Oklahoma City Thunder: 5 keys to contending in 2017-18

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1. Developing chemistry

Westbrook has had problems sharing the ball in the past. He has taken heat for shooting the ball too much. In the Kevin Durant era, Westbrook was subject to criticism because he was taking touches from Durant. The past season he made NBA history for usage percentage. How will Westbrook be able to play with two superstars that are used to having the ball in their hands? How will the ball be able to go around?

The key will be Westbrook. He is the point guard. He distributes the ball. Westbrook, George and Carmelo all shoot pretty much the same from the field for their careers. Westbrook shoots 43 percent, George shoots 43 percent and Carmelo shoots 46 percent. Westbrook is the leader and it is his team because he has been with the team nine years and he is coming off a remarkable MVP season, but for the Thunder to succeed he will have to take a backseat to Carmelo and George in the scoring column.

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Carmelo and George have goals that they want to accomplish, and that could hurt the chemistry. George wants to prove he is an MVP-caliber player. He is on record saying he is going MVP or bust this year. Carmelo is on the team because he wants to win and he wants to prove that he is not as bad as the media said he was (Anthony was ranked below Lonzo Ball in ESPN‘s player rankings). Here are how the roles the Big Three for the Thunder will have to take for this to work.

Westbrook is the leader and he will have the ball in his hands the most. He will have to be a pass-first player for the first time in his career. There is too much talent on the team for the ball to be in his hands all the whole time. Getting his points on open drives, fast break opportunities and when he is wide open will have to be the way to go for him.

George will be the offensive threat. He will be the player that they give the ball to when they want to get into a flow. He can heat up at any second, so giving the ball to him on isolations and they will have to play through him because George has the athletic ability to be the main threat for the Thunder.

Anthony is the emergency player and the insurance blanket. He will be the third option. When the team needs a bucket badly, they will go to him. He will be able to go into the post and use his turnaround jumper and play with his back to the basket enough to get the Thunder points in desperate situations.

If you want to look at the sense behind this, you have to look at what each player has to prove this season. Westbrook wants to prove he can play with other superstars, so that means he will have to defer to George and Anthony.

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George wants to be the MVP, so that means that he will have have to be the go-to player. Anthony wants to prove that he can win still, so he will be the insurance blanket to finish games off and get the Thunder over the hump. The Thunder have a lot of options this year. Getting it all to work and balancing everyone’s goals with the good of the team will be the key to contending.

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