Aggie Class of 2026 said:
Looks like the big 5 will be
76ers
Mavs
Denver
Celtics
Timberwolves
Then everyone else
I'll bite.
OKC won 57 games last year. They didn't lose anyone. It's not unreasonable to expect year 1-2 improvements from Chet/Cason and year 2-3 improvement from Jdub. They could have run it back as-is and win 57 again... if not a few more.
But they've made two highly impactful transactions so far this offseason that upgraded (arguably) the two weakest aspects of the team last year:
1) Josh Giddey is a good player but didn't fit with their personnel. He was a liability on offense and defense in their current construct. They replaced him with one of the best role players in the league and fits their needs on both ends of the floor.
2) The Thunder struggled badly when Chet was off the court last year. They needed a big body to pair with him and got arguably the best one available in free agency. Another guy whose strengths should gel very well with their current roster. Their second unit was a weakness last year but should be a strength this year.
I'll be surprised if they don't win 60+ games this year. The playoffs are tricky and any matchup of the top 4 teams in the west will be a slugfest, but I'm not really sure how you'd rank the Mavs, Nuggets and Wolves in a tier above the Thunder at this point.
