Oklahoma City Thunder offseason moves ranked third-best by NBA.com

Following convincing summer upgrades, the Oklahoma City Thunder ranks third on NBA.com’s list of offseason personnel improvement.

During his yearly August valuation of each NBA franchise, veteran league reporter David Aldridge heralded Oklahoma City’s latest acquisitions and re-signings, which include:

• June 30 trade to acquire SF Paul George from Indiana
• July 4 free-agency signing of PF Patrick Patterson ($16.4 M three-year deal)
• July 5 re-signing of restricted free-agent SF Andre Roberson ($30 M three-year deal)
• July 7 free-agency signing of PG Raymond Felton ($2.3 M, one-year deal)
• July 20 signing of rookie C Dakari Johnson ($2.1 M, two-year deal)
• July 21 re-signing of free-agent PF Nick Collison ($2.3 M, one-year deal)
• July 29 signing of rookie SG Terrance Ferguson ($3.9 M four-year rookie scale contract, first two years are guaranteed)
• August 3 signing of rookie SG Daniel Hamilton (signed two-way contract designation)
• Camp signings include rookies Bryce Alford PG, and C Yannis Morin
• Players lost include: Victor Oladipo (traded to Indiana), Domantas Sabonis (traded to Indiana), and Taj Gibson (signed by Minnesota as free-agent)

With Paul George being the obvious headliner on the above list, Aldrige made no reservations concerning George’s potential to become either a one-year rental for OKC or the catalyzing force behind a multi-year run of Thunder contention, stating:

"And PG-13 is certainly the best case the Thunder can make to Westbrook to stay after this season, too (as of this writing, Westbrook had not yet accept the contract extension the Thunder offered). OKC can’t do any more. If they both walk, they walk, and the Thunder will either have massive cap room or become a chief repository for bad contracts next summer."

Aldrige’s complete offseason rankings are as follows:

1. Golden State Warriors
2. Boston Celtics
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
4. Philadelphia 76’ers
5. Houston Rockets
6. Minnesota Timberwolves
7. Denver Nuggets
8. Sacramento Kings
9. Los Angeles Lakers
10. Toronto Raptors
11. Orlando Magic
12. Los Angeles Clippers
13. Miami Heat
14. Washington Wizards
15. San Antonio Spurs
16. Brooklyn Nets
17. New Orleans Pelicans
18. Charlotte Hornets
19. Dallas Mavericks
20. Milwaukee Bucks
21. Utah Jazz
22. Phoenix Suns
23. Portland Trail Blazers
24. New York Knicks
25. Detroit Pistons
26. Atlanta Hawks
27. Chicago Bulls
28. Cleveland Cavaliers
29. Memphis Grizzlies
30. Indiana Pacers

Aldrige prefaced his ratings system by explaining that his choices are an inexact science which attempts to answer the question: “Is your team better now than at the end of last season?”

Though inexact, Aldrige’s opinion nonetheless holds major regard within NBA circles, and that is certainly uplifting news for Thunder Nation.