2. Oklahoma City Thunder
Courtesy of USA Today Sports: The pressure really is on Billy Donovan here.
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka missed a combined 88 games in 2014-15. Despite this, former head coach Scott Brooks was still able to lead the squad to 45 wins. Now with Billy Donovan finally making the jump to the NBA to man the sideline in Oklahoma City, the expectation has to be to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy next summer.
There are, however, some roster issues that general manager Sam Presti and company need to work out this summer. How will Dion Waiters fit in with both Durant and Westbrook seemingly healthy? Can he handle being the third or fourth option on a good team? We saw how that worked out in Cleveland.
Can the Thunder find a way to re-sign restricted free agent Enes Kanter? After acquiring him from the Utah Jazz during the season, the 23-year-old former lottery pick played extremely well and fit in nicely. He would give Oklahoma City another inside presence to go up against the top teams in the conference. Considering the big man is a restricted free agent, the Thunder should be able to find a way to lock him up. However, big men on the open market attract attention. The Thunder can’t overpay for Kanter knowing who they have to lock up in the not-so-distant future.
Then you have the draft. Oklahoma City finds itself in the rare position of picking in the first half of the initial round. With this comes the opportunity to get a high-quality player to contribute immediately.
For the Thunder, it’s obviously all going to depend on health here. If Durant and Westbrook remain on the court throughout the year, Oklahoma City could very well challenge Golden State for home-court advantage in the playoffs—something that is huge in the Western Conference.