Ask any NBA fan, casual or otherwise, which teams they would expect to
see at the top of the 2011-2012 futures board and you’ll likely get the stock
answers; Heat, Lakers and Bulls. What may surprise many fans though is that the
Oklahoma City Thunder are currently the fourth choice (8/1) to win next
season’s NBA title.
Led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook the young and talented Thunder
are expected to be in the mix for plenty of hardware in 2011-2012. Durant
(28.6) won his second straight scoring title, started the NBA All-Star game for the
first time in his career and in yet another career milestone for the former
Texas Longhorn he was named to the All-NBA team along with Kobe, LeBron, Dwight
Howard and league MVP Derek Rose. Thanks in large part to Durant, Oklahoma City
finished as the top scoring team in the league with an average of 102.5 points
per game.
Westbrook the former UCLA standout turned in another stellar season
scoring 21.9 ppg while leading the team in assists and steals. It’s likely
he’ll team with James Harden in the starting backcourt next season.
Statement series
All championship
teams have that one moment where they go from good to great. For Oklahoma City,
it came in Game Four of last year’s seven-game playoff battle against Memphis
when Durant and company won Game 4 on the road in triple-overtime. They went on
to win the series in seven games advancing to the Western Conference Finals
where they lost to the eventual league champion Dallas Mavericks.
Let’s make a deal
When fans are asked
about the best trade in Oklahoma City
history they usually point to the acquisition of Kendrick Perkins from Boston.
Just before the trade deadline, the Thunder sent Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic
to Boston in exchange for Perkins. While Green and Kristic were non-factors
with the Celts, Perkins provided the missing piece to the puzzle for the
Thunder finally giving them the solid presence inside that they had lacked.
It’s a deal that should keep them competitive for years to come and could go
down as the biggest blunder in the career of Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge.
A steal
To borrow a baseball
metaphor, the Thunder hit a home run in the NBA draft picking up Reggie Jackson
with the 24th overall selection. The former Boston College star is
the rare scorer who can also defend. He averaged 18.2 points, 4.5 assists, 4.3
rebounds and 1.1 steals per game with the Huskies last season and could see
major minutes immediately as the first man off the bench.
Money matters
The Thunder had the
11th best ATS record in the league last season going 43-38 and were
a lofty 25-16 to the ‘over’ at home. One of the things that NBA bettors loved (or
hated) about OKC was its ability to hit free-throws which is usually the determining factor when it
comes to winning or losing on a totals play. OKC was tops in the league hitting
82.4 percent from the charity stripe.
What’s next?
Several major
Midwestern news outlets are reporting that several NBA players including
Durant, Westbrook and Harden will be part of an exhibition team that will play
next month in the Philippines. The team representing the United States will go
against the Philippine national team and an all-star team from the Philippine
Basketball Association. Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin and Chis Paul are also
expected to play.
Love for the Heat
Despite their flameout
in the 2011 NBA finals, the Miami Heat (5/2) are favored in the NBA odds to win it all next season.
The Lakers are next at 11/2 followed by Chicago (13/2), Oklahoma City (7/1)
with Dallas and Boston (8/1) rounding out the top six.