The Best Young Teams in the NBA

[texascelticsfan]

Forget Boston/Orlando/Cleveland/SA/LA/Dallas/etc, lets talk about the up and coming teams:

[CaptChris]

Here comes the Thunder!!! I can hear them in the distance. They are a very young team with budding stars. They also have some veteran players.

Durant -- 3rd year -- 21 years old -- Westbrook -- 2nd year -- 21 years old -- Green -- 3rd year -- 23 years old = 60 Pts. a game in scoring.

They have size1 8 guys who are 6'9" or taller.

They will be right in there next year. Good Bet!

[nighthob]

If they'd drafted Steph Curry rather than James Harden you could just start mailing the NBA trophy to the Thunder in three years. That's a pick that killed them.

[texascelticsfan]

Whats more impressive is they have cap space (had they done the Chandler deal however) and they might be able to bring a guy like Bosh in now. Who would've seen OKC as a big Free Agent player a year ago.

Add a marque FA and a decent draft pick and they are going to be tough to deal with. They mightve given up on Livingston too soon too.

Don't count Harden out yet, he got 18 for them last night, course Curry does that every night! At least they didnt pick Thabeet!

[nighthob]

It's merely a function of what each player brings. Harden's nice, but shooting guards with suspect jumpers are a dime a dozen. Steph Curry is, offensively, the complete package at the PG spot. He can play the transition game, the pick & roll game, he can spot shoot and shoot off the dribble. Having he & Durant on the same squad would be simply unfair. Beyond that Curry would allow them to use Westbrook as trade bait to bring in a big man. They may still find their way to the title, but it's much tougher row to hoe with Harden rather than Curry.

[texascelticsfan]

Oh I completely agree, passing up on Curry and Jennings is something a lot of GM's will be cursing for a while. Curry is incredible and makes his teammates better and has proven to be a big game player, I dont know how he got passed up by Donnie and Mike in NYC, the perfect system for him.

I also think Minny is a dark horse team as they have so many assets.

[texascelticsfan]

Phil Jackson poked the bear. Big mistake.

I see the Thunder causing some havoc in the 1st round, maybe pushing them to 6-7.

[vct33]

Who would've seen OKC as a big Free Agent player a year ago.



Me. I got roasted for it but on another forum there was a poll about if LeBron left Cleveland, which realistic destination could net him a Championship the fastest. I was the only person to name OKC. Based strictly on basketball merit, I believe that OKC is the hottest free-agent destination and I said that last off-season coming off a 23-win season. The problem is that Oklahoma City can't compete with New York or South Beach off the court.