OKC Thunder hold steady in week 11 of national power rankings

The NBA hit the halfway mark of the season with most teams playing a short two-game week. COVID-19 wreaked havoc on some teams prior to the break and also affected the big event in Atlanta. This week the national sites offered their seeding and notes on the OKC Thunder and their 29 counterparts as the teams prepare for the

It’s a short hiatus this season with most teams getting between less than a full week off but nonetheless, it’s a rest every team needs.

Given the rest period, many of the national scribes offered deeper dives this week either examining the halfway accomplishments, predictions for the second half, or standout stats by teams or players to this point.

As per usual, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains a talking point for many of the writers as does his youthful teammates and the potential for trades at the deadline.

National writers raise OKC Thunder in week 10 of power rankings

With that, let’s look at how the national sites ranked the OKC Thunder at the halfway mark of the 2020-21 season in week 11 of the NBA power rankings.

Overall, the national writers ranked the OKC Thunder in a two-rung range with a high of 23rd and low of 24th. Let’s take a look at their insights on the team and their specific seeding.

NBA.com – John Schuhmann:

This week John Schuhmann offers up his power rankings along with three key stats per team. Like Intentions, Schuhmann was impressed by the win versus the Spurs and it’s clear even though he’s not picking favorites that the stat master is impressed by the franchise and these youngsters.

Week 11 he holds the Thunder steady at 23rd but that’s a noteworthy position given teams like the Pacers were placed behind OKC. A portion of his excerpt and the rest of his power rankings can be viewed via this link.

"The Thunder went into the break scoring an anemic 93.4 points per 100 possessions over their last three games, making just 25% of their 3-point attempts. But they got a very tough and Thunder-y win in San Antonio on Thursday and they’re now tied with the Cavs for the most wins (6) in games in which they scored fewer than 105 points per 100 possessions.The Thunder probably don’t have a shot at the top 10 in the West, but with the play-in scenario, there are more teams playing for something over the second half of the season and more opportunities for OKC to play spoiler."

ESPN Poll:

With the season at the halfway mark, the ESPN panel takes a different approach this week citing the first-half performance, listing three must-watch games, and makes a bold prediction on how the season will end. The panel keeps the Thunder in 24th. Writer Royce Young provides the excerpt with the full listing, bold prediction, and must-watch games available here.

"It’s no secret the Thunder have won more games than they probably expected or even intended to at this point. So with the second half of the season ahead and the gap growing between them and the worst records in the league, the Thunder’s chances to land a top-four pick in the upcoming draft are growing slimmer. They appear to be one of the league’s most likely trade deadline dealers, and the opportunity is still there to trim the roster and field a more, ahem, developmentally minded team. George Hill, Al Horford and Mike Muscala should be very available for any interested contender."

Bleacher Report:

Mo Dakhil has consistently cited Shai Gilgeous-Alexander this season and at the halfway point he continues to be impressed by the Thunder cornerstone. However, he notes the other youngsters will need to continue ascending for the team to ascend (a rather obvious point – but okay).

Dakhil holds the Thunder steady in 24th with a portion of his excerpt on the Thunder below and full lisitng available here.

"This is the first time a team has given the keys to Gilgeous-Alexander without any training wheels, and he’s been great. He’s scoring 23.2 points per night and doing so on 41.2 percent shooting from deep while handing out 6.2 assists per game. Dort started the season hot from three but has leveled off recently. He still possesses a lot of promise for the Thunder and is on a team-friendly deal."

CBS Sports:

CBS Sports writer Colin Ward-Henninger veers from his typical weekly precedence ranking this week. Instead, he’s seeding the teams based on their overall first-half performance.

Ward-Henniger doesn’t shift much on the Thunder who he’s been impressed with the entire season. The notable comment here is OKC has almost won as many games as preseason oddsmakers predicted they would amass in the entirety of the season. CWH seeds the Thunder 23rd for their first-half performance.  For CWH’s full power rankings placement click this link.

"Halfway through their schedule, OKC is already approaching the win totals most sportsbooks set for the entire season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been incredible, improving his 3-point shooting, finishing at the rim and distribution while averaging a career-high 23.2 points per game. The front office will continue to look to deal Al Horford, George Hill and Trevor Ariza, but even without their vets, this team has remained competitive behind youngsters Lu Dort, Darius Bazley, Hamidou Diallo and rookie Theo Maledon."

Hoops Habit:

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

In week 11, Corey Rausch of Hoops Habit offers up more praise for SGA and raises OKC up two rungs to 23rd.

The following is a portion of his excerpt on the Thunder while the rest of that segment and his full power rankings can be found via this link.

"The young talent of the Thunder has coalesced much faster than anyone would have reasonably expected. The discussion starts with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The third-year guard has taken a leap as the leader of the team, averaging 23.2 points, 6.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds while canning 41.2 percent of his 4.9 3-point attempts per game. He had a legitimate All-Star case and may have been able to sneak in if the Thunder were not in the midst of a rebuild."

Thunderous Intentions:

TI reminds where oddsmakers predicted the Thunder would finish in their preseason projections and dives into why OKC is overachieving and why.

For the full excerpt and seeding of all teams at the halfway mark click this link.

"The OKC Thunder arrives at the halfway mark well ahead of the pace of where Vegas oddsmakers projected them to perform this season. Specifically, oddsmakers predicted OKC would finish last in the West with 22.5 wins which is the same number the Cavaliers and Knicks were projected to have.With 15 wins already in the books, OKC would have to finish 7-29 to meet those projections. It’s not out of the question, however, it sure feels like Mark Daigneault would have to make a concerted effort to tank some wins to hit that low mark."

That wraps up week 11 of the power rankings. Do you agree with where the national writers ranked the OKC Thunder? Let us know in the comments section.