OKC Thunder close gap on bottom 3: Tank wars Episode 4

The OKC Thunder enter this weekend with a back-to-back set on tap versus the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. With just five games remaining the tank wars are heating up with plenty of movement this past week.

While this season has been far from typical given the pandemic it also feels very different at season end. In fact, it seems all 30 teams are invested in some form of battle on the ladder. Both conferences have at least three teams vying for the top seed. Likewise, four teams in the East and three teams in the West are jockeying to stay above the seventh seed and avoid the play-in tournament.

The next group of five teams in each conference is biding to make the play-in tournament although realistically it’s closer to a trio of clubs on each side.

OKC Thunder tank wars overview for weekend 20

And, finally, the bottom group including the OKC Thunder are actively invested in tanking to capture one of the coveted bottom three seeds or the best draft lottery odds possible.

A few important notes regarding the Thunder draft picks. They have two guaranteed first-round picks which will be defined by the best available picks between their own, the Rockets (top 4 protected) and the Heat.

Although Houston is currently seeded as one of three teams with the best odds to land the top draft pick their actual position won’t be solidified until the NBA Draft Lottery. All their seeding does is improve their odds – –  the bingo balls determine the order.

The fact Houston has great odds at a top pick could work in favor of the Thunder especially if the Basketball Gods favor OKC and Houston ends up with the fifth pick (cross your fingers). On June 22nd we’ll know precisely which picks the Thunder will have.

What we know for sure is the Thunder will NOT get the Warriors first-round pick – instead, they’ll receive their second pick (from the Wolves). Again– fans should be hoping for Minny to nab an early pick in the lottery as that will mean a high second-round pick for OKC.

As Intentions has done the past three weeks we’ll update the tanking order based on results of the past week and highlight the upcoming games for the weekend.

With that, here’s where the OKC Thunder and their tanking peers are seeded and the pivotal matches to keep an eye on entering weekend 20 of gameplay.