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Which past OKC teams are better than this new one with a big 3 of Melo, George, and Westbrook?

If you get past the possible chemistry issues, this team has 3 legit all pros. The last time okc had that was when harden was the 6th man poy, and that was a very very very young okc team. But I still think adams has to show the promise he showed 2 seasons ago

2016 was their best team, no question. It's possible that 2018 can approach the level they were 2014 and 2012. Durant is a hard guy to replace though, even with George and Melo.

Mamba4Goat wrote:Which past OKC teams are better than this new one with a big 3 of Melo, George, and Westbrook?

Let's not pretend it's 2012 and Melo is still a superstar. He's probably not even one of the 3 best players on the Thunder.

This should be a solid team but any healthy OKC team with KD on it was better.

I thought 2016 was the strongest iteration of the Thunder I've seen. Top end talent, depth, defense, rebounding. This one has a chance to be up there depending on how Presti rounds out the roster. Right now they don't have much on the bench after Patterson, Felton and Grant and a couple of young hopefuls in Abrines and Ferguson.

A few guys I'd target now if I were Presti:

Brandon Bass
Matt Barnes
Kris Humphries
Terrence Jones

Lalouie wrote:If you get past the possible chemistry issues, this team has 3 legit all pros. The last time okc had that was when harden was the 6th man poy, and that was a very very very young okc team. But I still think adams has to show the promise he showed 2 seasons ago

Melo hasnt made an All NBA team going onto 5 years now. He is way past being called a legit all pro. Melo is coming off arguably his worst season as a pro, thats usually not a good sign when that happens this late in someones career. But lets say he plays better now being surrounded by Russ and PG, I still dont think he is anywhere close to being considered an all pro talent.

Not as good as the KD/WB/Harden/Ibaka core, or the KD/WB with their frontcourt beasts.

Worse than every thunder roster between 2011 and 2016 to be honest

ibaka/harden/wb/kd will always be my favorite roster

I think they might be deeper with this but worse top end talent. 2016 they played Dion/kanter as their 6th/7man. This year they can play Patterson/Abrines/Felton. Patterson is better than Dion and Abrines can possibly get minutes vs gsw/hou unlike Kanter.

I want to get a sense of the depth chart here. OKC fans can correct me. This is just a guess and trying to get a handle on things.

Westbrook -------------- Felton -------------- Christon
Roberson --------------- Abrines ------------- Ferguson#
George ----------------- Grant --------------- Singler
Anthony ---------------- Patterson ---------- Huestis
Adams ------------------ Johnson# ---------- Collison

That's an excellent starting 5 and seems a decent top 9. Not sure what Johnson has to offer at this point. I guess you could slide Patterson into backup center and maybe throw Ferguson in at SG/SF?

This move for Anthony would also seem to help Westbrook's chances at another MVP, I would guess.

Just to note if Durant had stayed they could have still made the PG and Melo trades. Although chances are they would have traded Kanter to try to sign Al Horford.

I think this might be OKC's most complete team. The past teams were stuck with anchors that limited the potential. Roberson is that guy on this team but with Melo and Ferguson they might not be dependent on him like in the past. I think the best OKC team was the Finals team and the Kevin Martin, Thabo team that won 60 plus games with great SRS.

This is the most complete OKC team I've seen though and most versatile in terms of lineups. If Ferguson can defend and he already can shoot they could have some really versatile lineups on offense and defense. Unlike in the past have lineups that can shoot and you have to respect.

HotRocks34 wrote:I want to get a sense of the depth chart here. OKC fans can correct me. This is just a guess and trying to get a handle on things.

Westbrook -------------- Felton -------------- Christon
Roberson --------------- Abrines ------------- Ferguson#
George ----------------- Grant --------------- Singler
Anthony ---------------- Patterson ---------- Huestis
Adams ------------------ Johnson# ---------- Collison

That's an excellent starting 5 and seems a decent top 9. Not sure what Johnson has to offer at this point. I guess you could slide Patterson into backup center and maybe throw Ferguson in at SG/SF?

This move for Anthony would also seem to help Westbrook's chances at another MVP, I would guess.

Not an okc fan but youre on the money, thats what the lineup will and should look like. Although I do think they might stretch someone to sign a BIG, Idk about that center behind adams but besides that, its a very talented core.

spicy6 wrote:

HotRocks34 wrote:I want to get a sense of the depth chart here. OKC fans can correct me. This is just a guess and trying to get a handle on things.

Westbrook -------------- Felton -------------- Christon
Roberson --------------- Abrines ------------- Ferguson#
George ----------------- Grant --------------- Singler
Anthony ---------------- Patterson ---------- Huestis
Adams ------------------ Johnson# ---------- Collison

That's an excellent starting 5 and seems a decent top 9. Not sure what Johnson has to offer at this point. I guess you could slide Patterson into backup center and maybe throw Ferguson in at SG/SF?

This move for Anthony would also seem to help Westbrook's chances at another MVP, I would guess.

Not an okc fan but youre on the money, thats what the lineup will and should look like. Although I do think they might stretch someone to sign a BIG, Idk about that center behind adams but besides that, its a very talented core.

Yeah, I would probably try to get another big if I could. Otherwise, things look pretty good.

If the squad stays healthy and the young guys produce, could be a very nice year for them.

I'm eager to see how they do.

Their bench looks terrible. And I really think they're gonna have some major chemistry issues. Melo/PG/Russ on paper doesnt look like a good fit when it comes to their individual talents. And it's also a given that Melo will get injured sometime throughout the season.

But if they can all make it work, they would be a lethal team. I can see OKC adding bench pieces a the trade deadline

HotRocks34 wrote:I want to get a sense of the depth chart here. OKC fans can correct me. This is just a guess and trying to get a handle on things.

Westbrook -------------- Felton -------------- Christon
Roberson --------------- Abrines ------------- Ferguson#
George ----------------- Grant --------------- Singler
Anthony ---------------- Patterson ---------- Huestis
Adams ------------------ Johnson# ---------- Collison

That's an excellent starting 5 and seems a decent top 9. Not sure what Johnson has to offer at this point. I guess you could slide Patterson into backup center and maybe throw Ferguson in at SG/SF?

This move for Anthony would also seem to help Westbrook's chances at another MVP, I would guess.

This is pretty much what it looks like. I'm actually a big fan of Ferguson too. He's a nice chess piece off the bench if he develops in time.

I don't know about Singler/Huestis and Collison. All three are virtually useless at this point. I'd much rather go after a Matt Barnes or a Brandon Bass in FA for the vet min.

I just think it's crazy how much elite level talent they've had in such a short amount of time.

I mean they've gotten Carmelo, PG, KD, Russ, Harden, ALL to play for them and that's not even counting the Ibaka's, Jacksons, and Adams tier level of players that they've gotten. And they don't have a single chip to show for it. Just goes to show how hard it is to win big at that level. Regardless, that type of elite level talent consistently is a remarkable feat.

HotRocks34 wrote:I want to get a sense of the depth chart here. OKC fans can correct me. This is just a guess and trying to get a handle on things.

Westbrook -------------- Felton -------------- Christon
Roberson --------------- Abrines ------------- Ferguson#
George ----------------- Grant --------------- Singler
Anthony ---------------- Patterson ---------- Huestis
Adams ------------------ Johnson# ---------- Collison

That's an excellent starting 5 and seems a decent top 9. Not sure what Johnson has to offer at this point. I guess you could slide Patterson into backup center and maybe throw Ferguson in at SG/SF?

This move for Anthony would also seem to help Westbrook's chances at another MVP, I would guess.

Depth-chart looks very good.
Maybe Ferguson (at SG) or Huestis(at SF) push Johnson out (then everybody moves one position up).

I would rank the Kevin Martin (a great what if - i guess this team would win the chip if Westbrook wouldn't get injured) and the 2016 teams higher than this years.


If every team stays healthy the WCF are our ceiling. Out of every team Golden State will never underestimate us, i guess we are the team against which they will ever give it all.

richboy wrote:Just to note if Durant had stayed they could have still made the PG and Melo trades. Although chances are they would have traded Kanter to try to sign Al Horford.

I think this might be OKC's most complete team. The past teams were stuck with anchors that limited the potential. Roberson is that guy on this team but with Melo and Ferguson they might not be dependent on him like in the past. I think the best OKC team was the Finals team and the Kevin Martin, Thabo team that won 60 plus games with great SRS.

This is the most complete OKC team I've seen though and most versatile in terms of lineups. If Ferguson can defend and he already can shoot they could have some really versatile lineups on offense and defense. Unlike in the past have lineups that can shoot and you have to respect.

No they couldn't, they would have been hard capped with KD on a max and signing Roberson. The bold is also not true but people will change their mind when they see how the season starts to play out. They were more versatile playing the 2nd best small 4 in the league and Ibaka at the 5. Also you are mentioning Ferg, who is unlikely to get any minutes lol.

Honestly don't think they are that great. Could easily see them being a 5-6 seed. Gives me the same fake super team feel that the Nets had when they acquired Pierce and Garnett.