The Oklahoma City Thunder's roster is an NBA 2K25 fan's dream. The team is stacked with talent from top to bottom. The team has a superstar in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, up-and-coming stars in Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, role players in Lu Dort and Alex Caruso, and young talent in Cason Wallace and Dillon Jones. There is so much more on the roster, too, that there really isn't anyone you wouldn't want to play with on their roster in the new basketball video game that is now available to the public.
However, anytime a new 2K is released, many players are robbed with ratings that are too low. Likewise, some players even get overrated in the game. As a young team with a great future and current championship aspirations, lots of people are going to choose to play with the Thunder in this version of 2K, so we decided to look at their roster and see which ratings the 2K team messed up.
Thunder's Ajay Mitchell (68) is rated too low
The Thunder made Ajay Mitchell the 38th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. That means he was only the third player the team drafted and added to an already stacked roster. Additionally, Mitchell is only on a two-way contract. Most players in that situation would only get a rating in the 60s, but Mitchell was a steal for that selection, so he is an exception.
The UC Santa Barbara product was arguably the best second-rounder selected, and he perfectly fits the Thunder's system. Additionally, he was one of the standout performers at the NBA Summer League. Before being shut down after showing enough at Summer League, Mitchell had a stat line of 16.4 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game.
Mitchell is an incredibly versatile player, and with fellow Thunder draftee Nikola Topic out for the season, he actually has a chance to crack Oklahoma City's deep rotation right away. Only four second-rounders this year had a rating of at least 70, but Mitchell deserved to be one of them.
Isaiah Hartenstein (81) shouldn't be rated as one of Thunder's five best players
We were big advocates for the Thunder signing Isaiah Hartenstein. They had spending power in free agency and a need for more size and rebounding. The former New York Knick fit the bill, so Oklahoma City spent heavily to sign him off of the open market. Now, the Thunder have arguably the best backup center in the league to relieve Chet Holmgren.
Hartenstein brings an interior presence, and he is even an impressive passer/playmaker for the five position. However, he has only started 61 of his 322 career games, and he is most likely slated to be a long term backup in Oklahoma City. Despite that, NBA 2K25 made him the fifth highest-rated player on the Thunder roster with a rating of 81.
Bumping this down closer to 80 makes some sense, but it is somewhat unnecessary considering how special he was in the Knicks late season/postseason run last year. There are some fellow Thunder teammates who should be rated above him, though. For example, Luo Dort only has a 2K rating of 80.
Dort is one of the premier, if not the very best, perimeter defenders in the league. He is much improved as an offensive player, too, especially when it comes to knocking down the deep ball with efficiency. Dort has been starting for the Thunder for years, and now he will form a dynamic defensive duo alongside Alex Caruso that will only further enhance his skills. Hartenstein was a good free agent acquisition for the Thunder, but he doesn't deserve to have a higher rating than Dort.
Isaiah Joe deserves a better 3-point rating than the 85 he received
As a backup, three-point specialist, Isaiah Joe's overall rating of 78 is probably fair, but we have an issue with his three-point rating. NBA 2K25 gave him a three-point rating of 85 despite him being one of the best marksmen in the NBA. Joe's role in the NBA is nearly exclusively as a long-ranger sniper, yet two Thunder players (Jalen Williams/Aaron Wiggins) have a higher rating from deep than he does, and one has the same rating as him (Cason Wallace).
If you were to ask any Thunder player, staff member, or fan who the best shooter from beyond the arc on Oklahoma City's roster is, they'd all most likely say Isaiah Joe. In fact, we think his three-point rating shooting be at least in the 90s. Joe shot 40.9% from deep two years ago on 5.4 attempts per game, and he made 41.6% of his long bombs last year on 4.5 attempts per game.
On a team full of great passers who penetrate the defense, Joe gets a lot of looks up from deep, and he connects on them at an extremely high clip. Giving him a three-point rating of 85 is not only wrong but disrespectful.
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