With the preseason underway, National pundits delivered power rankings, and not surprisingly the OKC Thunder landed at the bottom of most ladders.
This past weekend the 2020-21 NBA preseason got underway with the OKC Thunder traveling to San Antonio to face the Spurs. Eight of the 20 players on the Thunder training camp roster were out either due to injury or other reasons. Despite the absence of over a third of the roster, the Thunder won the match in convincing fashion (121-108).
New head coach Mark Daigneault made a positive first impression particularly with his increased ball and player movement offense. Preseason matches are a litmus test for how new rosters are integrating, developing chemistry, and picking up new systems. Elite squads typically use these games to shake off rust and phase in new players.
So while OKC looked like offensive juggernauts in this first preseason match Thunder Nation isn’t under the delusion this win will translate into copious victories this season. Nor does the team (or fanbase) desire that outcome.
With preseason underway, many national pundits released their initial power rankings, and again, to no one’s surprise, the OKC Thunder were seeded on the bottom rungs.
OKC Thunder predominantly positioned at bottom of pundits power rankings
With that let’s see where the National pundits rank the OKC Thunder in the NBA preseason Power Rankings.
NBA.com – John Schuhmann:
The stat master John Schuhmann won’t post his first official 2020-21 power rankings list until next week. In the interim, he offered his offseason list breaking it up by conference. Schuhmann becomes the first of what is likely to be many, many more bottom placements this season for the OKC Thunder. Granted, we don’t know how the club will fit into the mix once he integrates both conferences.
The following is an excerpt from his Thunder comments:
"GM Sam Presti has triumphed in the demolition phase of this renovation, but at some point, he’ll have to start rebuilding a competitive basketball team instead of what is now a motley crew of discarded pieces. Of course, whenever a team blows it up, their most valuable Draft picks are their own."
As noted, Schuhmann places the Thunder last (15th) in the West. The rest of his comments about the Thunder and the Western Conference ranking can be found here. And, for those interested in the Eastern Conference version click here.
ESPN – Poll of reporters, insiders
Typically ESPN power rankings are provided by a panel however for their preseason list they polled 40 reporters, insiders, and editors. Presumably, when the season starts they’ll return to the common panel format.
The excerpts for each team are provided by the typical group of quality ESPN writers with the Thunder portion coming from Royce Young:
"The Thunder’s rebuild plan came about abruptly, with the fifth seed in the West deconstructed over a fast and furious week of wheeling and dealing: Dennis Schroder was shipped to the Lakers, Chris Paul was moved to Phoenix and Steven Adams was sent to New Orleans. It was always in the cards for the Thunder to begin the process of a rebuild, but it was about timing. As the rest of the West positions to compete for the playoffs this season, the Thunder are zagging. — Young"
By the way – ESPN ranked the Thunder dead with the Eastern trio of the Pistons, Knicks, and Cavaliers preceding them. Click this link for the full power rankings.
Bleacher Report:
Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report offered up power rankings with a view to placement following free agency moves (up to November 30th). It’s conceivably BR will post weekly power rankings via Grant Hughes who covered this assignment last season.
Swartz was less pessimistic than NBA.com and ESPN placing the Thunder 27th ahead of the Eastern trio of Cavaliers, Pistons, and Knicks.
The following is a portion of Swartz’ Thunder excerpt:
"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may need to average 25 points per game for the Thunder to remain somewhat competitive as Al Horford, George Hill and Trevor Ariza are all in their mid-30s and could be trade candidates at any moment should a draft pick be on the table. —The Thunder could cash in their incredible collection of draft assets for proven talent at any time. For now, they’ll be one of the worst teams in the NBA."
The full article is available via this link.
NBC Sports:
Writer Monte Poole places the OKC Thunder at the bottom of the association and predicts the club will be selecting the top pick in the draft this season. Not sure many of his assessments will pan out but let’s cross our fingers his top draft pick prediction pans out.
"After a surprise trip to the playoffs, general manager Sam Presti gazed into the future, grabbed the wheel and drove directly to purgatory. He has Al Horford, Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander and 40 draft picks over the next eight years, including No. 1 in 2021."
To view his entire power rankings list click here.
The Score:
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
Writer John W. McDonough of the Score offers up his version of the preseason power rankings. McDonough suggests something the writers at Thunderous Intentions have pondered which is whether the talent of the rising core and addition of serviceable vets makes this squad perhaps more competitive than most analysts are giving them credit for.
"If Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Darius Bazley, and Lu Dort continue to grow, and Al Horford, George Hill, and Trevor Ariza actually stick around for all of 2020-21, the Thunder might be tougher than expected."
For McDonough’s full power rankings click here.
Other national sites:
TI typically features Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports, Hoops Habit, and other major sites but aren’t included here for various reasons. CBS most recent list was based on offseason moves (hence the Thunder were ranked fifth). SI The Crossover hasn’t updated their version since mid-October subsequently missing copious roster changes across the league.
That wraps up this season’s inaugural edition of NBA power rankings. Stay tuned as we serve up the weekly power rankings and keep a running total of how often the OKC Thunder land on the bottom rung.