The Oklahoma City Thunder are in need of a rejuvenation after a down year this past season. But was it actually, in retrospect? I mean we did see star point guard Russell Westbrook elevate his game to completely new heights as OKC clawed their way into the playoff picture amongst the gaudy Western Conference. However, over the recent years, a 45-37 record in Oklahoma City is flat-out unacceptable, which resulted in the firing of head coach Scott Brooks and the hiring of Billy Donovan, a bright young basketball mind. Oh yeah, there’s also one other thing that could help OKC get back to prominence next season, the return of Kevin Durant.
The NBA is buzzing about plenty of different things: the free agency period, stud rookies, etc. Last year, in most people’s rankings of the best players in today’s game we heard mostly combinations of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, James Harden, and so on. Plenty of people have those rankings remaining similar for the coming season as well. How soon people forget about the former MVP in Oklahoma City, the 6-11 scoring machine that is Kevin Durant. Just the year before last, a legitimate argument could have been made that KD is the best basketball player on the planet, right up there with LeBron, he did beat him out for the MVP award after all. He put up some of the most absurd stats we’ve seen in the past decade, throwing up a hefty 32 points per game.
And for those of you who think Durant is just a scorer, think again as he also chipped in 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists, putting together one of the most memorable MVP seasons in recent years. Durant only played 27 games all of last season due to bone graft surgery, but when he played, he was the KD we all knew and loved.
The Slim Reaper is coming into the 2015-16 NBA season with a massive chip on his shoulder. People wonder with Westbrook’s recent explosion whether the two can coexist. They’ve showed they can in previous years but Russell isn’t the only problem. They also locked up offensive-minded center Enes Kanter to a four-year max contract and still have Serge Ibaka, raising questions to whether there are enough touches to keep everyone happy in Oklahoma City. We’ve also heard plenty of skeptics claim that he won’t be the same after his bone graft surgery like many others. His looming free agency next summer is also another hot topic of discussion.
All of this is just oil being tossed onto the fire at this point. Durant has become more and more fiery in recent years, and this extra talk won’t make him a happy camper. KD is in for a huge season, and in my opinion, will walk away with the MVP award in an extremely talented and crowded field. Expect Durant to put up some of the most incredible statistics we’ve seen once again and take firm grasp of the NBA’s alpha dog as James’ prime comes to a close. It seems everyone wants to talk about anything except how Durant is going to remind us just how good he is next season. All of these folks will have a rude awakening as there is no doubt, the Slim Reaper will be back.
