Oklahoma City Thunder Players Who May Win Awards At Season’s End
There are three Oklahoma City Thunder players with realistic chances at winning awards 2016-17.
With Kevin Durant leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder, they are now a totally different team. Last season, Durant averaged over 35 minutes, 28 points and eight rebounds per night. He led the Thunder in all three of these categories, so it is safe to say that he left a pretty large hole to fill.
As with all people who leave an organization, it is never a straight swap of skill sets in and out. It is almost impossible to find someone who will do exactly what the last person did. This is especially the case in basketball. It is even harder to find a small forward who has the skills of a point guard and can shoot as efficiently as Durant.
Other players are now going to have to step up for the loss of Durant, to fill the massive chasm that he has left with the Thunder. This required step will put a number of Oklahoma City players into the conversation for some end of year awards.
Sixth Man Of The Year – Enes Kanter
Last season, Enes Kanter was in the conversation as a potential winner of this award. Jamal Crawford of the Los Angeles Clippers eventually would become the winner, but with the addition of Raymond Felton and Father Time surely catching up a little bit with Crawford, he will have a lesser impact this season.
Kanter will most probably continue his role off the bench. The scoring and rebounding that he provides off the bench is too important for the second unit at the moment.
Kanter was almost top 10 in the league last season in offensive rebounds, with 3.0 in only 21.0 minutes per contest. This season, without Durant, Kanter will probably see more playing time, meaning more offensive rebounds and more points.
In the first game against the Philadelphia 76ers this season, Kanter played 24 minutes, collecting 17 points and 12 rebounds. Five of these rebounds were offensive, and the whole team only collected 13 for the game.
The San Antonio Spurs series last season also showed us that his defensive flaws can be masked for longer periods of time when he plays along side Steven Adams. Against Philadelphia, Kanter was able to collect seven defensive rebounds and even had a block.
All of this should see him in serious consideration for the award. That is unless Jonathon Simmons continues to play like he did against the Golden State Warriors on the opening night.
Most Improved Player – Steven Adams
Serge Ibaka was also moved on from Oklahoma City in the offseason. He was traded to the Orlando Magic in return for Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and Domantas Sabonis. What this says to me is that head coach Billy Donovan believes Steven Adams is ready to be the defensive leader in Oklahoma City.
With this responsibility, Adams should see greater court time than the 25.2 minutes per game that he saw last season. Adams should see his rebounding numbers spike to more than 10 per game as he has to help cover the 15 per game that Durant and Ibaka collected last season.
Adams also needs to step up offensively as he has to help cover more than 40 points that Durant and Ibaka scored last season per game. I can see him averaging 14-16 per night, more than doubling his career average of only 6.3 per game.
Add to this that Adams has become an above-average defender, with his finishing at the rim improving, Adams will have the entire NBA paying attention to his play. Averaging a double-double will see him in contention for this award.
Once again, this is if Jonathon Simmons does not continue to play the season out like the way he did against the Warriors.
MVP – Russell Westbrook
This one is a bit of a Captain Obvious, but when someone is as good as Russell Westbrook, you have to put him forward. When Durant was with Oklahoma City, both he and Westbrook were talked about as top-five players in the league.
Now that Durant is gone, Westbrook can unleash the full force of his game. Add to this the fact that he is now even angrier snd Westbrook is almost certain to lead the Thunder in scoring and assists, as well as being right up there in steals and rebounds.
Not only is Westbrook a threat to be the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double in a season, but he is a danger of leading the NBA in three categories. Last season he was top 10 in scoring and assists and was second in steals in the entire NBA.
Without Durant, his scoring numbers will go up as well as facilitating a greater team game now that he is the only superstar on the team. With Oladipo as his backcourt mate, Westbrook will be able to pick off more passes as Oladipo is a top pressure defender on the perimeter.
Next: 2016-17 NBA Power Rankings: Week 1
On offense, Westbrook will need to involve the rest of his teammates to keep his driving lanes open, but we will probably see him average more than 10.4 a game than he did last season.