The Thunder faces two top opponents in the West in the new season. The Thunder wants to defend the champion, Alexander becomes the key

The Thunder successfully defeated the Pacers and won the championship last season. At the same time, the Thunder successfully retained their winning lineup in the offseason. Therefore, the Thunder still has the hope of winning the championship next season. However, if the Thunder wants to win the championship, their greater pressure comes from the West. After all, the East is not that strong now, especially as the Celtics and the Pacers are destined to not make too much next season, the Cavaliers, the Knicks and the Bucks can really threaten the Thunder. On the other hand, not to mention the Western Conference's powerful power, the Thunder will face two strong enemies.

And these two strong rivals are undoubtedly the Nuggets and the Rockets. Among them, the Nuggets brought huge trouble to the Thunder in the playoffs last season. Even if the Nuggets' lineup was not strong enough, then there would be greater suspense if the Thunder and the Nuggets win and lose. Now after an offseason, the Nuggets have successfully made up for their shortcomings. First of all, the Nuggets exchanged Porter for Johnson in the offseason. It can be said that this operation of the Nuggets really completely activated the team. After all, not only did the Nuggets have more salary space after Porter left, but the reason why the Nuggets lost to the Thunder last season had a big relationship with Porter. Although Porter was fighting with injuries at the time, Porter's poor shooting status made the Nuggets very passive. Now with the arrival of Johnson, the Nuggets have more reliable pitchers.

Secondly, in addition to winning an excellent scorer like Johnson, the Nuggets' lineup depth has become excellent with the arrival of Brown, Hardaway, and Valan. Therefore, even if Westbrook leaves the Nuggets, the impact on the Nuggets is very limited. Therefore, when the Nuggets make such a move, it will be very difficult for the Thunder to advance when they meet the Nuggets again in the playoffs. As for the Rockets, although they lost to the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, the Rockets showed extremely strong deterrence on the defensive end. At the same time, the Rockets successfully obtained Durant in the offseason. It can be said that the Rockets had successfully made up for the team's shortcomings at this time.

More importantly, Shin Kyung performed well in the European Championship in the offseason. It is obvious that Shin Kyung became stronger after one offseason, which is a huge benefit for the Rockets. It can be said that if Shin Kyung can perform like this in the new season, the Rockets will become stronger. Not only will the Rockets sign Adams again in the offseason, but with the arrival of Smith, Capela, Okogi, etc., the Rockets can perform better on both offense and defense. Even if the Thunder can set up a double tower lineup, the Rockets can also come up with a corresponding lineup. More importantly, the Rockets are really not afraid of the Thunder at all in the front line and inside line, so the Rockets will inevitably become the Thunder's strong rival in the new season.

Of course, the Thunder does not have a chance to win the championship, but if the Thunder wants to compete for the championship, then Alexander becomes the key. Although Alexander was controversial last season, many people believe that Alexander won too many free throws, but it is undeniable that Alexander did play the MVP level. Therefore, if the Thunder wants to win the championship again, then Alexander must play the MVP level again, especially in the free throws. If Alexander cannot get so many free throws next season, then Alexander must think of other ways to help the team score. Only in this way can the Thunder have a greater chance of winning the championship.