It's safe to say the Oklahoma City Thunder are over moral victories, especially when it comes to the in-season tournament. But Friday's instant-classic thriller against the Golden State Warriors is still another sign of the Thunder's ongoing ascent up the NBA ranks, their eye-opening performance in a last-second 141-139 loss made even more impressive because it came with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander watching from the sidelines with a sprained left knee.
After the game, Steve Kerr confirmed what anyone watching shorthanded Oklahoma City go blow for blow with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and company had already come to learn.
“These guys are coming, everyone can feel it,” he said. “You could feel it last year and now they have Chet back healthy, obviously playing at a high level. He's really added a different dimension to their team. So OKC's coming, they're loaded with talent, extremely well-coached. We know that they're gonna be a factor all year.”
The Thunder's bright present and even brighter future
Gilgeous-Alexander made First Team All-NBA last season, and appeared to have taken even another step forward in the season's early going before being sidelined by injury. Holmgren is poised to make Rookie of the Year a tight season-long race between he and Victor Wembanyama, a major “problem” as a rookie with his best basketball clearly still several years ahead of him. Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey are impact players right now, with potential All-Star futures.
But Oklahoma City's undeniable upward trajectory is about much more than the best established young core in basketball. General manager Sam Presti has amassed a horde of extra future first-round via trade over the past several years, affording the front office ample flexibility to build around Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren—the Thunder's only truly immovable and foundational building blocks, good as Williams and Giddey are—in the time and manner the team sees fit.
The strength of Oklahoma City's roster extends beyond its big four, too.
Rookie Cason Wallace has already established himself as a two-way positive, the type of versatile, team-first guard who can thrive playing multiple supporting roles in the backcourt. Lu Dort is a top-five on-ball defender with burgeoning offensive comfort, locked into an extremely reasonable long-term contract. Still more prospect than player at this point, 6'11 wing Ousmane Dieng nevertheless projects as a quality rotation player. Sophomore big Jaylin Williams is a snug fit for the Thunder's system, and sharpshooter Isaiah Joe is an absolute keeper.
The Thunder are just .500 after six games, but a couple bounces away from being 5-1, their lone big loss coming to the defending-champion Denver Nuggets. Given the superstar form Holmgren flashed against Golden State on Friday and wild volatility of the conference below Denver, no one should be shocked if they're fighting for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs come spring—not bad for an exceptionally young team still in the early stages of its overall development.
Oklahoma City is indeed “coming” for more. Unfortunately for the rest of the league, there's already plenty of evidence Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and the Thunder have already arrived.
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