Are We Contenders yet?

[Jazzfannut83]

I think after the Lakers, it once again becomes kind of a tossup ...but just as of a week ago, this looked like a .500 team. As of now we're a 50+ win team IMO and once again it'll come down to how many games we blow against the garbage teams as to where we get seeded.

 

[Revolution 9]

Thunder are clearly? How so?

They have the best scorer in the league. Their superstar is better than ours. Durrant > Dwill.
They play better defense. The Thunder looked a lot better against the best team in the West in the playoffs than we did.
Their bench is deeper. They have a good PG in Westbrook, and a better back up than us in Maynor.
Morris Peterson, and Thabo Sefolosha mixed with Harden. Just added Adlrich. They have a rising player in Ibaka.

It's certainly up for debate, but clearly I think the Thunder have the edge right now. I think we'll see that too from the national press when the NBA predictions for
'10-11 come out. Most will have the Thunder ranked above us.

 

[gregbroncs]

They have the best scorer in the league. Their superstar is better than ours. Durrant > Dwill.
They play better defense. The Thunder looked a lot better against the best team in the West in the playoffs than we did.
Their bench is deeper. They have a good PG in Westbrook, and a better back up than us in Maynor.
Morris Peterson, and Thabo Sefolosha mixed with Harden. Just added Adlrich. They have a rising player in Ibaka.

It's certainly up for debate, but clearly I think the Thunder have the edge right now. I think we'll see that too from the national press when the NBA predictions for
'10-11 come out. Most will have the Thunder ranked above us.

They finished 8th in the west. Have they made any significant upgrades? I think the Jazz have and I think right now the Jazz are still better.

 

[Chad Feldheimer]

They have the best scorer in the league. Their superstar is better than ours. Durrant > Dwill.
They play better defense. The Thunder looked a lot better against the best team in the West in the playoffs than we did.
Their bench is deeper. They have a good PG in Westbrook, and a better back up than us in Maynor.
Morris Peterson, and Thabo Sefolosha mixed with Harden. Just added Adlrich. They have a rising player in Ibaka.

It's certainly up for debate, but clearly I think the Thunder have the edge right now. I think we'll see that too from the national press when the NBA predictions for
'10-11 come out. Most will have the Thunder ranked above us.

I think they are in the top 4 in the West. I don't think they are "clearly" better though. I think a Jazz/Thunder series would come down to who had home court advantage.