Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder entered what looked to be a long, tedious rebuild after the departures of Russell Westbrook and Paul George in 2019, followed by Chris Paul's exit a year later. While the first two seasons of head coach Mark Daigneault's were painful, the Thunder have since proven that this organization's rebuild was nothing more than a quick retool of talent.
Whereas other teams have completely given up on their future to compete for a championship right now with multiple superstar talents, the Thunder have fully committed to the process of building a championship contender through the NBA Draft. This is what separates teams that win one title from those that are able to build a dynasty.
Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Kawhi Leonard were all drafted by the San Antonio Spurs. That organization went on to win five titles and record a win percentage over 60 percent every year in a 16-season span. More recently, the Golden State Warriors drafted Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Kevon Looney. Sure, the Warriors added key talents such as Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston to aid them in forming their dynasty, but the Warriors' four-man core has won four titles over the last nine seasons.
Oklahoma City is not necessarily in a position to dominate the NBA world and begin the next-best dynasty … or are they?
There are not enough words to describe how well Presti has done at building the Thunder's current roster from nothing. An emphasis has been put on every year's draft not just to find the best talents, but to find the right players in the right spots.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, and Luguentz Dort all had question marks surrounding them as they began their respective NBA journeys. For some, there were questions being asked regarding their long-term health. For others, everyone wanted answers on if they could even develop into impactful talents who could aid the Thunder's second unit.
This season, these five players make up the starting lineup for the Thunder, a team that currently finds itself at the top of the Western Conference with a 10-4 record.
It's still early and anything can happen over the course of the next 68 games for Oklahoma City. The NBA season can be grueling with injuries, wear and tear, and even roles being changed due to certain player's hot-and-cold streaks. There's no guarantee that the early-season success the Thunder have found will last, yet it has become abundantly clear that this young group is special.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's success
When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander first entered the league with the Los Angeles Clippers, many NBA scouts projected him to be a lengthy guard who could fit in with many different rotations because of his defensive instincts and passing abilities. With SGA's three-point shot being an unknown and him not being the most explosive guard in his draft class, many overlooked his true playmaking abilities on offense.
Stepping out from the shadow with the Clippers and becoming the focal point of the Thunder's retool, Gilgeous-Alexander immediately began his journey to stardom. Shai emerged as a combo guard with a score-first mentality, and his best trait during Year 1 in Oklahoma City was his unselfishness. While he still got plenty of opportunities, SGA learned a lot about what it meant to be a true point guard from the likes of Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder.
Every year since, Gilgeous-Alexander has expanded a new area of his game, bringing us to where he is at this season. Coming off of a season in which he made the All-NBA First Team by averaging a career-high 31.4 points per game and shooting a career-high 51.0 percent from the floor, Gilgeous-Alexander has matured even more on offense. The 25-year-old looks calmer, he looks confident, and he's truly orchestrating OKC's offense by making plays as they develop out of certain sets:
Take this play from one of the very first possessions of the Thunder's game against the Portland Trail Blazers this past Sunday. Everything starts with Luguentz Dort initiating the offense and having Cason Wallace clear out the left side of the floor, that way Gilgeous-Alexander is the only one in the corner. Dort brings the ball over to SGA in a dribble-handoff type of set where the Thunder star can now attack downhill with his right hand, with his primary defender having to switch the action due to Dort's screen.
This is now where Gilgeous-Alexander is at his best. Right after Gilgeous-Alexander comes off Dort's screen and his opponents switch defensive assignments, there are multiple options that present themselves. If Blazers center Deandre Ayton drops down slightly in the paint, SGA can hit Chet Holmgren for a wide-open three at the top of the arc. If Ayton stays and Jerami Grant helps his teammate instead of staying on Josh Giddey, there is now an opening on the wing that the Thunder have the option of exposing.
Gilgeous-Alexander is at his best when the Thunder are able to spread the floor and open up the paint simply due to the fact that he knows he can extend past and beat any defender on him. In this clip, Shai chooses to keep the ball and split the two defenders paying attention to him given the angle he attacked at. All five Blazers players are behind the All-Star as he elevates to the rim, resulting in the easiest two points one can get in the NBA.
Later in this same game, the Thunder run another action for their best player, following similar principles as before. Here, Wallace sets a screen for Gilgeous-Alexander at the top of the arc and immediately rolls to the far corner, giving his teammate a one-on-one matchup with no help-side defender present:
Oklahoma City is able to clear out the paint. As soon as this happens, even before Shai lets his teammates get set, he attacks with his left hand and is able to get yet another easy layup right at the rim because of his length and explosiveness.
As good as Gilgeous-Alexander is in terms of getting to the rim and handling the basketball in tight situations, Mark Daigneault and his staff have devised an offensive scheme that revolves around playing to Shai's strengths and size. There are so many more actions and sets you can examine involving Gilgeous-Alexander, as he is just as effective passing the ball when opponents look to double-team him as he is creating these wide-open scoring opportunities.
The Thunder rank seventh in the league in offensive rating right now and are averaging nearly 120 points per game because of Gilgeous-Alexander's ascendance to being one of the best overall scorers in the NBA. Every title contending and successful team needs a true star to elevate those around him, and this is SGA's exact role in Oklahoma City. It may be early, but Gilgeous-Alexander is surely in the MVP conversation.
Breaking down the Thunder's offense
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played a massive role in the success of the Thunder's offense. Their design was partially created due to his skills on the court. Without him, Oklahoma City wouldn't have their playmaker to initiate what has been causing headaches for teams throughout the league early on in the 2023-24 season.
Whether it is Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, or anyone else initiating the offense, the same principles still apply for the Thunder. OKC's offense has a certain flow and a checklist that every play can work with while going through their progressions.
Think of the Thunder's offense like a quarterback in the NFL. When the quarterback gets the snap and the play begins, he goes through every progression, looking at the options that present itself and evaluating which wide receivers are or could potentially become open. Oklahoma City's offense works the same way with each player bringing a unique attribute to add a little improv to each set they run.
For Gilgeous-Alexander, his quick first step and attacking abilities allow him to thrive in isolation opportunities, which was clearly displayed in the last section. For Giddey, he's a bigger guard whose size allows him to not only play out on the wing and create space, but also post-up smaller guards. In doing so, Giddey can draw his opponents in and either kick the ball out to a teammate for a wide-open three or open up the floor for someone like SGA or Williams to cut to the rim.
When looking at Holmgren and what he brings to the table, the Thunder have utilized the rookie big man a lot in screens. When Chet comes up to screen either SGA or Giddey, he has the option to either roll to the rim or pop out to the three-point line.
Against the Trail Blazers, Holmgren had a dominating performance and went 6-of-6 from the floor because of his high basketball IQ and the way the Thunder's offense is structured:
At the very start of the game here, Holmgren runs a simple dribble-handoff with Gilgeous-Alexander on the left side of the floor. While this may have been a play initially designed to get SGA going towards the rim for an easy look, Holmgren opens up space on the left side of the floor, creating a gap between him and his primary defender in Deandre Ayton. As Ayton helps and looks to cut off Gilgeous-Alexander's path to the rim, Chet pops out to the perimeter and gets a routine triple he has hit a thousand times at practice.
As you can clearly see in the next clip, Holmgren runs basically the same action on the opposite side of the floor later on in the second quarter, resulting in a wide-open three-point shot that he nails with ease:
Whether it is Holmgren, Dort, Gilgeous-Alexander or someone else initiating the flow of the offense, the Thunder always have the same three principles in place. The screener can either pop out to the perimeter or roll to the rim, the weak-side shooters always remain on the perimeter and keep their defenders out of the paint, and, most importantly, whoever is the ball handler always remains patient in order to let the defense make the mistake.
Oklahoma City is simply taking what opponents give them. They always seem to have a confidence in terms of knowing how each offensive possession is going to play out. As their opponents get frustrated, the Thunder then capitalize defensively given their length and ability to disrupt passing lanes.
It is not a coincidence that the Thunder rank seventh in offensive rating and fourth in defensive rating. These clips of Oklahoma City's half-court sets do not tell the whole story, as the Thunder are elite when it comes to scoring off of turnovers and running in transition.
Thunder real championship threats?
When the 2023-24 NBA season began, the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Lakers were the four teams viewed as top contenders in the Western Conference. Nobody was giving much attention to the Thunder in terms of being a threat in the playoffs, but the general consensus was they would make the playoffs with Mark Daigneault being a Coach of the Year finalist.
Amid their early-season start, the Thunder have put themselves on the map. The rest of the league is now beginning to take notice of their success.
“Aside from the fact that they are all young and can continue to develop together, the Thunder run stuff on offense that you normally don't see in second, third, and fourth-year players,” an Eastern Conference assistant coach shared with ClutchPoints. “That's a determined group in Oklahoma City who are playing as one unit. It's really impressive to see them playing at this kind of level. Have to give Mark [Daigneault] a lot of credit for the job he's done with these kids too, because it's not easy to be the one 15 young men look up to every day when you are still learning as well. They got something special in OKC.”
The West is loaded with talented teams, so there is very little room for error over the course of the 82-game season. Every team runs into roadblocks and rough patches in their schedule every now and then, but how teams respond to adversity is how championship contenders are built.
Through 14 games, the Thunder only lost back-to-back games once. Oklahoma City has built off success found in their victories, and perhaps what's most impressive about this young squad is that they rank third in average point differential at 8.8 points per game, trailing just the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.
Winners in seven of their last eight games, the Thunder have put up at least 120 points in six of their last eight games, including back-to-back games with 130 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be the lone All-Star and All-NBA talent on this roster, but the Thunder are a very deep team with talent across the board at every position.
This core of Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey, Holmgren, Dort, and Williams is only going to get better, plus you never know who could wind up having a breakout season. Isaiah Joe is a sharpshooting guard who has already had some big performances in a Thunder uniform, rookie guard Cason Wallace has been a reliable secondary player to this point, and Ousmane Dieng is a 20-year-old forward many associated with Oklahoma City constantly rave about.
The potential for growth is very apparent right now in OKC, which is why it's not hard to believe that the Thunder can maintain the early-season success they've found.
So, are the Oklahoma City Thunder actually championship contenders?
While the Thunder are young and still need to prove they can win in the playoffs, there are reasons to think they will make a deep run. Oklahoma City plays with the same mentality every single game, regardless of their opponents, and they do not fear any team in the league. This is something that will carry over to the playoffs, making things easier for an inexperienced group when it comes to the postseason.
Not only will this team not have to worry about wear and tear since they are one of the youngest groups in the league, but every rotation the Thunder has plays together and as one collective unit. Whereas other teams exclusively play through their star with shooters sitting around him, the Thunder are constantly moving on offense. It also helps that Gilgeous-Alexander is not a one-man team by any standards.
Defensively, the Thunder may be even better than they are on offense simply due to Holmgren's presence in the paint. Averaging 2.1 blocks per game, the rookie big man is the anchor of Oklahoma City's defense, allowing Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, Giddey, and Dort to be aggressive and attack their opponents defensively knowing that Holmgren will be able to help out as the elite-level rim-protector he is.
Where there is lightning, thunder usually follows. A sudden flash at the start of the season has resulted in Oklahoma City dwelling at the top of the Western Conference standings. This is just the start of something special.
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