Ligament torn! Season reimbursement! The Western Conference giants are so miserable, the Rockets and Durant really have no opponents

Editor|Old Kankanqiu

This offseason, many teams in the NBA League have completed reinforcement work, especially in the West. The Rockets, Nuggets, Clippers, Lakers and other giants have upgraded their lineups, with the goal of encircling the defending champion Thunder, and the competition is becoming increasingly fierce. According to the latest Western Conference strength ranking released by the NBA official website: The Thunder, which had the No. 1 record in the West last season, is still firmly ranked first, the Nuggets, which has the first player in the league, unexpectedly rose to second, the Rockets, who introduced Durant in the offseason, ranked third, and the Clippers, who have successively introduced Bill and Paul, ranked fifth, the Lakers ranked sixth, and the Warriors ranked only seventh.

However, just today, a major news once again disrupted the western landscape. According to the latest report by US media ESPN famous reporter Shams, the Thunder has officially announced another heartbreaking news - the team's No. 15th star this year, Thomas Sauber, tore the ACL in his right knee during yesterday's offseason training, unexpectedly suffered a season reimbursement, and will miss the entire 2025-26 season, casting an unknown shadow on the Thunder, which is determined to defend the title.

01 Thunder Curse: New stars are reimbursed for two consecutive years

This year's draft, the Thunder management selected the fifth-place genius Thomas Sauber with the first round 15 draw, and was obviously very satisfied with his talent. Sauber, 19 years old, is 2.08 meters tall, weighs 113 kg, and has an arm span of about 2.29 meters. He plays as a center/power forward and is one of Georgetown University's most outstanding potential new stars.

In the 2024-25 season, Sauber played 24 games for Georgetown University, averaging 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, as well as 1.5 steals and 2 blocks, which is really worth looking forward to. But now, before the preseason starts, the season is being reimbursed due to a torn ligament, and it is a pity that the long recovery process has to begin.

In fact, this is not the first time the Thunder has encountered this situation. Last summer, the Thunder chose Nikola Topic at the 12th pick in the first round. The No. 12 pick in 2024 also missed the entire 2024-25 season due to a torn ACL, and the potential rookie suffered season reimbursement for two consecutive seasons.

The Thunder's curse is more than that. Chet Homegren, who won a maximum salary of 250 million yuan this year, also suffered a injury to the right tarsometatarsman joint in a half-professional game in Seattle in 2022. After undergoing surgery, he was also reimbursed for the season and missed the entire 2022-23 season.

I have to say that the Thunder's draft injury curse is incredible.

And in the first round draft of these four years, the only exception is Carson Wallace, the No. 10 pick in 2023. Not only did Wallace not have a rookie season reimbursement, he even played in 82 games last season, averaged 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, shooting percentage of 49.1% and three-point shooting percentage of 41.9%. As the team's main rotation, Wallace helped the team to achieve a record of 57 wins and 25 losses in the West, which is the only remaining pearl.

02 Thunder layout: Injuries become X factors

This offseason, the Thunder had almost no reinforcement, but also showed the championship's big money, spending 822 million US dollars, and renewed the maximum salary successively. Alexander (285 million in 4 years, a record high in NBA history), Jaylen Williams (287 million in 5 years) and Chett (250 million in 5 years). The purpose is obviously to plan the growth of core players and team depth to achieve the title defense.

However, now that the Western teams are escalating in the arms race, the Thunder's relative advantage may be greatly weakened. Especially the rising stars who have been relying on have been subject to season reimbursement, which is a blow to the team's strength. Injury expert Stotts sighed: "The Thunder lost a rookie due to a torn ACL for the second consecutive season." This not only affects the team's current strength, but also makes people worry about the future development of these young players.

03 Western Conference Melee: The Rockets become the biggest opponent

While the Thunder were suffering from rookie injuries, other Western Conference giants were actively strengthening, and their lineup strength was significantly improved. The Denver Nuggets have excellent operations. The management used Porter Jr., who was declining in form, with an unprotected draft pick in the first round of 2032, to exchange the Nets for 3D champion Cameron Johnson, and also signed Valanciunas, Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown, greatly enhancing the substitute depth.

In addition, the Los Angeles Clippers also quietly added key puzzles such as Bill, Paul and Grand Lopez, solving the problem of substitute center behind Zubac; the Minnesota Timberwolves rely on Edwards' continuous evolution, hoping to reach the division finals for the third consecutive year and even go further. The most exciting thing is the Houston Rockets. This offseason, they exchanged the Suns' key core Kevin Durant from the Suns without paying a big price, and signed Finney Smith in vain from the free market, and then strengthened center Capela. The lineup upgrade was particularly obvious, with no shortcomings, balanced offense and defense, purely speaking of paper strength and lineup depth, and even surpassed the Thunder. It can be said that there is no opponent in the entire West.