With less than ten games remaining in the season the OKC Thunder are back to losing following a defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans. They enter the weekend with a back-to-back set on tap and their eyes firmly set on dropping down the ladder.
This is weekend three of the tank wars as Intentions takes a look at the key opponents. We’ll review the overall standing of the lottery teams, how they’ve fared to this point in week 19 of play, and outline the weekend games.
Although the Rockets appear to be untouchable, the Wolves proved this week how quickly things can change as they’ve climbed up the lottery ladder. Intentions will place emphasis on the teams closest to the OKC Thunder. Specific attention will be placed on the teams the Thunder are trying to catch and who they are battling to hold off from their current position.
This week OKC has played two games and lost some ground on the teams below them as they ended the 14-game losing streak via a victory in Boston. It was a more than acceptable victory given this iteration of the Thunder didn’t want to be remembered for the worst losing streak — although they did tie the 2008-09 team with the 14 losses.
OKC got back in the loss column on Thursday losing to Steven Adams Pelicans. This weekend OKC will host the Pacers and welcome back Chris Paul and his Suns. With both Indiana and Phoenix invested in their own playoff seeding, it bodes well for OKC to pick up two additional losses.
OKC Thunder tank wars overview for weekend 19
As Intentions has previously outlined the OKC Thunder will get a minimum of two first-round picks. Those picks will be determined by where the Rockets fall in the NBA Draft Lottery taking place on June 22nd.
Although the Rockets are currently sitting in the optimal position to win the top pick they aren’t guaranteed of that. For example, the first year the lottery rules changed it was the Pelicans who became the winners of the Zion Williamson sweepstakes. Likewise, the Grizzlies and Lakers made substantial leaps.
Thunder Nation will be hoping for a repeat of those events with the ideal outcome being OKC landing the top pick and the Rockets getting the fifth pick. That’s because Houston will retain their pick if they land anywhere between the first and fourth picks.
In the event the Rockets do fall in the 1 to 4 range then the Thunder will nab the Miami Heat’s pick. Also of note, the Warriors will avoid sending OKC their first-round pick by virtue of finishing outside the top 10 teams. That means OKC will also get the Wolves second-round pick.
Again the hope for Thunder fans will be that Minnesota lands in one of the top three positions as the Thunder will then select in the equivalent spot in the second round. For example, if the Wolves get the second selection then OKC would make the 32nd selection.
With that, let’s dive into the current lottery team standings and dive into the opponents the OKC Thunder wants to keep an eye on this weekend.