OKC Thunder: Bold predictions – Westbrook leads NBA in assists
After a history making season for the OKC Thunder last year, Russell Westbrook will back it up by leading the NBA in assists.
Last season Russell Westbrook led the NBA in points per game and finished third in assists per game. This incredible feat allowed Westbrook to lead the OKC Thunder to the sixth seed in the NBA Playoffs. We all know how that particular series turned out. Now it is time to look forward to this year.
Over the offseason, Sam Presti worked his executive magic. He turned Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo into Paul George. Then he turned Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott into Carmelo Anthony.
He also replaced Semaj Christon with Raymond Felton and Taj Gibson with Patrick Patterson. In short, he turned the roster into a legitimate championship contender without giving up anything of big value. This is especially important for the man who runs the Thunder offense.
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What this means
Last season the OKC Thunder were the worst team in the NBA from beyond the arc. Gibson, Christon and Kanter were not good three point shooters. McDermott is a noted shooter from deep, but struggled to find a rhythm in the OKC Thunder offense.
Adding two superstars who have a history of shooting the ball well means Westbrook will have a smorgasbord of options when it comes to distributing the ball. Add Patterson – a respectable shooter from three – and Westbrook has to be drooling.
This extra fire power on the perimeter is going to create more space for the other players on the team. The Steven Adams pick and roll with Westbrook is a delight to watch. They already have awesome chemistry even with a below-average supporting cast.
The other starter, Andre Roberson, will probably shoot a less from three this year. Hopefully that means he is focusing his offensive game in the paint area, a place where he is actually competent. He has showed in the preseason games he has improved his cutting game.
Add to this the prowess from deep of Alex Abrines, Jerami Grant and even Terrance Ferguson and the OKC Thunder are looking good.
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Westbrook may not win the scoring title this year now that he has this supporting cast. He will, however, go from 10.4 assists per game to something even higher.
The competition
Last season, James Harden (11.2 assists per game) and John Wall (10.7 assists per game) were the only two players to average more assists per game than Westbrook. The OKC Thunder point guard has the advantage over these two now.
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Harden has been joined by Chris Paul (9.2 assists per game) in the Houston Rockets back court. The only reason Harden was able to lead the league in assists was because he was the primary ball-handler with so many good shooters around. This season, Paul is going to affect Harden’s numbers. Both of these players are ball dominant – each will want to initiate the offense and both should see their numbers go down.
Wall will be the main competition for Westbrook, but the Washington Wizards have not added any other offensive weapons. His numbers will plateau with the rest of the team. Wall is again going to have to carry the team somewhat in scoring. This will stop him for leading the league in assists.
All of these factors ultimately will lead Westbrook to an NBA assist title.