What are the Thunder's ceiling with Paul George added?

[Controversy]

WCF, even though they matchup pretty well with GS having 3 players who defend the 3PT line very well and can stifle the perimeter (PG, Roberson, Pat), there's still not enough firepower in that lineup or on the bench.

Draymond will kill Pat

 

[DoubleJ13]

Wish we had another option at the backup 4 spot

 

[Shadow King]

4th seed.
Loss in the 2nd round to the Warriors in 5. 2 lost games will be competitive.

 

[Floyd Pinkerton]

Getting beat by the warriors like every other team in the NBA

Of course

Let's discuss without the obvious caveat...

 

[CarltonJunior]

What the hell is up with OKC stans on this board?

Why are you forcing your opinion that OKC is the 2nd best team in the league on us

 

[Primetime21]

WCF

 

[Ashyneezz]

Felton | veteran back up PG with speed and good penetration/finishing, P&R, lob tosser
Grant | combo forward with shotblocking, above the rim finisher
McDermott and Abrines | shooters

It don't look that bad to me

 

[ISO]

What's funny? Ray Felton had a faster combine than every PG in the league taking all speed testing in consideration, look it up. I've seen him play live on the Knicks, end to end he's one of the fastest guards. Even as he's gotten older and gained weight he's still fast and finishes well in the paint.

 

[Ashyneezz]

What's funny? Ray Felton had a faster combine than every PG in the league taking all speed testing in consideration, look it up. I've seen him play live on the Knicks, end to end he's one of the fastest guards. Even as he's gotten older and gained weight he's still fast and finishes well in the paint.

I'm not looking up the combine numbers for a 32 yr old player who's coming up on his 13 yr in the league. He's shifty and came penetrate () but saying he's fast might be taking it a little too far.

 

[AB Ziggy]

Y'all can't just ignore the Spurs though. They'll probably win another sixty and you know Pop will have a good defensive game plan for Sabo.

Spurs made no major moves while the rest of the West were on trade overdrive for firepower. They'll be lucky to be 3rd or even 4th seed next year.

 

[High quality poster]

So basically russ with a worse version of Durant would be 2nd in the west?

 

[Rigby.]

I don't see how what they've done is enough to keep up with a more fleshed out Houston offense. Westbrook has to work even more now that they got CP3 out there instead of Bev. If this new fella they got is as good defensively as they advertised him at the draft, they still only have so many bodies that can score. They still can't play Penes, who still is probably their 3rd or 4th best scorer.

 

[Rigby.]

Spurs made no major moves while the rest of the West were on trade overdrive for firepower. They'll be lucky to be 3rd or even 4th seed next year.

Acquiring Rudy Gay is one of those moves that could end up being the relative biggest splash period. He can work some wonders for the talent strapped bench unit, and can take some of the load off of Ginobili as far as creating a shot. It really comes down to if Dejounte or whatever other young guards they got can figure it out. They just can't depend on TP and Manu to be their best guards again, it just can't happen

 

[Drip Bayless]

Now that Houstons bench isnt as deep with the loss of lou will, OKC got a chance. Also I think Russ will be less prone to his meltdowns with Paul George around to keep leads from vanishing into thin air as soon as Russ takes a seat. And they fixed that Semaj Christon problem too. I'd say WCF is they ceiling, 2nd round exit at worst, if they had a solid two way player they would be undisputed 2nd after golden state.

 

[Leavingtheecstasy]

Nuggets added Millsap and are one of the top 5 scoring teams in the league. They can only get better especially with the presence of a winning vet.

Pelicans were just starting to gel as the season ended. It's Cousins and Davis they making it and doing damage this season. Their bench is still flabby status and they are comparable to the Thunder in their make up.

I know the coli loves the Thunder because Durant left but this is still basketball. George can't have the ball in the fourth and Westbrook's dominant ball system doesn't win games in the playoffs. Sure they'll be a 4th/5th seed but they are getting knocked by teams that understand their identity.

You're talking about teams that might be good versus a team that definitely is good.

2016 playoff westbrook was less ball dominant. He was extremely ball dominant this year because of necessity. When you have noone who can create a shot, you gotta go full Mj and Kobe.

There is not much difference in the thunder and houstons systems, houston just has more shooters. I think you're just grasping at straws here because George is literally a better fit than Durant was. George excels offball and off the catch and he is a perfect #2.

George can't have the ball in the 4th? yes he can. Just let westbrook take the very last shot.
and even if he doesnt want it in the 4th guess who dominated and would single handedly score the last 10-15 every single comeback we had?
Simple.

Also, he wouldve won this series with the rockets if his team werent traffic cones everytime he sat. Notice how every single time russ sat they were up.

Then we blame him for the L despite Semaj christon, rookie alex abrines, mcdermott, kyle singler and enes kanter would be in rotation when he sat.