The OKC Thunder are intelligently tanking and here’s why
The Losses
Tanking is defined as a team willingly giving up games in order to receive a better draft pick. The OKC Thunder front office has been doing so subtly, but we can clearly see their expectations for the season aren’t to win a championship.
With an eye toward scouting, drafting, and developing the All-Star talent of the future. Time will only tell, but the Western Conference is stacked.
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
The Competition
When assessing the likelihood of regular-season and playoff success for the current OKC Thunder roster, it’s easy to see that their ceiling isn’t very high when every playoff team in the Western Conference improved over this offseason.
I honestly do not believe this is enough to be successful in the playoffs, but I do believe they can make the playoffs.
The playoff hopes look far away when assessing star power, in the West. Fortunately, there are a great number of players who don’t believe the team is tanking.
Every single player on the OKC Thunder feels as if they’re talented enough to win a championship, even if management has its eyes set more on the future.