Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder! Will they become serious contenders?

The New York Knicks have agreed to trade star Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder, in exchange for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott, and a 2018 second round pick (Chicago). This caused the NBA world to go into panic mode, as another title contender has emerged in the already stacked Western Conference. The truth is the Knicks got the most they could for Anthony, given the pressure they received by the player to trade him as quick as possible. One must also take into account his age and regression, which we haven’t seen much of yet but will inevitability come soon. Many basketball fans are jumping the gun by calling the Thunder title favorites, and putting them among the elite teams in the league, but I’m here to put that to rest. Yes, the Thunder have won the offseason. They got Paul George for a bag of chips, just got Melo, and already have the MVP on their roster. Like any other team with many recently acquired pieces, they will face chemistry issues, which I’m sure come playoff time they will overcome. The real question is will they be complete enough to beat a Golden State, San Antonio, Cleveland, or even a Boston? The answer is a no. In this article and many others to come in the future, you will see me use the word “complete” when referring to teams. When I use this term, I talk about a team’s depth from best player to bench warmer. If you are still confused, the perfect example of a complete team is Golden State, their starting lineup is deadly, but so is their second unit. Let’s go back to the topic at hand… OKC is not quite complete. Their biggest issue back when they were competing for titles in the early 2010’s as it is today is bench depth. To use Golden State as reference, they are lacking an Andre Iguodala type of player, that comes off the bench and can change the outcome of a game. The season is still yet to be upon us though and Sam Presti does enjoy trading throughout the year (especially near trade deadline day), so things may change. As of now though, Oklahoma City will not make it past the second round, you heard it here first.