The Oklahoma City Thunder have extended their contract with Paul George this summer and have secured Dennis Schröder as a potential game changer. The one or other deficiency remains with the team of Russell Westbrook nevertheless.
The Free Agency started with good news: After more than a year of speculation that Paul George would switch to the Lakers in the summer of 2018, the Lakers decided otherwise and agreed directly on July 1st on a new four-year contract ($136.9 million) with OKC.
The most important personnel was thus clarified directly at the start of the summer, but GM Sam Presti remained very active even after that. By trade No.45-Pick Hamidou Diallo was fetched from Charlotte, OKC committed Nerlens Noel (2 years, 3.8 million) and extended it with Jerami Grant (3 years, 27 million) and Raymond Felton (1 year, 2.4 million).
At the same time Presti was permanently looking for a buyer for Carmelo Anthony, because he had taken his option as expected and OKC would have had to pay an astronomical amount of luxury tax with him. He found a trade with Atlanta – on July 25 Anthony was sent to Atlanta with a 2022 first round pick, OKC got Dennis Schröder back from the Hawks and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot back from the 76s.
In another trade, Boston’s OKC Abdel Nader secured himself, and in return Rodney Purvis was sent to Celtics, who had just been taken from Orlando a few days earlier for Dakari Johnson and Cash. Nick Collison ended his career, Daniel Hamilton joined the Hawks. Kyle Singler was released with the help of the stretch commission.
The Thunder could not meet the high expectations in the previous season, not least because the alleged star trio of George, Anthony and Russell Westbrook actually only consisted of two stars and Melo could never be properly integrated. So Anthony should leave while you wanted to keep Free Agent George, because he fits perfectly next to Westbrook. Presti succeeded in both.
However, Anthony was not only to be sold to save money – they were also looking for a countervalue that could make the team better from a sporting point of view. This is supposed to be Schröder; the German gives OKC at least one high-quality backup, which the team had painfully missed over the last few years. Its value is likely to be evident right at the start of the season, as Westbrook will probably miss it after another knee operation.
OKC afforded itself an expensive squad, one sets everything on the fact that in this squad still untapped potential lies. With good reason: before Andre Roberson’s patella tendon rupture last season OKC had an elite defense and looked like a team that could even employ the Warriors.
Roberson still isn’t fit, but with his comeback the Thunder hope for a return to this identity. Players like Schröder, Noel or Nader make the team even faster and more athletic. The Thunder want to attack in a very unusual way for the modern NBA.
The dependence on Westbrook has been a big problem over the last two seasons. OKC played mostly miserably as soon as the 2017 MVP sat down on the bench. Schröder should and can solve this problem. But Schröder doesn’t change the other serious problem, especially in the offense: shooting is missing, and not too close.
Apart from George, the Thunder don’t have a really dangerous high-volume shooter. Patrick Patterson, Alex Abrines or Felton have to be respected, but none of them provides constant “gravity” in the sense of fear for opposing defenders.
Schröder and Westbrook like to throw from outside, but both didn’t even reach 30 percent last season. Roberson’s “precision” is well known, Grant, Nader or even TLC have all not yet become conspicuous as good shooters, Steven Adams doesn’t throw from outside anyway. There should be several OKC lineups in which George will be the only real shooter.
A slightly smaller question mark also stands behind the depth. Last season OKC was very dependent on his starters. The Thunder are nominally deeper, but the only really proven newcomer is Schröder.
Not only at the start of the season will much depend on how Schröder gets along with his new team and how he integrates. Especially in the interplay with Westbrook – the hope must be that it will not just be an “either, or” between the two, but that they can also make each other better.
Neither Schröder nor Westbrook have been happy or moved much over the past few years when they didn’t have the ball in their hands. Both should change that, especially Westbrook, who can be a real weapon with his athletics off-ball. But since James Harden, he hadn’t had a player who could stage him as well as Schröder – at least in theory.
If both bring the willingness to approach each other with them, the OKC can take it to a new level, especially as Schröder Westbrook, in contrast to recent years, could take some of the pressure off. Who knows, maybe both of them even have some energy left over for the defense. This would be particularly important if they were standing side by side on the court.
Of course all this is not guaranteed and it is certainly not conducive that Russ and Schröder cannot complete a joint preparation. But the interaction of the two is at the same time the biggest upside and the biggest downside of this Thunder season.
Already with the George extension it was clear that the Thunder would count to the winners of the Offseason. The Schröder trade was then a very interesting use of the available resources: the move was risky, there were its reasons why Atlanta searched so long unsuccessfully for a trade of the German. If it doesn’t work, OKC sits on a contract that guarantees Schröder 15.5 million dollars up to and including the 2020/21 season.
The reality, however, is that financially limited content providers have only limited opportunities to significantly improve their management. Schröder could significantly improve OKC and take it to a new level. That’s why it was right to take the risk, especially since he’s still much cheaper than Anthony.
Despite some question marks, OKC should be one of the teams that keep the West interesting in the coming season. The conditions are favourable that this time there are more than 48 victories and a first round finish. The only obstacle to an even better evaluation is the continuing lack of shooters.
The Note: 2+