NBA Fantasy Preview 2021-22: Oklahoma City Thunder

Darius Bazley (YouTube)

In a 30-part series leading up to the start of the 2021-22 National Basketball Association season, we will take a look at each NBA franchise from a fantasy perspective. The 21st team we will review is the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been very successful since joining the National Basketball Association in 2008 from Seattle. They have only missed three postseasons in 12 seasons and fans have had the opportunity to see some outstanding players in Thunder uniforms who have included Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant and James Harden.

However the current Thunder are in a rebuilding process. Last year OKC had their second worst record in franchise history while the team has been based in Oklahoma, as they posted a record of 22 wins and 50 losses for a winning percentage of .306.It is believed that the Thunder were ready for a rebuild two years ago, but Paul put the Thunder on his back and got Oklahoma City into the playoffs before he was traded to the Phoenix Suns on November 16, 2020.

Oklahoma City has two players worth considering in the final rounds of your fantasy basketball pool. They are forward Darius Bazley and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Bazley had a field goal percentage of .396, free throw percentage of .702, made 83 three-pointers, and had  754 points, 396 rebounds, 99 assists, 29 steals, 25 blocked shots and 122 turnovers. At small forward, Bazley had 1235 fantasy points*, and at power forward, he had 1181 fantasy points. Remember in the small forward equations, three-pointers and not blocked shots totals are used to determine total fantasy points, while for power forward, blocked shots and not three-pointers are used to determine a player’s fantasy point totals.

The other Thunder player worth considering is Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto. The fourth year forward from the University of Kentucky missed over half the season last year after he tore his plantar fascia  on March 24. At the time of the injury, Gilgeous-Alexander had averaged an impressive 23.7 points per game. The injuries to Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets were the primary reasons why Canada failed to qualify in men’s basketball at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.

*Please note: To calculate NBA fantasy points for point guards, shooting guards and small forwards, I use the formula (3PTM+Points+Rebounds+Assists+Steals-Turnovers). For power forwards and centers, I use the formula (Points+Rebounds+Assists+Steals+Blocks-Turnovers).

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