The season is right around the corner and the Oklahoma City Thunder have opened with +50000 odds for the 2020-21 NBA Championship. The experts here at SportsTips have taken the time to review every single NBA team and offer up their opinion on how each team is expected to perform in the 2020-21 season, meaning you can place your best NBA bets with confidence.
So, without further ado, have a read on below at all our NBA betting stats and information on the Oklahoma City Thunder:
Oklahoma City Thunder’s 2019-20 Season Review
After being unable to make serious waves in the playoffs since Kevin Durant left, Oklahoma City decided to blow up the team, sending Russell Wesbrook and Paul George out the door, getting Chris Paul, Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and up to seven future first round picks.
With many thinking that Paul and Gallinari would then be traded for more future selections, the Thunder ending up being the shock of the season. Finishing with a 44-38 record, Oklahoma ended up fifth in the West and lost a tough seven game series to the Rockets in the opening round.
Chris Paul returned to his best, averaging 17.6 points, 6.7 assists, 5 rebounds and 1.6 steals, managing to gain another All Star nod in the process.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the future cornerstone of the team, put up 19 points and 5.9 rebounds in just his second year in the league, showing that the Thunder’s future is bright.
Dennis Schroder managed to finish second in Sixth Man of the Year voting after averaging 18.9 points and 4 assists.
With the Thunder outperforming expectations there are many speculating whether they will fully embrace the rebuild and move on their high performing, yet ageing, stars for more picks.
Oklahoma finished with an offensive rating ranked 15th, a defensive rating ranked seventh, and with their record of 35-37 in totals market finished just 21st in the league.
Given the Thunder outperformed what anyone thought they would be able to achieve, Oklahoma had the best record against the spread by a long way, finishing at 44-28.
❝Ultimately you put the team first and that’s the type of guys that we have around here.❞
𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩
Today’s media session with @hamidoudiallo 🎥 ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/VbqjYdHMFE
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 7, 2020
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Offseason Changes
Following the 2019-20 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Billy Donovan mutually agreed to go down different paths for the head coaching role. Mark Daigneault was promoted from assistant coach to become the new head coach of the Thunder.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were one of the most active teams in the league, starting with trading All Star point guard Chris Paul, along with Abdel Nader, to the Phoenix Suns for a package including Kelly Oubre Jr., Ricky Rubio, Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque and a future first round pick.
The Thunder also sent Dennis Schroder to the Los Angeles Lakers for Danny Green and pick 28 in the 2020 NBA Draft. Green was then packaged with Terrance Ferguson and sent to the Philadelphia 76ers for Al Horford, pick 34, a future first round selection and the draft rights to Serbian guard Vasilije Micic.
Following these initial trades, Oklahoma City entered the draft with picks 25, 28, 34 and 53. They then packaged picks 25 and 28 with Ricky Rubio in a three team trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks in exchange for James Johnson, pick 17 and a future second round selection.
Pick 17 was used to draft Aleksej Pokusevski, a forward out of Greek team Olympiacos Piraeus. Kelly Oubre Jr. was also sent to the Golden State Warriors for two picks, a future first and future second.
Theo Maledon, a guard out of French team ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, was selected with the 34th pick.
Pick 53 was packaged with a future second round selection and sent to the Washington Wizards for Admiral Schofield and pick 37, which was used to select Vit Krejci, a guard out of Spanish team Zaragoza.
Players In: Al Horford, George Hill, Trevor Ariza, Ty Jerome, Justin Jackson, Jalen Lecque, Admiral Schofield, Zylan Cheatham, Josh Gray, Darius Miller, Kenrich Williams, Vincent Poirier
Players Out: Chris Paul, Steven Adams, Dennis Schroder, Abdel Nader, Terrance Ferguson, Danilo Gallinari, Nerlens Noel
Oklahoma City Thunder’s 2020-21 Season Preview
The Oklahoma City Thunder have fully embraced the rebuild, trading away four of their best five players from last season and holding up to 17 first round picks over the next five drafts.
After surprising everyone to finish fifth in the West, the Thunder are now looking towards the future with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the focal point of the side.
In their trades, Oklahoma City also acquired seasoned veterans Al Horford, Trevor Ariza and George Hill. These players will provide guidance to their young players, with the team hoping to play them good minutes to increase their value and flip them for more picks later on.
Oklahoma City is projected to be one of the worst teams in the league, with nothing to play for at the moment other than getting minutes and experience into their young players.
❝Never be static and never be satisfied.❞@shaiglalex | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/PqaLN3kXU2
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 5, 2020
Will the Oklahoma City Thunder Make the Playoffs?
The Oklahoma City Thunder will not be making the playoffs this season.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Key Games
December 23: @ Houston Rockets: First game of season
January 4: @ Miami Heat: Own Miami’s 2021 first round pick
January 13: vs Los Angeles Lakers: Schroder returns to OKC
January 22: @ Los Angeles Clippers: The Trade – Shai v PG
January 27: @ Phoenix Suns: First matchup against CP3
January 29: vs Brooklyn Nets: KD back in OKC
February 21: @ Cleveland Cavaliers: Battle of the cellar dwellers – two projected worst teams
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Betting Summary
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s regular season win totals has been set at 24 games exactly.
This is a really low mark, with only seven teams going under 24 wins last season, and the most amount of games that any of those teams played was 67 games, five less than what this season will be.
In saying that, the Thunder have traded all of the veterans and are playing their young guys to build for the future. They have no reason to be winning and play in a tough division and conference. The under at -110 odds is a good bet.
Gilgeous-Alexander will be given the keys to the car and at +2500 odds for the Most Improved Player next season, he could be a bet.
Thunder’s odds of +50000 for the NBA Championship and +20000 for the Western Conference Championship shouldn’t be touched.
*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of PointsBet.
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Image by: Ryan Stamps
