Royce Young says OKC Thunder feel like a ‘lurking dangerous’ West team

On The Hoop Collective podcast, Royce Young said the OKC Thunder enter the Disney bubble supremely confident.

The most recent Hoop Collective podcast featured host Brian Windhorst with Malika Andrews and Royce Young. The early portion of their discussion focused on Andrews who is already in Florida and in the bubble.

Andrews discusses what she is dealing with daily in terms of testing, living circumstances in quarantine, eating, and what she will be dealing with once she passes her seventh test (she had tested negative on six tests leading up to the podcast). For those interested in what the players will be exposed to once they arrive it’s worth the listen.

The portion of the pod that is appealing for Thunder Nation occurs at the end between Windhorst and Young who discuss the OKC Thunder. Leading into this segment the pair mentioned players who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 or opted out for other reasons.

Former OKC Thunder guard Victor Oladipo has opted out and they wonder if there is trouble brewing with the All-Star and the franchise based on how things were handled regarding his injury (they note he had a sore knee leading up to the injury which is the first I’ve heard that) and how the Pacers basically forced Oladipo to be the one to say he wouldn’t be participating.

With Dipo eligible for an extension this summer they are speculating if there is trouble between the star and franchise and potentially the first signs of a similar situation to what happened between Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs.

OKC Thunder ‘lurking, dangerous West squad

Around the 40 minute mark of the podcast, Windhorst asked Young how the OKC Thunder was looking heading into the Orlando bubble. Young confirmed the team has had no positive COVID-19 tests.

The pair discussed Danilo Gallinari being so adamant about participating in Orlando (a subject T.I. offered our opinion on recently). As a comparison, Windhorst cited Davis Bertans not playing because he’ll be a free agent. Young suggested it could be because of circumstances (better opportunity for Thunder). Taking that thought process a bit further, Young confirmed that Gallo and all the OKC Thunder feel they can do some damage in Orlando, and outside of the LA teams there isn’t a team they feel is leaps and bounds better than them.

Other things the duo discussed was the signing of Luguentz Dort with Windhorst calling the contract – a team-friendly deal. While Young noted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Gallo both brought up having Chris Paul in the dual role of team captain and NBPA president was beneficial since they could just call him for updates. Because Paul had confidence in the safety of the bubble it gave everyone else confidence.

Speaking of confidence, Windhorst brings up the three players on the Heat who tested positive for COVID-19 nothing that’s worrisome because prior to that he felt the Heat were the lurking dangerous team in the East and called the Thunder ‘the lurking dangerous team in the West’.

Young’s response was telling for where the team feels they are entering the bubble.

"“I think Oklahoma City thinks Oklahoma City is a lurking dangerous team. There’s a lot of confidence, I don’t think they are putting themselves on a pedestal with like the Lakers or Clippers but I think that when they look at some of those other teams around them that they feel like they are going to Orlando with kind of a clean slate and feel pretty good about themselves. They feel like they’re going to be able to kind of regather the momentum that they had during the season and that there’s fewer questions about who they’re gonna be, showing up in Orlando. They kind of feel like they kind of have an idea already.”"

To Young’s point about the Thunder mindset, it’s not that surprising.  Outside of the LA teams consider who they are looking at.

The Jazz has lost their primary floor spacer in Bojan Bogdanovic while the other two main stars (Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert) are both pointing to Shaq and Kobe’s relationship as a similar example to themselves. If you’re the Jazz regardless of what they are saying publicly that has to be concerning as Tim McMahon detailed in his ESPN article.

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 Rockets quickly wore down in their predominant small ball system and although James Harden has dropped a ton of weight that could have varying results. Sure, he’ll be faster and maybe even be able to score more, but how will his newly svelte frame deal with the constant pounding of a playoff series?

Although the Nuggets sit in third arriving in Orlando their star tested positive for COVID-19 (although negative now) and has lost a ton of weight. How will that affect his ability to deal with big men centers? And, after the All-Star break, Denver struggled defensively.

The Mavericks lost a pivotal member of their core when Dwight Powell tore his Achilles, Jalen Brunson won’t be available after undergoing surgery to his shoulder. Willie Cauley-Stein opted out and Courtney Lee is out due to a calf injury. For what it’s worth I still believe Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis make this team the other dark horse in the West but they’ll need to get out of seventh to avoid the Clippers in the first round if they want to make a deep run.

So from the Thunder perspective, they enter the bubble knowing precisely who they are and what they’re good at. After they gelled and figured out their chemistry they’ve been the best closing team in the NBA and have a solid record on the road which theoretically should help in Orlando since all the games are technically road games.

The entire podcast is a great listen, but for those who want to cut to the OKC Thunder portion, it starts around the 40-minute mark.