Where National pundits rank OKC Thunder in week 3 of NBA power rankings

The National pundits provide week three NBA power rankings. Discover where the top sites and experts rank the OKC Thunder.

Week four has begun with the National pundits and experts providing their NBA power rankings for the past week. Thunderous Intentions weekly rankings are coming later this week, but in the interim, it’s interesting to note how appreciative the analysts and writers are of the fight in this OKC Thunder team.

Here’s how the top-ranked National sites and blogs rank the OKC Thunder in week three:

NBA.com – John Schuhmann:

Through three weeks John Schuhmann has remained resolute in placing the OKC Thunder in the middle to lower tier of the pack.

In week one the stats master seeded the team in 20th, week two he jumped the club three rungs to 17th and in week three he raises them yet again one more step to 16th.

This in spite of the record as Schuhmann understands how competitive the Thunder has been and how difficult their schedule to start the season is. This week he notes the improvement offensively and points out the squad clutch time struggles. The following is a portion of his excerpt:

"After scoring 98.2 points per 100 possessions in their five games in October, they’ve scored 111.1 per 100 in their five games in November, with a jump (from 49% to 62%) in the percentage of their buckets that have been assisted and with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 20.4 points on an effective field goal percentage of 58% this month."

The rest of the above excerpt and full NBA power rankings can be viewed in its entirety by clicking this link.

ESPN – Panel

ESPN’s panel:

ESPN: Tim MacMahon |Andre’ Snellings | Royce Young | Bobby Marks

The Undefeated: Marc J. Spears

The panel hasn’t been that enamored with the OKC Thunder this season. Week one they ranked the team 20th, week two they dropped them a spot to 21st and in week three the panel finally showed them a bit of love for their competitive spirit pushing them up to 18th with Royce Young noting five of their six losses were by five or fewer points.

Click this link for the full panel rankings.

"Before the season, there was strong belief within the Thunder organization that this team might be better than some thought. Through 10 games, their record might be about what was expected, but it’s an extremely competitive group. A few bounces here, a few breaks there, and the Thunder would be on the other side of .500. They’ve lost five of their six games by five points or fewer and have had a chance to win all of them in the final minutes. With one of the tougher opening schedules in the league, if the Thunder can hang in there, they might start winning some of the close ones. — Young"

Bleacher Report:

Grant Hughes hit the OKC Thunder hard in his initial seeding placing them 24th. Hughes has taken the same stance as many of his peers moving the club up to 22nd in week two and at their highest mark this week in 18th. The Bleacher Report writer is smitten with the array of moves Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is displaying and mentions one specifically his the excerpt below. His full comments can be read via this link as well as the rest of his rankings.

"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a herky-jerky, off-time, gloriously deceptive master of basketball trickery. You’ve surely seen the clip of him spinning right, pulling a front-to-back between-the-legs “show me” handle before initiating a left-handed gather leading to a wrong-foot scoop finish. If you haven’t, enjoy!"

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1191896574361620480

Sports Illustrated – The Crossover

Michael Shapiro is definitive in his opinion sometimes harshly so. But, I agree with a lot of what he says. For example, we both agree Hassan Whiteside holding back Bam Adebayo was criminal as (followers of TI know I’ve ranted about this for more than a year).

Shapiro isn’t overly enamored by the OKC Thunder placing them 17th in week three after two consecutive 18th seeds in weeks one and two. That said, he does recognize the trade chip value of Danilo Gallinari as per his excerpt below. The Crossover writer’s full ranking can be viewed here.

"Danilo Gallinari is going to be a valuable trade chip as the deadline approaches. The former No. 6 pick is averaging 19.1 points per game on a career best 46.9% field-goal percentage, and the Italian swingman is far more than a spot-up specialist. He can be a bully on the block and he’s increasingly shifty in his later age. Portland feels like a natural fit as it seeks an upgrade at the four."

Hoops Habit:

Phil Watson rivals John Schuhmann for must-read weekly power rankings. His weekly musings serve up a healthy dose of quality stats, hot takes and my favorite part of his rankings is he is unafraid to credit the hottest team of the week which is how Power Rankings were meant to be comprised, at least this early in the season.

Watson’s appreciation for how the OKC Thunder have played in spite of the record hasn’t deterred him from routinely ranking them higher than his peers. Week one he ranked OKC 15th, week two he jumped them up two rungs to 13th, and this week places them in 14th.

The following excerpt is a portion of Watson’s insights, the rest can be viewed by clicking this link.

"The Oklahoma City were one up and one down all week long, treading water at 2-2 after Chris Paul‘s pull-up 3 in the final second was off the mark in Sunday’s loss at home to the Bucks.But Paul is still playing pretty well for an older guy. The 34-year-old averaged 18.0 points, 6.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 31.3 minutes per game last week, shooting 37.1 percent overall and hitting 7-of-18 from 3-point range."

CBS Sports:

More from Thunderous Intentions

Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports power rankings placed the OKC Thunder 19th for two consecutive weeks o start the season but jumps them up two spots to 17th in week three. Like Watson of Hoops Habit (and myself), he ranks the teams based on their overall standing with precedence given for the play of the current ranking week. His full power ranking can be viewed via this link.

"The Thunder have been pretty much what we thought they were. They don’t get blown out, but they consistently lose to good teams. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a bright spot and looks like a real piece to build around moving forward, but this team has .500 (or slightly worse) written all over it."

That wraps up week three power rankings for the main sites with Thunderous Intentions posting our rankings later this week. The OKC Thunder were placed primarily just below the middle of the league with a high ranking of 14th and a low of 18th.

Next. Week 2 NBA Power Ranking – Things are ‘Heat’ing up. dark

Make sure to check back to see how TI ranks all the teams and where the OKC Thunder is seeded in our opinion.

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