Oklahoma City Thunder 2015 roster: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are healthy and hungry.

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

After a 2014-15 season mired by injury, the Thunder are back at full force and looking for the first championship in franchise history.

Last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2009 as the result of terrible injury luck. The front office used the lost year to make some much needed tweaks to the roster and the bench. A multi-player mid-season trade brought in depth in the form of D.J. Augustin, Kyle Singler and Enes Kanter and got rid of Kendrick Perkins and a disgruntled Reggie Jackson. Then in the offseason, coach Scott Brooks was let go, with former University of Florida coach Billy Donovan taking over the position.

Now with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka all healthy, the Thunder will reclaim their rightful spot among the West's elite. With Durant's free agency looming, the team's payroll is higher than ever, as front office and ownership realized this might be their best shot at a title. The talent is there for a deep run, even in an ultra competitive conference.

Whether the players can adapt to a new system and new teammates quickly enough to grab a high seed remains to be seen but no one will want to cross paths with the Thunder in the playoffs if they are healthy.

LAST YEAR

RECORD: 45-37 (ninth in the Western Conference)
PLAYOFFS (if applicable): missed
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 104.5 (11th in the league)
DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 103.1 (16th in the league)

ROSTER

No.	PLAYER	POS	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	AGE	COLLEGE
0	Russell Westbrook	PG	6'3	200	26	UCLA
2	Anthony Morrow	SG	6'5	210	30	Georgia Tech
3	Dion Waiters	SG	6'4	225	23	Syracuse
4	Nick Collison	PF	6'10	255	34	Kansas
5	Kyle Singler	SF	6'8	228	27	Duke
6	Steve Novak	F	6'10	225	32	Marquette
9	Serge Ibaka	PF	6'10	245	26	Rep. of Congo
11	Enes Kanter	C	6'11	245	23	Kentucky
12	Steven Adams	C	7'0	255	22	Pittsburgh
14	D.J. Augustin	PG	6'0	183	27	Texas
21	Andre Roberson	SG	6'7	210	23	Colorado
22	Cameron Payne	PG	6'3	185	21	Murray State
33	Mitch McGary	C	6'10	255	23	Michigan
34	Josh Huestis	SF	6'7	230	23	Stanford
35	Kevin Durant	F	6'9	240	27	Texas

Coach: Billy Donovan

Assistant coaches: Monty Williams, Maurice Cheeks, Anthony Brown, Mark Bryant, Darko Rajakovic

OFFSEASON CHANGES

IN: Billy Donovan (coach), Cameron Payne (draft), Josh Huestis
OUT: Scott Brooks (coach), Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones

The Thunder made their roster upgrades during the season, making the coaching change the big move of the summer. Scott Brooks leaves the Thunder with a .620 record but with the talent available to him only one trip to the finals wasn't enough.

Since they are over the tax for the first time in franchise history, the front office got rid of Lamb and Jones to reduce their tax bill and added 2014 and 2015 first-round picks Cameron Payne and Josh Huestis.

DEPTH CHART

	POINT GUARD	SHOOTING GUARD	SMALL FORWARD	POWER FORWARD	CENTER
STARTER	Russell Westbrook	Andre Roberson	Kevin Durant	Serge Ibaka	Enes Kanter
RESERVE	D.J. Augustin	Dion Waiters	Kyle Singler	Nick Collison	Steven Adams
RESERVE	Cameron Payne	Anthony Morrow	Josh Huestis	Steve Novak	Mitch McGary
RESERVE

THE KEY QUESTION. What separates this Thunder team from others?

KD and Westbrook are the leaders now. With the departure of faces like Kendrick Perkins and Derek Fisher, it's been up to the Thunder's stars to guide the team. Furthermore, the Thunder are much better from beyond the arc than they used to be.

Most of the Thunder's big recent acquisition during last season (Waiters, Singler, Augustin, Novak, Kanter, Payne) have decent averages from beyond the arc. During the Thunder's strong playoff runs in 2012 and 2014, their three-point percentage was middle of the pack. Certainly, this year's OKC team will rank in the league's top 10.

- Marina Mangiaracina, Welcome To Loud City. Read the full Thunder season preview here.

PREDICTIONS

BEST CASE: Donovan finally introduces a nuanced offense that maximizes the talents of Westbrook and Durant. Serge Ibaka makes up for Enes Kanter's defensive limitations and the Thunder make it out of the West, win the NBA Finals and lock up Durant to a multi-year contract.

WORST CASE: Lack of familiarity leads to some early losses, the offense continues to rely on Westbrook's and Durant's ability to create for themselves and the defense suffers with the addition of Kanter. The Thunder don't make it past the second round and Durant leaves in the offseason.