The Oklahoma City Thunder suffered through a horribly unlucky 2014-15 season when it came to injuries, but that’s not going to stop them from reasserting themselves as a Western Conference force in 2015-16. Here’s our list of 3 Offseason Storylines For The Oklahoma City Thunder This Year:
1) Billy Donovan's first season
Oklahoma City took a risk by bringing in former Florida head coach Billy Donovan, who has never coached in the NBA before. We really won't know how successful he'll be until we're about halfway through the season, but watching what he does this offseason will be extremely intriguing.
2) Can they get healthy?
Kevin Durant’s injury-plagued campaign was a kick to the gut, but the impact of losing Serge Ibaka down the stretch to a knee injury was the straw that broke the playoff camel’s back. This is such a deep team when in it’s healthy that the only thing really separating them from a deep 2016 postseason run is a regular season devoid of repeated hospital visits.
3) Improving their bench
DJ Augustin went ice cold in April after a solid first eight or so games in OKC, hitting just 26.3% of his threes while showcasing massive holes in his defensive game from the paint into the mid-range. Oklahoma City would do well to upgrade on Augustin and at the small forward position. Durant’s going to need some help in his return from injury, and re-signing an underwhelming Kyle Singler or banking on a role player like Perry Jones isn’t enough to give Durant the rest he needs to get back into optimal form.
Look for them to address these needs in the draft (reports are they've promised to draft Murray State point guard Cameron Payne) and in free agency.
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