OKC Thunder: NBA.com ranks Thunder as worst of the west

The OKC Thunder enter the 2021-22 NBA season with low expectations. The team, its fanbase, the national media, all are focusing more on player development and the 2022 NBA Draft, than the current season in Bricktown.

It is safe to assume that as far as the win-loss record goes, the Oklahoma City Thunder are in for a long, bad, 82-game stretch. That is the goal anyway, with hopes of capturing the top pick and selecting one of the many top talents in the upcoming draft.

Are the OKC Thunder the worst team in the Western Conference?

With the goal, commonly referred to as “tanking”, in mind the question is asked will this be the worst team in the Western Conference? Well, if you ask John Schumann of NBA.com, the answer is yes.

A year ago, Oklahoma City finished 22-50, with the worst offense, a bottom ten defense, and the worst net rating in the entire NBA. Since then, they have added a few upside rookies that do not project to move the needle as a unit for another season or two.

Mark Daigneault’s bunch was scrappy last year, especially in the early stages, but no one confused it with a top of the west basketball team. The fact that the roster, sans Al Horford, George Hill, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for most of the year did not finish last in the league a year ago is stunning by itself.

Instead, the team was 14th in the Western Conference, only ahead of the Houston Rockets. The only new additions to that bottom-of-the-barrel roster? Tre Mann, Josh Giddey, Derrick Favors, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Aaron Wiggins, and hopefully a full-82 game slate from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Meanwhile, the Rockets have added the eye-popping Jalen Green that might walk into the NBA and be a star on day one, the Summer league hero Alprene Sengun, a top defensive prospect in Usman Garuba, and a sharpshooting sniper in Josh Christopher.

These rosters are pretty comparable, the Thunder have the best individual player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but the Rockets have the edge when it comes to supporting cast around Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr.

The usual bottom-of-the-conference teams are all-in on winning, top-to-bottom in the organization for better or worse, meaning even Minnesota and Sacramento rank ahead of OKC.

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In an ultra-competitive conference, with so many playoff-or-bust teams that see the standings shift each day as being in the playoffs, being in the play-in, or being at home in mid-April is separated by half a game, it is fair to tabbed the Thunder are the worst group on paper.

Depending on your perspective, that is not a bad thing, and you are rooting for the other teams in the East to catch up and pass OKC as well.

For some diehard fans, especially in the football culture we have in this state, it is hard to adjust to the idea that losing is what is best for the franchise.

To those fans I would say, Given the fact that the Thunder’s first-round pick is lottery-protected, do not expect them to make the postseason.

However, no matter how ugly it looked a year ago, when OKC had their leader in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor, they won games.

The team routinely played hard, gave maximum effort, and tried to win every contest. This young team that features just two 30-year-old players, and two more players over the age of 24, will be a joy to watch no matter the record. Tanking is done in the front office, not once the ball is tipped.

Will the Thunder have the worst team in the West? In the NBA? Time will tell.