Miami Heat’s assistant coach and former great expects Oklahoma City Thunder to make it to the NBA Finals again.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have made great progress over the past few years and their emergence out of the Western Conference all the way to the NBA Finals last season is mere proof of their achievement in such
a short span of time.
With a young, talented and ever improving line up, OKC went past power houses like, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers on their way and on to becoming the top team in the West. However
a lot can change in one summer and it most certainly did as the Lakers went about their business in spectacular fashion to add Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to their roster. This only makes it harder for the Thunder to do it all over again.
Even with a stronger roster on the paper, the Lakers still need to find their range with so many superstars in the team and OKC can exploit that fact. There are many people who will doubt this argument but not
Bob McAdoo. In fact, he went a step further. In a recent interview to New York Post, Miami Heat’s assistant coach and NBA legend asserted that Thunder are still better then the Lakers;
“Despite the buzz about the Lakers adding Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, McAdoo expects to see the Thunder again in The Finals if Miami gets through.”
McAdoo might not be very wrong to anticipate a repeat of the Finals from last season as OKC still present a formidable roster despite the star studded line up of the Lakers. They have the most prolific scorer
present in the NBA in form of Kevin Durant at their disposal and have Russell Westbrook and James Harden to play by his side.
If that isn’t enough, OKC also have the one of the best defensive big man combo running the floor in Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka. The bigs are a formidable force in the paint and can give the very best teams
a run for their money.
Another major factor which works in favour of Thunder is that their players have been together for the past few years and have already gone through the development and compatibility process. On the other hand,
the Lakers despite their star studded cast of Howard, Nash, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol still have to prove their worth as a unit. Until then, they are only strong on paper, and paper lineups don’t win championships.
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