ENEMY LINES
A rival scout weighs in*NEW ACQUISITION \ †INJURED L AST YE AR ( 2017 – 18 STATS)
StartersThey did a good
job [trading Paul
George and Russell
Westbrook]. They’ll win
a good amount and be
competitive, and they
have riches [in the draft]
moving forward.... I
don’t know if that team
could have won it withPG and Russell anyway.
Instead of being a four
or a five seed, now you
strip it down, and at
least you’re rebuilding.
They’re not stuck in
between.... [It will
be hard to] get rid
of CHRIS PAUL’s s alar y
[$124 million over the
next three years]. Chris
has an understanding
of who he is, and he’s
going to compete andhelp you win as long as
he’s healthy. He just
can’t do all the stuff he
used to do.... He’ll be
a mentor for their point
guard of the future.
SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER
has improved [his
shot] so much from
high school, where
you thought it was
completely broken.
It’s a work in progress,
but I don’t know ifpeople understood
his maturity, his
toughness, versatility.
He’s the prototypical
NBA guard if that
shooting develops....
STEVEN ADAMS is O.K., but
I don’t know if he’ll ever
be worth that amount
of money [$53 million
for two years]. He’s
elite defensively, but
he limits the way you
can drive and spaceon the offensive side,
and maybe you can pay
someone $20 million
less to give you a lot of
that.... DANILO GALLINARI
has shown he’s still a
very good player, and
ANDRE ROBERSON is still a
good defender if he’s
healthy. JUSTIN PATTON
is a nice swing. You
never know—he’s very
talented but has to get
his act together.TELLING NUMBER
During the most hectic NBA
offseason ever, no team underwent a
more profound sea change than the
Thunder. Forced to trade All-NBA
forward Paul George, then iconic
point guard Russell Westbrook, they needed to
squeeze out every possible drop of value. Enter
GM Sam Presti, whose shrewd feel for negotiating
and timing yielded not only veterans who will keep
Oklahoma City relevant in the short term but also
the best long-term assets imaginable. After sending
George to the Clippers for Danilo Gallinari and Shai
Gilgeous-Alexander and Westbrook to the Rockets
for Chris Paul, the Thunder own the league’s richest
treasure chest of draft choices: as many as 15 FIRST-
ROUND PICKS IN THE NEXT SIX DRAFTS, plus a
pair of swaps. With all those selections there’s no
need to tank, and Paul, Gallinari and Steven Adams
will keep things competitive. Presti has turned
what looked like a no-win situation into something
resembling a W. —Jeremy Woo15
Projected Lineup
Bench
SF
ANDRE
ROBERSON†
5.0 PPG; 4.7 RPG;
1.2 SPG; 53.7 FG%CHRIS
PAUL*
15.6 PPG; 8.2 APG;
2.0 SPG; 41.9 FG%PG SG
SHAI
GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER
10.8 PPG; 3.3 APG;
2.8 RPG; 47.6 FG%PF
DANILO
GALLINARI*
19.8 PPG; 6.1 RPG;
46.3 FG%; 43.3 3FG%C
STEVEN
ADAMS
13.9 PPG; 9.5 RPG;
1.5 SPG; 59.5 FG%SG
TERRANCE
FERGUSON
6.9 PPG; 1.9 RPG;
42.9 FG%; 36.6 3FG%PG
DENNIS
SCHRÖDER
15.5 PPG; 4.1 APG;
41.4 FG%; 34.1 3FG%100ZACH BEEKER/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES (PAUL)OKLAHOMA CITY
2018 – 19 RECORD 49– 33 4th in Northwest
Thunder COACH BILLY DONOVAN 5th season with Thunder∂38 wins ∂Miss playoffs ∂A rejuvenated CP3 finishes the season on South Beach.THE
WEST
Crystal Ball: