10) Oklahoma City Thunder (3-3)
Last month: 4
Clearly, it’s going to take some time for things to mesh in OKC, but the Thunder got a nice bump with their 101-69 win over the Bulls on Saturday.
Carmelo Anthony is, surprisingly, the team’s leading scorer at nearly 24 points per game. This likely wasn’t what head coach Billy Donovan envisioned for his team, but — credit where credit’s due — Melo definitely has a spring in his step.
The numbers are skewed a bit thanks to the Bulls game, but the Thunder are holding the opposition to less than 97 points/100 possessions and forcing nearly 20 turnovers per game; that’s some serious D. If they can keep that up and still become what we expected offensively, the NBA will be on notice.