The Oklahoma City Thunder have rebuilt their roster and have an opportunity to make some noise in the Western Conference during the 2023-24 season. In fact, many NBA general managers believe the Thunder will be the most improved team. According to a recent survey of NBA GMs, the Thunder are favored to be the most improved, checking in at 30 percent, per John Schuhmann of NBA.com. The Houston Rockets were second at 23 percent.
Thunder building a contender
The Thunder feature an impressive core of players with Shai Gilgeous Alexander leading the charge. Other young players like Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren are set to help Gilgeous-Alexander as OKC continues to improve.
Contending for a championship this season still seems unlikely. The Western Conference is filled with talent and the Thunder still have some questions that need answering. Additionally, even their stars are young and fairly inexperienced.
That said, it would not be surprising to see the Thunder make the playoffs. Staying healthy will obviously be of the utmost importance, but that is true of any team. From a talent standpoint though, this Thunder squad has the potential to be competitive soon.
OKC has taken an intriguing route to build this roster. The Thunder have some depth around the four aforementioned players. But they did a good job of simply building around their best player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Gilgeous-Alexander now has teammates that he can truly count on.
In the end, the Thunder will be led by Gilgeous-Alexander though.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A superstar
Gilgeous-Alexander is still only 25-years old. Yet, he's arguably the most underrated star in the NBA.
He's been productive throughout his five year career in the league. He has only made one All-Star team though. Gilgeous-Alexander became impossible to ignore in 2022-23 after averaging 31.4 points per game on 51 percent field goal and 34.5 percent three-point shooting. He added 4.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per contest.
Again, Thunder fans already knew Gilgeous-Alexander was special before last season. The NBA world is finally beginning to take notice though. Gilgeous-Alexander will continue to receive more recognition if the Thunder are able to make a postseason run during the 2023-24 campaign.
And given the fact that OKC displayed signs of promise last season, a playoff berth seems more than possible for this team.
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