Friday 19 June 2020 12:18, UK
Chris Paul's rejuvenation with the Oklahoma City Thunder this season has been amazing to watch, says Sky Sports NBA analyst Mike Tuck.
I'm a veteran guy still out there on the floor so to see Chris Paul at 34 playing the way he has played this season has been amazing to watch.
I think last year the mental aspect of playing on the Rockets was possibly getting to him. He was a guy who seemed like he was at the end of his rope in Houston and the drive was no longer there.
Coming to Oklahoma City, a city he previously played in for a season when the New Orleans Hornets temporarily relocated because of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, it has been something of a second homecoming for him. But it has been a fresh start, too. He has had a bounce in his step. We even saw him in the All-Star Game catching alley-oops! He doesn't look like he is 34 and he is definitely earning his pay cheque this year.
For the Oklahoma City Thunder, the 2019-20 season has been about exceeding all expectations. Look back 12 months, they traded away Paul George and Russell Westbrook picking up Paul, Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a huge bunch of future draft picks in return.
There was a lot of doubt going into the season. There was concern about Paul. Gallinari had been a bit of a question mark over the previous two seasons and Gilgeous-Alexander was an emerging player but still very young. The Thunder were projected to win 31 games all season.
Here we are in a shortened regular season and they have 40 wins, are fifth in the West and only four games out of second place.
How have they managed to exceed expectations so spectacularly? For me, a lot of it stems from players knowing their roles on the team. The Thunder are one of the best teams in the league in that regard. Every single position is set and every player knows his job is - that is always the sign of a good team.
Paul is the ultimate veteran and a pure point guard. In Gilgeous-Alexander, they have an explosive swingman at shooting guard who can shoot the ball, make plays and get to the basket. As a sixth man, Dennis Schroder is can play back-up point guard or play off the ball. Gallinari is a great stretch four and has had a really good season. At center, Steven Adams has shown he is the ultimate big man, not worried about anything other than grabbing rebounds, setting screens and beating people up.
Behind them, the Thunder also have some hungry role players like Terrance Ferguson and Luguentz Dort who don't overstep their boundaries. Those guys can fill in the gaps when the Thunder need it.
Regardless of what was initially expected of the Thunder this year, this is a team that has put together really well by general manager Sam Presti. Hats off to him for making this happen. This season has also shown what a good coach Billy Donovan is. When he had someone like Westbrook on his team, someone who is not the most structured guy, I think that made things tough for Donovan. Now he has Paul as the floor general, a guy who is much more under control and more used to playing within a system.
This season has probably something of a dream for Donovan. He comes from the NCAA (Donovan coached the University of Florida from 1996 to 2015) where play is much more set-heavy and structured. This season Donovan has players more willing to buy-in and listen. Someone like Gilgeous-Alexander will be looking to his coach to help him learn the game. Established guys like Westbrook and George won't listen to a coach as easily.
Do I think the Thunder will go far in the playoffs? I don't know, there are a lot of teams in the league I feel are better than them. But I love their effort. They give great effort on both ends of the floor. Their offense isn't great but they are a top 10 defensive team. Paul, especially, gives great effort on both ends of the floor.
The Thunder have become the NBA's comeback kings, winning 15 games in which they were trailing heading into the fourth quarter. They have had a lot of close games, especially on the road, where they were able to grind out victories.
One feature of those fourth-quarter comebacks has been the three-guard line-up of Paul, Schroder and Gilgeous-Alexander deployed by Donovan. They all have the ability to shoot the ball so they spread the floor really well. All three have high basketball IQs, can make plays and share the ball.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the emerging superstar player of the team and he is only averaging 19 points a game. In fact, the Thunder don't have a single player scoring 20 or more points per game - Gallinari and Schroder average 19.2 and 19.0 respectively while Paul averages 17.7.
That balanced scoring, the ability to share the ball and the maturity of Paul and Schroder have been great to see. Schroder has had somewhat of a winding road of a career but he's in with a big shout of winning Sixth Man of the Year this season. He has shown he is mentally tough enough to start or come off the bench and make a big shot. He is such a key piece for them.
The beauty of the Thunder's situation right now is that they have the freedom to go in multiple directions. The rapid development of Gilgeous-Alexander and the monster haul of future draft picks from the Westbrook and George trades puts them in a great position.
There must be a lot of optimism among OKC fans right now because they are only one or two big picks away from doing something really special.
Aside from Gallinari whose contract is up at the end of the season, all their key players are pretty much locked down. The sky is the limit for the Thunder and they can go in any direction they like.
