NBA Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder to top the West

Oklahoma City Thunder

Placing last season: 47-19 (2^nd in Western Conference, Playoffs: Finals runners-up)

Key moves: Having established themselves as one of the premier teams in the NBA last season, falling short at the final hurdle, the Thunder have done very little in the offseason, happy that their young core can repeat, if not better, their performances last year.

They signed Hasheem Thabeet in free agency, just three years after he was drafted with the second pick of the draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Challenges ahead: The Thunder have only one step to take – be NBA champions. Whether they can keep the nucleus of Durant, Westbrook and Harden together is the real question.

Harden’s contract is due for to expire and he will be expecting a significant pay rise but the Thunder are already over the cap and whether they can offer him a satisfactory deal remains a big question mark.

Reasons to be positive: Having Durant, Westbrook and Harden one year older, more experienced and fresh off a finals appearance should do wonders for them, just look at how Lebron James bounced back from losing to the Mavericks in 2011.

They are an extremely young team who is still developing and should get better going forward.

Prediction: 62-20 (1^st in Western Conference)

image: © Keith Allison

Jason Torquato

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Jason Torquato has always been passionate about sport and has played golf and tennis from a young age. In recent years, he has mostly enjoyed sport from his sofa, which has allowed him to accumulate knowledge and good understanding of numerous disciplines, with a special focus on American sports. Jason can’t fall asleep or wake up without listening to a sport podcast.