The offseason commerce for Alex Caruso and the addition of Isaiah Hartenstein in free company have improved the Thunder’s protection to the purpose the place it may be top-of-the-line in NBA historical past, claims Michael Pina of The Ringer. He factors out that Oklahoma Metropolis ranked fourth within the league defensively final season and each personnel determination was geared toward getting higher, together with sending Josh Giddey to Chicago within the Carsuo deal.
There are not any weak hyperlinks on protection anymore and no apparent spot for opponents to assault, Pina provides. The Thunder have a roster crammed with switchable defenders who possess the pace and dimension to excel in coach Mark Daigneault’s attacking scheme.
OKC boasts loads of distinctive one-on-one defenders on the perimeter, beginning with Luguentz Dort, who makes use of physicality to disrupt the rhythm of the person he’s guarding. Pina notes that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander works exceptionally onerous on protection for an MVP candidate, whereas Jalen Williams brings a wingspan that’s higher than his top, Cason Wallace performs like a smaller model of Jrue Vacation, and Chet Holmgren ranked second within the league final season in difficult pictures on the rim. Including to that blend is Caruso, who has made the All-Defensive group the previous two seasons and has a knack for forcing turnovers.
Hartenstein will assist repair the rebounding deficiency that was particularly evident within the playoffs final spring. Pina states that he also needs to have an effect on the philosophy on protection by permitting the Thunder to make the most of extra drop protection and restrict three-point pictures from the nook.
There’s extra from Oklahoma Metropolis:
- The Thunder’s depth ought to allow them to be affected person with Kenrich Williams as he recovers from a knee operation, writes Rylan Stiles of Sports activities Illustrated. The veteran ahead underwent an arthroscopic debridement process on his proper knee on Tuesday and can be re-evaluated following the preseason. Stiles states that OKC ought to deliver Williams alongside slowly and ensure he’s wholesome for later within the season.
- Since taking up as head coach, Daigneault has tended to make use of his bench greater than every other coach within the league, Stiles provides in a separate story. That strategy needs to be efficient this season because the Thunder have one of many NBA’s deepest rosters.
- If Seattle will get accredited as an growth metropolis, the Thunder will give the franchise historical past again to the SuperSonics, sources inform ESPN in an outline of the growth course of. Oklahoma Metropolis’s homeowners already appear to view the Thunder as a separate enterprise, the authors add, declining to hold a banner for Seattle’s 1979 championship and itemizing Russell Westbrook because the group’s profession assists chief slightly than Gary Payton.
