NBA Power Rankings Preseason Edition: Lakers moves lead the way

Last Season: 22-50, 14th in Western Conference

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a bit of a problem on their hands. Their goal as a team is fairly blatant: use veterans and cap space to gain draft assets to give them as many bites at the apple as possible. This is a team in all-out rebuild mode, and not team win is a positive. Why, then, do they rank higher than the previous four teams?

The answer is one Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a rising star and a player who single-handedly raises a team’s floor. This club wants to tank, but they will need to figure out what to do about a player who will sabotage their intent to lose. This offseason they took on more bad money for new contracts and don’t look poised to start winning anytime soon.

Key Offseason Move: Drafting Josh Giddey. This was a quiet offseason in terms of adding talent for the Thunder, whose draft hauls come in cycles. The prime addition is therefore the addition of Josh Giddey, a playmaking wing out of Australia. He looks like a great fit between SGA and last year’s pick, Aleksej Pokusevski. He and the other youngsters should get a lot of run this year.