NBA Power Rankings Week 1: Lakers woes and other first impressions

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Josh Giddey, Oklahoma City Thunder. Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images /

Oklahoma City Thunder. 29. team. 149. . 0-2. Previous: 27th

Last Week: (L) to Utah, (L) to Houston

The Oklahoma City Thunder are doing everything short of branding this season “Thank the Tank” to communicate they are trying to lose games. They’re playing a rotation stocked with young, raw prospects and are shamelessly gunning for a high pick to draft a top-tier wing prospect.

The reason they weren’t lower in the preseason rankings, and why they aren’t 30th now, is that they still have a star guard in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He has been fine thus far, not getting in the way of this team losing. Do the Thunder keep him in-house for however long the rest of their rebuild takes? For now he’s locked up long-term to be the linchpin of their next good team.

First Impression: Their offense is anemic. Despite the presence of Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder offense has been at the bottom of the league. Their 88.1 offensive rating is 29th in the league, and they are 26th in 3-point attempts and 28th in 3-point percentage. Their young ball-handlers are sloppy with the ball and have not yet found their stride in setting up teammates for good looks. That leads to the league’s worst net rating overall as the “worst” of the winless teams.