2018-2019 OKC Thunder Regular Season Pt 1: A Renewed Hope

[ThunderBolt]

So I am starting to get the vibe that KD may actually want to come back at some point, as long as the roster looks as good as it does now. I don't recall him and Russell ever embracing after a game, and compounded with the current Warriors drama and quiet Thunder success, it may be enticing. Although when Curry comes back Warriors will return to form and probably win another chip, so who knows. Durant coming back means OKC is a 1st tier contender, maybe favorite, but I don't think I could ever cheer for him again.

Of course he would want to come back if the roster looks good. That’s to be expected. We would need to get rid of Adams and Schröder to make room for him. I’m just not interested. Let him latch on to another teams teat.

[Dadouv47]

I don't want cupcake back even if it means we get a ring. I prefer to keep cheering for a bad team.

He should make a super team with the lakers to continue building his fake legacy.

[Old Man Game]

I'm convinced Durant won't leave for the simple fact that he knows he wouldn't be able to beat Golden State no matter where he goes.

[thekaoswithin]

I'm convinced Durant won't leave for the simple fact that he knows he wouldn't be able to beat Golden State no matter where he goes.

The Lakers with KD could definitely beat GSW.

[Pillendreher]

Currently, four guys on the roster have a PER better than 20 (Westbrook, George, Adams, Noel). If that holds for the rest of the year, it'd be the first time that happens in Thunder history.

[Old Man Game]

I'm convinced Durant won't leave for the simple fact that he knows he wouldn't be able to beat Golden State no matter where he goes.

The Lakers with KD could definitely beat GSW.

Maybe, but it wouldn't be a sure thing. And KD wants a sure thing. That's why he went there in the first place.

[Old Man Game]

Currently, four guys on the roster have a PER better than 20 (Westbrook, George, Adams, Noel). If that holds for the rest of the year, it'd be the first time that happens in Thunder history.

NOEL?!? I'm genuinely shocked. Makes me discount PER more than I already did.

[Pillendreher]

Currently, four guys on the roster have a PER better than 20 (Westbrook, George, Adams, Noel). If that holds for the rest of the year, it'd be the first time that happens in Thunder history.

NOEL?!? I'm genuinely shocked. Makes me discount PER more than I already did.

He has been supper efficient in his limited minutes. 64 TS%, 136 ORtG. And he's been taking care of the ball while getting steals and offensive rebounds.

[Old Man Game]

Currently, four guys on the roster have a PER better than 20 (Westbrook, George, Adams, Noel). If that holds for the rest of the year, it'd be the first time that happens in Thunder history.

NOEL?!? I'm genuinely shocked. Makes me discount PER more than I already did.

He has been supper efficient in his limited minutes. 64 TS%, 136 ORtG. And he's been taking care of the ball while getting steals and offensive rebounds.

Wow. I thought he played like trash for several games there. Assumed it would have shown in a stat like that. Guess it wasn't as a big a deal as I remembered.

[Pillendreher]

Another "weird" stat I just saw: For a guy who looks like he's no chance at going to the rim with speed, George has been exceptional at finishing there. He's currently converting field goal attempts after drives at the 3rd best rate in the league (58.5 %) among those with at least 100 drives so far (a total of 78 players). Among those 78 guys, he's also 10th in AST%: 12.8 % of his drives have ended in an assist to a teammate. That's the 2nd best AST% of any non-PG among those 78 players.

[CROklahoma]

I'd say, if we are in this time frame, Steven Adams is starting to become the most important piece for this roster.
He is untouchable on this roster with Russ and PG.
Credit where credit is due, his offensive game seems like it hit a new hemisphere.
He is unstopabble down low, and we should continue this trend whole season to see if there is something even more than this, maybe he can be a back to basket big that scores 20-25ppg just on those occasions. Combined with insane %REB and defensive impact.
He is my top3-4 C of the league this year.

And once again, I like everything that Grant, Schroeder and Noel are bringing to this team.
Schroeder was HUGE yesterday. Finally, someone really lethal off the bench.

[slick_watts]

Another "weird" stat I just saw: For a guy who looks like he's no chance at going to the rim with speed, George has been exceptional at finishing there. He's currently converting field goal attempts after drives at the 3rd best rate in the league (58.5 %) among those with at least 100 drives so far (a total of 78 players). Among those 78 guys, he's also 10th in AST%: 12.8 % of his drives have ended in an assist to a teammate. That's the 2nd best AST% of any non-PG among those 78 players.

he's shooting 70%+ at the rim.

[Pillendreher]

Another "weird" stat I just saw: For a guy who looks like he's no chance at going to the rim with speed, George has been exceptional at finishing there. He's currently converting field goal attempts after drives at the 3rd best rate in the league (58.5 %) among those with at least 100 drives so far (a total of 78 players). Among those 78 guys, he's also 10th in AST%: 12.8 % of his drives have ended in an assist to a teammate. That's the 2nd best AST% of any non-PG among those 78 players.

he's shooting 70%+ at the rim.

Yeah I saw that too. It's not on a very high volume, but that's still very good. That number will most likely drop as the season progresses.

[getrichordie]

13th in ORtG, 1st in DRtG

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Trade Roberson.


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[Pillendreher]

13th in ORtG, 1st in DRtG

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using RealGM mobile app

Trade Roberson.


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I talked about this one or two weeks ago: While the starter without Roberson have been (much) better than last season defensively, the big difference is actually the bench.

Roberson-George-Adams had a 93.2 DRtG last season. George-Grant-Adams is at 102.4. That's almost 10pp100p.

This is where they've been excellent: Maintaining a very good defense throughout the whole roster.



I think Noel is a huge part of that.

[ThunderBolt]

13th in ORtG, 1st in DRtG

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Trade Roberson.


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The timeline with the trade deadline and his return could make it very tough to trade him. The only exception is if he comes back and has a huge impact right away. If that happens, we won’t want to trade him.

[getrichordie]

13th in ORtG, 1st in DRtG

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using RealGM mobile app

Trade Roberson.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

I talked about this one or two weeks ago: While the starter without Roberson have been (much) better than last season defensively, the big difference is actually the bench.

Roberson-George-Adams had a 93.2 DRtG last season. George-Grant-Adams is at 102.4. That's almost 10pp100p.

This is where they've been excellent: Maintaining a very good defense throughout the whole roster.



I think Noel is a huge part of that.

I agree 100%. Noel has been huge for this team. We don’t lose rim/paint protection when Adams comes out.

How has the offense faired without Roberson? Does it make up for that 10pp100p?


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[Woerzboerg]

13th in ORtG, 1st in DRtG

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Trade Roberson.


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I woludn't trade him unless there is a very good deal. Roberson - if healthy - provides us very helpful defense when playoffs come, he will actually make this very good defense better. If not healthy, his trade value isn't much higher than a salary filler. In that case, we won't get a helpful return for Roberson alone. So we need to pair him with other players and if there is a very good deal, I would do this, but not just for the sake of trading him for something.

[ThunderBolt]

13th in ORtG, 1st in DRtG

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using RealGM mobile app

Trade Roberson.


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I woludn't trade him unless there is a very good deal. Roberson - if healthy - provides us very helpful defense when playoffs come, he will actually make this very good defense better. If not healthy, his trade value isn't much higher than a salary filler. In that case, we won't get a helpful return for Roberson alone. So we need to pair him with other players and if there is a very good deal, I would do this, but not just for the sake of trading him for something.

Welcome to the boards.

[RalphSampsonJr]

13th in ORtG, 1st in DRtG

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using RealGM mobile app

Trade Roberson.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

I talked about this one or two weeks ago: While the starter without Roberson have been (much) better than last season defensively, the big difference is actually the bench.

Roberson-George-Adams had a 93.2 DRtG last season. George-Grant-Adams is at 102.4. That's almost 10pp100p.

This is where they've been excellent: Maintaining a very good defense throughout the whole roster.



I think Noel is a huge part of that.

Noel has no doubt been great in limited minutes but he seems to be fouling at a very high rate isnt he? Dont have the numbers just get that impression from watching him