Oklahoma City Thunder Loud Links: Projected win totals, a New Zealand vacation and more

It’s late August, which means season projections, predictions, and last-minute travels are in vogue.

ESPN 2017-18 Western Conference Summer Forecast:

We begin our Oklahoma City Thunder news roundup with a bold prediction from ESPN which places OKC’s projected win total at 50 for the upcoming season.

Apparently, adding Paul George, Patrick Patterson, and a viable reserve point guard to a team rostering the league’s MVP is only worth three additional wins?

Granted, many Western franchises improved this summer, however, OKC arguably led the pack concerning external upgrades.

Also, last season’s Thunder, which featured an inexperienced bench and 66 games of Domantas Sabonis as starting power forward, collected 47 wins.

It seems Sam Presti’s near universally praised off-season navigation hasn’t resounded in Bristol.

Billy Donovan is set to join Steven Adams in New Zealand for Adams’ annual basketball camps

In what has become a Thunder summer tradition, surprise guest Andre Roberson will accompany Coach Donovan and Adams for three camp dates: Friday, August 25 at ChristChurch, Aug 27 in Wellington, and finally, Aug 29 in Auckland.

Hopefully Coach D will lead the shooting drills.

Enes Kanter’s passport issues are a concern ahead of Dec 7 Mexico City contest vs. Brooklyn

Kanter is a principled man. Unfortunately, his principles contradict his current government’s directives. As a result, in May, Kanter faced detainment and passport revocation during a European flight to promote his Light Foundation charity.

Following this ordeal, which occurred on his 25th birthday, Kanter is still without a valid passport.

To rectify the situation, and ensure the Turkish National’s participation abroad, OKC, NBA, and Kanter legal-team members are petitioning the U.S. government for a travel exception.

After a year of hardship, Kanter could use a good break.

This concludes today’s Thunder Loud Links roundup. The question below asks how many games you, Thunder Nation, believe Oklahoma City will win during the 17-18 campaign.