ESPN Insider - Projects 52 wins for OKC

[dunksby]

Please.

Blatt coached professionally for years overseas. And these are grown men, not college kids. College ball is different from professional.

And Kerr, although he didn't coach, was a former player and had high ranking positions NBA prior to the job and was well aware of the NBA.

And also, those guys are the exception, not the rule.

How are the last year's finalists exceptions? Ever heard of assistants? Coaching is coaching, he's not going to play, he is there to watch the games on the sidelines and make adjustments.

[dabigbaws]

They have a brand new coach who never coached at the NBA level. That's a huge factor and can't be overlooked. The Vegas odds have them at +850 to win the title, which is noticeably higher than SAS, CLE and GSW.

There is also the issue of chemistry. Durant and Westbrook still haven't found the right way to co-exist like LeBron/Wade have. And black holes like Kanter and Waiters aren't exactly the right type of people to win rings with.

There is also the Durant injury issue.

Having said that, I agree that 52 wins is too low. I think they should be projected at around 55.

Not really when he is replacing the worst coach in the league. Scott brooks is literally retarded.

OKC with a MINIMUM of 60 wins. Easily.

[SOD 21]

It's interesting because most betting lines have Oklahoma City as the fourth favorite to win the championship with odds at 8.5 to 1.

By comparison, these are some of the other favorites:

Cleveland - 2.75 to 1
San Antonio - 3 to 1
Golden State - 5 to 1
OKC - 8.5 to 1
Clippers - 10 to 1
Houston - 16 to 1

But I've seen the "so-called ESPN experts" rank Oklahoma City as the fifth best team in the conference last month and now ESPN Insider predicting only 52 wins. There is a disconnect somewhere.

The betting line seem far more in line with my expectations, because fourth is where Oklahoma City belongs in the league overall.

[NugzFan]

Denver 26 wins and ny 25 wins? Damn we would have so many ping pong balls

[Vaniiiia]

The new coaching thing isn't a negative factor. People need to stop using that as a way to say OKC might struggle.

Questioning KD's health is understandable, but why not do that for the Cavs with Love and Irving returning from relatively serious injuries?

KD's foot is healed. It's HIGHLY unlikely he re-fractures it.

OKC will win a minimum of 60 games. If the conference wasn't so stacked they'd probably break the Bulls 72 win record.

[4 Inches]

OKC gon get 60 wins easy. Westbrook is gonna avenge his forefathers this season.