NBA Team Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been a tough team to figure out in recent seasons as they have been blessed with some terrific talent. Oklahoma City was never able to win a championship with all of that talent, and now they are going to be going through another rebuild. 

This roster has once again been gutted and the online sports betting for the Oklahoma City Thunder is not expected to bring in much action. NBA experts and sportsbooks seem to agree that the Thunder are going to struggle in 2021-22, and it could be one of the worst seasons in team history. 

This roster has seen plenty of turnover since the end of last year, and that could be the theme throughout the 2021-22 season as well. 

Big Additions

The Oklahoma City Thunder are not in a position to go out and acquire top-tier talent at this time, and they were relatively quiet in the offseason. The biggest additions on the roster at Oklahoma City came in the 2021 NBA Draft.

The Thunder had four picks in the latest draft, and the team is hoping that these four players will be a big part of their future moving forward. Josh Giddey and Tre Mann were the two top picks of Oklahoma City, and they should both see significant playing time to begin the season. 

Impactful Subtractions

There weren’t a ton of big subtractions on this roster from the 2020-21 season, but the Thunder also weren’t very good a season ago either. A couple of veterans, Al Horford and Tony Bradley, are no longer with the team.

Oklahoma City has a young roster and losing a pair of veteran performers is going to hurt both on the court and in the locker room. Oklahoma City wouldn’t have been a playoff contender even with Horford and Bradley, but it is still going to affect how this year plays out. 

Key Players

There are a number of spots on the Oklahoma City roster that appear to be up for grabs, but it’s pretty clear who the two best players on this roster are. Luguentz Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are easily the two key players for the Oklahoma City Thunder and each will need to have a big season.

Both Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort are still relatively young, and this will be an important year for their development. It’s not likely that these two players will be good enough to lead the team to a playoff berth, but they can keep the team afloat. 

Center Derrick Favors will also be an important piece for the Thunder in 2021-22, and he might be playing for a place on this team in the future. 

Online Sports Betting: Oklahoma City Thunder

The NBA betting lines that you will find for the Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t going to give fans of the team much optimism. It’s pretty obvious that the Thunder are going through a bit of a rebuild, but online sports betting odds have them as one of the worst teams in the NBA.

Currently the Thunder are projected for just 22.5 wins, and that would give them a good shot at having the worst record in the league. Betting on either side of the projected win total currently has odds set at -110. 

Competing in the Northwest Division doesn’t make things any easier for the Thunder as that division is loaded with some great teams. The Thunder have odds set at +24000 to win the Northwest, which is clearly the worst odds out of the five teams.

* All odds provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.