NBA power rankings roundup: Where Thunder land at end of season
The Oklahoma City Thunder ended their season on a positive note (for players) and negative note (for the front office). They took down the Los Angeles Clippers to get a win in the regular-season finale, but dropped to a tie for the No. 4 spot in the reverse standings.
Will this make a difference for the final power rankings? Can the Thunder rise from the No. 30 spot where they have been for several weeks in many prominent national lists?
It appears ESPN and John Schuhmann of NBA.com did not publish their weekly power rankings, so this list will be shorter than usual throughout the season.
ESPN: None
Last week, the Thunder were 29th, ahead of the Houston Rockets.
The Athletic: 30th (no change)
The Thunder haven't budged from the bottom spot in The Athletic's rankings in weeks. In Zach Harper's final edition of the season, he wrote about the progress of Lu Dort but how he wants to see more from Aleksej Pokusevski. On Dort:
"Last season, Lu Dort was such a novelty. Here’s this stocky wing with an insatiable appetite to play defense. He was so good at it as a rookie that the Thunder trusted him on James Harden, and he held his own. So at worst, they had their new Andre Roberson. This season? He differentiated himself from the Roberson mold."
On Pokusevski:
"I don’t mean this in a bad way. Pokusevski was a fascinating player to watch all season, especially when the Thunder turned the tank meter all the way up and just let him do trial-and-error on the court. ... He’s one of 11 players in NBA history to play at least 1,000 minutes as a rookie and finish with a true shooting of 43 percent or worse."
NBA.com: None
The Thunder finished 30th in NBA.com's rankings last week.
Bleacher Report: 30th (no change)
No. 30 in Bleacher Report's rankings as well. Mo Dakhil referenced the Thunder's usage of Kenrich Williams and Pokusevski at the point guard position, which he said indicated just how hard they're tanking.
"There have been a few young players who have popped for the Thunder, like Pokusevski, Moses Brown, Theo Maledon and Ty Jerome. They have shown flashes of being pieces Oklahoma City can develop going forward."
Those four will be on the roster next season.
CBS Sports: 26th (up 4)
The Thunder moved up four spots in CBS Sports' power rankings. The 10 bottom spots are essentially the order of the NBA draft lottery odds, with only a couple teams out of position. Oklahoma City is above the Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers. Reporter Colin Ward-Henninger wrote:
"(T)he Thunder were 17-22 in mid-March. It's a good sign that they were struggling to lose, even when that was the entire goal of the season."
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