2018-19 NBA Season Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder made a lot of noise last summer with the acquisitions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony via trade. They seriously thought they were going to be able to contend for an NBA championship.
Soon after, their hopes faded.
They started with an 8-12 record, followed by a good two-month run, which ended with Andre Roberson's season-ending injury. OKC finished the season with a single additional win compared to 2016-17 and an embarrassing first round exit in the playoffs.
Entering this season, the Thunder set the bar much lower. They worked on constructing a more balanced roster to keep them in the playoff picture of a very competitive Western Conference, hoping to advance through the first round, at least. They also made economical moves to avoid the daunting $300M payroll.
Let's see how their team is set up for the 2018-19 season:
Offseason Activity
The first thing on Sam Presti's agenda this summer was to re-sign Paul George. He hoped the team would achieve something during the 2017-18 season and it will act as their free-agent pitch to him. Of course, the Thunder failed to do so, but apparently, his strong relationship with Russell Westbrook convinced him to stay and sign a 4-year/$136.9M deal.
Second, he had to deal with Carmelo Anthony, after his disappointing performances last year. In order to dump his $27.9M salary, they had to get some salary back, so they acquired Dennis Schröder, who will earn $15.5M in each of the next three years, and sent Melo to Atlanta.
OKC also re-signed forward Jerami Grant, who showed great improvement, to a 3-year/$27M deal, and stocked on wing players, adding Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot from Philadelphia, former Kentucky standout Hamidou Diallo, and Boston's Abdel Nader. To finish up the roster, they signed Nerlens Noel to be their backup center, hoping he will live up to his college-days potential, and last year's surprising jackpot, Raymond Felton.