NBA: 3 West teams experiencing surprising surges this season

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

OKC was a team left for dead and destined to be in a rebuilding cycle for the next few years of the new decade. However, the leadership of future Hall of Famer Chris Paul and the coaching ingenuity of Billy Donovan has allowed the Thunder to reject a rebuild and instead emerge as a sixth seed in the Western Conference at 33-22.

The Thunder’s three-guard lineup of Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder provides a unique semblance of playmaking ingenuity and fiery scoring acumen from around the basket and beyond the line. Paul’s gradual resemblance of his elite Point guard self-allowed him to be an All-Star while averaging 17.4 points and 6.7 assists in 54 of the teams 55 games.

Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as the team’s leading scorer pouring in 19.5 points a game on nearly 47 percent shooting from the field delivering as the team’s shining new jewel from the Paul George trade. His ability to crash the glass as a 6-foot-7 guard has paid dividends to emerge as one of the team’s reliable rebounder (6.1 RPG).

Then there’s Schroder who has made his mark as a versatile sixth man off the bench that can play key minutes as an offensive scorer and playmaker (19.3 PPG, 4.0 APG). The Thunder didn’t become the buyers at the trade deadline that the league expected and retained Schroder, Danillo Gallinari and Steven Adams who have all been key cogs to the team’s success as well.

So with continuity and familiarity retained heading into the second half of the season, OKC has a chance to climb up the conference standings and be real players come playoff time. Considering their projected starting five consists of four players who have playoff experience and success, OKC will become a team no one wants to see come postseason time.