ON THE SLATE
We break down the Thunder's schedule for the upcoming season
Three.
That' s the number that stood out when the NBA released the Thunder's 201920 regular season schedule on Monday.
OKC's schedule featured three nationally broadcast games between ESPN (2), TNT (1), and ABC (0). When last season's TV schedule was released, 27 Thunder games were slated to be broadcast on those three networks. From 27 to three.
That 24- game difference summarized the change in national interest for the Thunder. Last season, the ESPN broadcast of the Thunder's 108-96 win over t he Nets on March 1 3 was blacked out locally because the late addition surpassed the network's 10-Thunder game maximum. That was when the Thunder had an almost guaranteed playoff spot and
Russell Westbrook fans all over t he country helped pack road games.
There's no threat of bumping into such TV-agreement limits this season. At this point, the 2019-20 Thunder is known best for its roster over haul this summer. Meanwhile, all the player movement during the offseason only made the Western Conference more competitive, increasing the likelihood that OKC could miss the playoff for just the second time in a decade.
Reflecting that shift, the Thunder' s marquee matchups this season are no longer battles with Houston on Christmas or clashes between playoff contenders. The highlights of OKC's schedule center around its former stars.
The only Thunder game on TNT's broadcast schedule this season – last year, TNT broadcast 11 regular season OKC games – is Westbrook's first game in OKC since the Thunder traded him to the Rockets last month.
That Jan. 9 prime-time game features two teams involved in a trade that seemed next to impossible heading into the offseason.
Then, MVP finalist Paul George requested a trade to team up with then-free agent Kawhi Leonard. The pair of greater Los-Angeles natives landed with the Clippers, setting in motion a process that Thunder general manager Sam Presti said isn't yet in the “rebuild” phase – first OKC has to “reposition” and “replenish” the team.
That's how the Thunder's former franchise star ended up in Houston, traded for Chris Paul and a package of first-round picks, after spending the first 11 seasons of his career in OKC. That's how Jan. 9 became the most anticipated date on the Thunder's schedule.
George's first game back in OKC is a 6 p.m. Dec. 22 game on Fox Sports Oklahoma, assuming George will have returned from a pair of offseason shoulder surgeries by then. A combination of that uncertainty and the expected mismatch between the league favorites (the Clippers) and a team that was reportedly trying to move its biggest remaining star as soon as it acquired him (Paul and the Thunder), could explain why it's only a game scheduled for a local broadcast.
“He should be remembered fondly by our fans and organization,” Presti said of George last month.
George re- signed with the Thunder after his first season in OKC, when he was expected to leave. In his second, he had a career year. Still, Chesapeake Energy Arena is bound to be filled with mixed emotions.
A summary of the rest of the Thunder's schedule reads more like a list of games the team won't be playing in.
No nationally televised season opener.
No Christmas Day game, for the first time since 2009.
And of course, 24 fewer national games.