STRENGTHS:Kevin Durant (25.3 ppg.) should achieve all-star status this year ... Jeff Green (16.6 ppg.) is already a solid complementary player and should continue to improve ... Durant is dangerous shooting or taking it to the basket ... Russell Westbrook (15.3 ppg.) is a scoring threat from the point ... Newcomer Kevin Ollie is an outstanding veteran influence ... First round pick James Harden should be a solid backcourt scorer, although not a pure shooter ... Thabo Sefolosha has tremendous athleticism ... The Thunder should remain an above average free throw shooting team ... Ethan Thomas is another veteran presence who brings depth to the frontcourt ... The Thunder hustle on the glass and should continue to be a strong rebounding team ... Hiring Maurice Cheeks as an assistant coach was a very underrated move. One of Cheeks’ strengths when Philadelphia was developing young players, and his knowledge of the point guard position will only help Westbrook.
WEAKNESSES:
Nenad Krstic hasn’t been the same since tearing his left ACL in December, 2006 ... The Thunder don’t have much of an inside game with Krstic and Nick Collison ... Westbrook must improve on his decision making (1.59 assist-to-turnover ratio) or the Thunder will remain last in turnovers ... The Thunder are hurt by their relative inexperience ... Bench scoring is highly questionable ... With just one college season, rookie center BJ Mullens may not provide an immediate contribution ... The defense remains below average ... Sefolosha needs to show more consistency ... Like Westbrook, Durant needs to cut down his turnovers ... Even though he expends so much effort on offense, Durant must take defense more seriously.
PROJECTION: 4th in the Northwest Division
/ 9th in the Western Conference
.PROJECTED STARTERS
Point
guard Russell Westbrook
Shooting
guard
James Harden
Small
forward Kevin Durant
Ultra-athletic guard. Can score and get teammates involved. Turnover prone, though. The future of the franchise, along with KD.
A pure scorer, he has the talent to earn the starting job ahead of Thabo Sefolosa and Kyle Weaver right away.
He was impressive when Scott Brooks took over, so expect him to be one of the top forwards in the league.
Power
forward Jeff Green
Center Nick Collison
Sixth
man Nenad Krstic
Quick and versatile, he was a perimeter threat last season. Blocking more shots would be perfect in this one, though.
Gritty forward with a high basketball IQ. He is having a nice NBA career despite his lack of athleticism.
Has been hit by injuries and we may have already seen the best of him. On talent alone, one of the best centers in the NBA.
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