Oklahoma City Thunder Christmas Round Table Series, 2 sleeps til Santa

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Dec 19, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) is announced in the opening lineup prior to action against the Atlanta Hawks at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

Westbrook is on a terror. Does he finish with triple-double average and what does he/OKC have to do for him to win MVP?

Cole Hixon: I will say that he does do it, because despite what he says it is something that the team has bought into. For him to win MVP though, in addition to averaging the triple double the Thunder will probably have to get home court in the 1st round for him to have a shot at it and I don’t see that happening.

Rich Condon: Russ will come close, like 30 PPG 10.6 RPG AND 9 APG. He still falls in love with his shot too much down the stretch of games. However, if OKC makes the playoffs, he wins the MVP over Harden.

Tony Heim: To me it’s a foregone conclusion Russ will average a triple-double. He doesn’t take any games off, so the notion that he’s going to wear down is ridiculous. We forget that Russ actually isn’t a human being.

Regarding the MVP discussion, as long as they keep this pace and make the the playoffs he better win unanimously. This team lost the second best player in the NBA and they are only on pace to lose six or seven less games. I’m not the biggest Russ fan, but you gotta respect what he’s doing with this roster.

Joshua Lea: While Westbrook has been a huge force in this league. He’ll win MVP if the Thunder make the playoffs as a top four seed and the Thunder win the division. This can happen, OKC is going to be in the playoff conversation and Westbrook will flirt with averaging a triple-double.

Chris Hughes: I think it’s going to be seriously tough. I think he can finish with 30+ points but keeping the rest of the stats up is the big task or another 50 games. Annoyingly I think even if he did he might not win the MVP, purely because it’s historically gone to someone finishing in the top two seeds of whichever
conference.

Heather Koontz: Westbrook will finish with a triple-double average. He’s unstoppable, and I can’t imagine that ending anytime soon. Since he’s made it clear that MVP awards and triple-doubles don’t matter to him, I think his sheer passion for winning will carry him through. No frills to get in the way, no pressure to be named something or make history for anything. That’s how he’ll get the MVP award.

Eric Snyder: Westbrook will not finish with a Triple Double average because of the wear and tear on his body. This is not Oscar Robertson’s NBA and Russ is not indestructible.

a. For Westbrook to be the MVP the Thunder must be a Playoff team. If he is putting up numbers on a sub-par team without a decent record, he won’t get enough MVP votes.

Anthony Halkias: Make the playoffs and averages a triple double. YES.

Jeremy Lambert: Unless the team gets better shooting around him, he’s going to have a hard time averaging ten assists. Points will be easy, rebounds will come since his teammates let him grab a lot, but teams know to take away Adams and Kanter, forcing Russ to pass to a wing player. Unfortunately, those wing players aren’t very good.

Yaman Khabbaz: Does he finish the season averaging a triple-double? Possibly. If he does, then winning MVP will be easier for him. The Thunder, however, have to win around 50+ games for him to be a favorite. If the wins aren’t there, he doesn’t win MVP. Simple.

Casimir Cuffy:. I honestly believe if he can make it to February still averaging a triple-double then he will go all the way with it. As long as the Thunder are above the 7th seed in the playoffs I believe the MVP will be a lock.

Tamberlyn Richardson: MVP winners typically come from the top 2 teams of either conference and even then it’s not a given. I point you to 2014-15 when the Rockets were decimated by injury ad James Harden carried them to the second seed. The difference this year is Westbrook is on pace to do something not accomplished in decades. Furthermore of all the current MVP candidates Russell has the fewest complimentary stars working beside him. Harden has been surrounded by shooters, plus the Warriors and Cavaliers are “Super Teams”.

More from Thunderous Intentions

Still, the TI team makes solid points regarding how difficult the road will be especially in terms of the assists and the toll of the season on Westbrook . That said, let’s recall what Westbrook does to teams like the Suns or what he did in New York (17 rebounds) when his rebound average was slipping.

For that reason, this optimistic scribe is going to stick with my preseason picks and say Westbrook does average a triple-double. Moreover, I think the pundits are looking for a reason to reward Westbrook for being the last casualty of the old CBA, so if the team finishes 6th on top of his triple-double – he wins MVP.

Okay Thunder fans, that’s it for the first segment of the Thunderous Intentions Round Table. Please join in via our comments section and share your thoughts with us on how you would answer these questions.

Tomorrow we return with Part II which includes the team’s thoughts on OKC’s rookies, the 2017 All-Star Break, which economical player the Thunder should add, which game the team would pick to attend and who they would select to have dinner with from the Thunder organization (and what burning question has to be asked).

Catch the entire Christmas round table series here:

Part 2 – Ideal Thunder Dinner Companion, Gifting OKC roster with an economical addition

Part 3 – Christmas Day Games, Memories, Thunder Gift Returns and Resolutions

As you process the tryptophan here’s our Christmas Day Preview to get you set for tip-off.

Next: NBA - Thunder Rookie Report Week 7

Come join us for this segment and play along. And, make sure to visit Thunderous Intentions for daily features, player articles, pre and post game analysis plus all things OKC Thunder.

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