Before the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 4-1 to reach the NBA Finals, ESPN's Kendrick Perkins crowned Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the franchise's best player ever. Perkins doubled down on that take. After watching Gilgeous-Alexander lead the Thunder in Game 5 at the Paycom Center, Perkins says this year's Oklahoma City team is a deeper roster compared to his 2012 squad.

When asked to compare the two, 13 years removed from the last Thunder team to reach the NBA Finals, Perkins explained why this year's group gets the edge over Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Perkins' 2012 squad, per ESPN's NBA Today.

“I got this year's Thunder team, 2025, and it's no knock to ours in 2012,” Perkins said. “Their depth. You talk about bringing in a Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, guys who are gonna get into you defensively, and all of a sudden you have a guy like Jalen Williams, who's not afraid to mix it up, who was crucial for them in that Denver Nuggets series against Jokic. They're just too deep. We're talking about one of the greatest defensive teams in NBA history.”

Despite the Hall of Fame careers Durant, Westbrook, and Harden are leading, Perkins explained why the 2024-25 Thunder team as a whole would win in a hypothetical best-of-7 series.

“Now, it's no knock when it comes down to what Russ or KD, or James brought to the table, or even Serge Ibaka, but this team is just more polished,” Perkins added. “They have more adults in the room than just have old souls. They act like they've been there before, and that's the scary part, and that's why I give them the edge. But it would go seven games.”

The Thunder enter the NBA Finals with a 12-4 record.

Kendrick Perkins doubles down on strong SGA, Thunder take

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ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins doubled down on his take on Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Before his former team clinched the NBA Finals, Perkins labeled Gilgeous-Alexander the greatest Thunder player in franchise history.

While predicting the Thunder to win the NBA Finals, Perkins says it'll solidify Gilgeous-Alexander as the greatest player in the franchise's history.

“He will be the greatest Thunder ever. Yes, past Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook,” Perkins said. “Third consecutive season of averaging over 30 shooting over 50% from the field, scoring title, MVP, conference MVP, going to the NBA Finals, winning the championship, and he's going to win Finals MVP.”

Perkins also believes the title would solidify Gilgeous-Alexander's place in the league's top-tier level of superstars.