With all these offseason moves taking place, it’s hard not to get intrigued at the new power shifts in each division and conference. But what if I told you there’s one team that may actually have gotten better without making any offseason moves at all? What if I told you a team that was 5th in their division last year could go to first this year without making any major adjustments? Who possibly could this team be you ask?

It’s quite simply the Oklahoma City Thunder. A team that only in their second year from moving from Seattle made the playoffs; but not only made the playoffs, they took the current NBA champions the Los Angeles Lakers to a crucial Game 6, where Los Angeles barley survived by squeezing out a 1 point victory. The Thunder more than doubled their win total in the 2009-2010 season and were lead by future MVP Kevin Durant – the man that played Kobe Bryant perfectly in the opportunities he received in the playoff series.

During this time, Durant played the best basketball of his life in one of the largest spots in his career. Game 3 is and was a swing game in this series, it swings momentum from one team to another and with Durant struggling in the first 3 quarters shooting a haunting 4-17 from the field, he stepped up his game in the 4th when he was asked to cover the league’s best closer and best player in Kobe Bryant. “I probably guarded him in the regular season 10 or 11 possessions,” Durant said.”And [assistant] coach Ron Adams just said (before the start of the fourth quarter), ‘It’s your turn.’ I just tried to play my hardest,” said Durant.  Durant caught the Lakers off guard, guarding Bryant in the fourth and keeping the closer to a miniscule 2-10 shooting while swatting shots away. Unfortunately for Durant, they would go on to lose the series in 6, but it was a great experience for Durant who stays not only humble but determined to improve his game for next season.

When Michael Jordan was criticized for not playing defensive he went out the next year and won all NBA defensive player of the year in 1987-1988. Durant’s defensive and offensive numbers have improved from his rookie year but so have his leadership skills, something that defines a true superstar and something that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. Durant has become the face of the Thunder and this year he was complimented with an All-Star in Russell Westbrook, and a great young player in Jeff Green. These three can be great tandem that can do damage on opponents for years to come.

Durant does not get the publicity like a Kobe or LeBron would for the fact he plays in a small market team, where media coverage is limited. But that may change very soon. Durant has not only put Oklahoma City on the map but he may in the future become as big as a Kobe or LeBron. Let’s put it this way…..Kevin will be 22 in September. At this point in time in his young career, he already has more game winning shots then LeBron, he gets paid $4.4 million a year, that’s less then John Salmons and he got robbed of an All-Star bid his rookie year, while scoring 46 in the Rookie-Sophomore Game.

Ask the average fan to tell you who will be the best player in the NBA in three years, and the first five answers will be Kobe, LeBron, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, D-Wade and either Rose or Carmelo. Do you take into effect that he is younger than OJ Mayo? Average players peak at about 27-28, so what does that say about Durant? Is he going to score over 33 points a game if he keeps up his pace?  You should be getting the picture…..Kevin Durant is a superstar that shines bright but is not noticed because he isn’t in your viewing peripheral.

His team was 3 games out of first place. With Carlos Boozer gone from Utah, you can now move the Thunder in front of them and with the Nuggets unpredictability and the stories about Melo leaving in 2011, you can already put a unfocused Nuggets squad into a even more unfocused bracket.  Look for the Thunder to surprise many people next year and make a push as one of the premier teams in the NBA and look for Kevin Durant to surprise many people for years to come.

-Abbas