How recent events in the West affect the Oklahoma City Thunder

The OKC Thunder have not had success in the last two seasons, but recent events in the Western Conference show their fortunes can change next year.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are not the best team in the Western Conference right now. Even with the injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, it looks like that title should go to the Los Angeles Lakers. The OKC Thunder may just be in the middle of the pack.

The Lakers have agreed to acquire superstar Anthony Davis to pair with LeBron James. James went to the Finals eight straight times from 2011-18. He’ll look to return there, for the first time in the Western Conference, and lead the Lakers back to the glory days they once enjoyed.

The 2019 NBA Finals will have ripple effects on the entire league this summer and heading into next season. With the Toronto Raptors winning the championship and both Klay and KD being injured free agents, it looks like the Warriors dynasty could be over over. That, in turn, provides an opening for the other teams in the West that had a shot but couldn’t quite get over the hump.

OKC is one of those teams. The Thunder had a good first half of the year this season when they were in third place in the West for most of the season. Things fell apart at the end of the year when they had the league’s toughest schedule, Paul George was hurt and OKC fell as low as eighth.

How will things be different next year, though? There are several ways. The Thunder have one of the best defenders in the league at small forward in Paul George. George was first in the league with 2.2 steals per game last year, while Russell Westbrook was fourth with 1.9 per game.

In 2017-18, George was second (2.0 steals per game) and Westbrook was fifth (1.8 steals per game). Andre Roberson should be also returning which will give the Thunder probably the best 1-2-3 defensive lineup in the league.

Just before Roberson went down in 2017-18, the Thunder had won 16 of their last 19 games. Right after he went out, they lost five of their next eight games. It took a while for them to recover with him sidelined. When he returns, the Thunder should be one of the best defensive teams in the league, as they’ve been the past two years.

Getting Roberson back will help George, who won’t be tasked with guarding the best perimeter opponent anymore. The West has great perimeter players from James Harden to LeBron James that can dominate one-on-one, and Roberson will help OKC through tough stretches of the schedule.

Terrance Ferguson moving to the bench and will help provide depth to the team as well. Ferguson and Jerami Grant helped the team with improved their games this year in terms of 3-point shooting.

Ferguson averaged 3.1 points per game his rookie year and only improved to 6.9 points per game this year. He will have to take that next leap in this crucial third year and average around 10-12 points a night. With him being a first round pick and coming off the bench, he should get more looks in a better situation. He has shown that he’s been able to have breakout games and he will need to show further improvement next season.

Ferguson and Grant refined their 3-point shooting, which helped the Thunder tremendously. The Thunder were 22nd in 3-point percentage this year, so they need more upgrades in that area. Ferguson went from 40 made 3-pointers his rookie year to 106 this year. Grant went from 32 made 3-pointers in 2017-18 to 115 this year.

Both players should see an even greater improvement in 2019-20.

Finally, if the Thunder are able to add a 3-point shooter to their bench, they should be in good shape. They do not have the cap space to sign anybody big, but they should be able to sign somebody with the Taxpayer’s Mid-Level Exception (like Trevor Ariza) or the veteran’s minimum.

With the injuries to Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant, it looks like the West is wide open. OKC should be able to capitalize on that with their improving and returning players.