OKC Thunder stand pat in B/R’s latest power rankings

T-minus three games to go till the end of the road for the OKC Thunder in 2020-21 and, in turn, the beginning of their journey back up the proverbial latter and into respectability.

After years of playoff appearances and legitimate championship contention, Sam Presti and co. opted to call it quits, shifting the team more towards a full-fledged rebuild with their eyes set on the future.

Tanking has been their M.O for the majority of this year’s regular season and though they got off to a rough start in the process, finding themselves legitimately in the play-in tournament picture leading into the All-Star break (champaign problems, huh?), thanks to the decisions made last month, it’s evident they’re officially invested in the agenda.

As the twilight of the year has come, Oklahoma City has managed to stay consistent in their tanking ways, losing seven straight games which, in turn, has led to the franchise nabbing the 30th spot on Bleacher Report’s Power Rankings for two weeks in a row, now.

"The Oklahoma City second-half tank job has cruised steadily along. Since the All-Star break, the Thunder have gone 6-27.Even with all of the losing, Oklahoma City is still focused on the development of its young players. Last week Darius Bazley popped, scoring 23.0 points, but he was not very efficient shooting 37.8 percent from the field.Thunder fans also got a good look at the team’s most recent signing, Gabriel Deck. In six games, he has averaged 8.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19.4 minutes. He is still getting his legs under him, but with an offseason of development, Deck could be another interesting player for the Thunder."

Even in losing, the OKC Thunder have still managed to figure out a way to come away as relative winners, most recently nabbing a bottom-three record with just a few more days to go.