed and the new window is being built. The new window currently does not exist and we should get a good look at how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to be as a pro. I think at the end of the season Thunder fans are going to be tentatively optimistic about the future.

As of this moment the Thunder and projected to win 32.5 this coming season and I think they are going to come in lower than that. After the Thunder ship off a lot of the top tier talent for picks and younger players I think we’ll see them coming in around the 25-27 win mark. I’ll split the difference and say they land at 26-56 and end up with a top 5 pick in the draft.