Every year, there seems to be one NBA team that comes into the season with the expectation that they’ll turn their potential into something great. As we approach the start of the 2023-24 campaign, that team is shaping up to be the Oklahoma City Thunder, which have all the makings of being a juggernaut at some point in the not-too-distant future.
This year, the Western Conference is going to be a nightmare to navigate, which doesn’t exactly bode well for a team looking to make a jump from “fun group of youngsters” to “a legitimate playoff contender in the conference.” But there is a whole lot to like in Oklahoma City, and there’s a chance that they’ll be able to call themselves a playoff team for the first time since 2020.
Biggest Question: Are They Ready?
Try to find one person in the basketball world who isn’t excited about the Thunder. It’s really hard! Last season, Oklahoma City was quite the surprise, as the team went 40-42, earned a playoff berth, and won one game during the Play-In Tournament before getting bounced by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Their offense is a blast, and is led by a legitimate superstar in All-NBA First Team selection Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Jalen Williams was one of the best rookies in the league last year. Josh Giddey took a leap during his second year. There’s a seemingly endless supply of promising young players, all of whom get better and better the longer they spend in Mark Daigneault’s system.
All of this is to say that the Oklahoma City Thunder are a very trendy pick to make some noise in the Western Conference — maybe not compete with the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns, but be in the playoff hunt all regular season and be a handful once the postseason roll around. But of course, any team can have hype around them. Not every team, however, turn that hype into results, and that’s ultimately the challenge that the Thunder will face.
How do they respond to that first losing streak that brings them down to earth a little bit? Can they survive a major injury to one of their key contributors? Do they have frontcourt depth in the event Chet Holmgren needs some time to get used to life in the NBA? Can they take a step forward on at least one end of the floor — the team was 13th in defensive rating and 16th in offensive rating last year, and while those numbers are solid, there is plenty of room to get better.
The good news is they have a no-doubt star leading the charge and a roster of young, hungry players. Leaps don’t have to happen, but betting on the Thunder to make one seems safe.
X-Factor: Chet Holmgren
Holmgren is probably going to end up being a good professional basketball player. It’s unclear what, exactly, that means — he could end up being a solid and reliable rotation big man who blocks shots and can score a little on offense, or maybe he’ll end up being the sort of superstar-level player who is a perfect running mate alongside Gilgeous-Alexander. The best version of him is a gigantic, two-way nightmare who earns All-Star nods and gets labeled a unicorn.
While he essentially redshirted last season due to an injury he suffered during the offseason, Holmgren is still a rookie who has to get used to all the little things that come from playing 82 games of professional basketball. There will be nights where he’s really good, there will be others where he gets put on a poster and his shot is just not falling. He should be fine no matter what — his work ethic and competitiveness have drawn praise for years. If he’s able to consistently be a positive piece of the puzzle for Oklahoma City, that would be absolutely gigantic, as the one thing the team could really use is a guy with his size imposing his will on a game.
