Are the Thunder favorites in the west after adding Isaiah Hartenstein? #nbafreeagency #thunder
OKC gets hartenstein to me they’re the favorite in the west with the team they had with how close they were to beating Dallas anyway in a series that really came down to I said like four rebounds and one dumb play in the corner and two made threes now you have I’m not ready to say that you have a top five guy and Denver’s weaker Minnesota we’ll see we’ll see what Dallas does but like just right now I’d have OKC as the team I felt the safest about jez you’re I thought they were right there with Dallas man you think it’s Celtics and OKC right now is you’re one two yeah if you’re looking at the West it’s OKC Denver Dallas Minnesota all kind of clumped together I think OKC it little like what happened with the 22 Celtics like the experience they had last year is going to really help them
For more from The Ringer:
Shop: https://theringer.com/shop
Website: http://theringer.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ringer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ringer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ringer
22 Comments
Obviously Chet will be better and stronger but the key to me is how much better J Dub will be if he’s playing at a legit allstar level OKC going to the finals
The crazy thing is that OKC still has a couple of mid level salaries and a million picks that they could use to potentially go for another high impact player in a trade
OKC doesn't move me at all lol theyre good not tough enough
Solid take. Why, you may ask?
SGA- Runner up MVP
JDub- all star player incoming
Chet- runner up ROTY, unicorn
Dort- grit and defensive menace
IHart- Helps solve the rebounding and interior size issues that got them beat last year.
Caruso- Defense and shooting, champion
Cason Wallace- defensive menace and shooting
Isaiah Joe- pure shot maker
Wiggins- saved basketball
JWill- solid rotation player
Western champs 2025.
“Minnesota we’ll see” is doing a lot of work here.
Yes
Lmfao……Bill really has lost it. OKC got manhandled by Dallas and adding a backup quality center makes them the favorites? Gtfoh.
Edit: Lmfao….Dallas (Kyrie) fanboys are really angry at objective facts. Nothing personal, kids. You’re not being paid to be fans.
Wow, what a Surprising Take, by Bill Simmons. OKC gets a member of “ The Tribe “, and now They are “ The Favorites in The West “?
OKC is very good but very young… Hartenstein is more vet presence but I still think they are immature. They have a lot of tough teams to get through in West but from an O/Defense perspective they are about as tough as it gets. I do wonder how Dallas beat them and made it through I thought here were better and would only lose a game or 2 to them. I see more tough sledding ahead kind of like the Durant/West/Harden team.
OKC is 100% the favorite in the West. This is a young team that is now ready for everything, and has such a strong roster
I hart was bullied by myles turner.
First Things First has been and is the best "sports talk" show running. Love me some Wildes and Broussard. They make even Nick Wright likeable
As a Knicks fan I’m pissed he didn’t stay but I understand he would’ve made like 10 mil less. Thats a lot to leave on the table.. he’s fucking good. A great rebounder and very very underrated passer
$30MM a year for 7.8 pts a game? 😅
As a Celtics fan I think there’s a decent chance we get OKC-NYK in the finals.
Could be some championship hangover with the Celtics, along with them not making improvements might leave them in a similar spot to Denver last year, where you don’t expect them to lose until they’re eliminated earlier than anyone thought possible.
On top of that the Nuggets and Mavs undeniably got worse in my eyes (so far), the bucks haven’t done anything, the 76ers haven’t done enough yet, and Minnesota just went all in on a rookie.
OKC and NYK have the deepest rosters, likely the best defensive personnel, Along with #1 stars who perform in the playoffs. That’s the recipe to win in the playoffs. Star power + defense + depth.
This MF ain't selling crack. He's smoking it.
OKC should be the favorite to win the title next year, full stop. As good as Boston is, OKC was arguably as talented or at least nearly as talented. Youth and inexperience deterred them from a long playoff run, but now they're a year older, more experienced and patched the relatively small holes in their already quality roster.
I could never be consumed by the NBA all year round, that's purgatory
Crazy how Dallas is being treated like a fluke just because they lost. Dallas will be back. Grimes, Naji, & Klay makes Mavs WAY better
They were right there with dallas if PJ Washington doesn't play the series of his life!! Pj Washington turned into curry, klay, Reggie Miller, and Ray Allen all into 1 against okc.
Mavs will body OKC again. They don’t have a second scorer
It's good to know that all you have to do is have one winning season and win a few playoff games and average 30 and now your top five..lol