The Oklahoma City Thunder were eliminated from the 2024 NBA playoffs after their series loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Even though they couldn’t make the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder have all the talent to be a championship contender for a long time.
This year marked the first playoff appearance for the Thunder in four years. Over that span, this team has improved remarkably through their young core. Here are the major reasons why the Thunder have put the rest of the league on watch:
Their Youth
The 2024 Thunder were the youngest team to ever win a playoff series with an average age of just over 23 years old. Not even one of their starters is older than 25.
This team has a great chance to keep this young core playing together, growing, maturing, and improving over the next couple of years. Luckily for the OKC, most of these key players have contracts through 2026 easing the burden of having to restructure during free agency.
This team is incredibly young for a competitive squad, and if they can add a couple of more veteran pieces, their young stars will continue to learn and make this a winning team.
The Stars
This team is led by some of the most exciting young players in the NBA. Most notably Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren. SGA is one of the most talented NBA players and has blossomed into a superstar over his young career.
SGA has controlled this Thunder team with a dominant 2024 campaign. He was one of the three players to average over 30 points per game and was runner-up in the Most Valuable Player voting. He can score at will and is unafraid to defend the opposition’s best player. He truly is one of the new premier players in the NBA
Chet Holmgren missed his first NBA year with a foot injury and once he got onto the court, he hit the ground running. The 7’1 big man had a monster rookie year on both sides of the ball. He averaged over 16 ppg and 2 blocks per game. This earned him runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting and All-Rookie team honors. He is the Thunder’s long-term post-presence who’s only going to improve.
Where they can improve
The Thunder are on the cusp of making a run at a title and some small roster adjustments might just make that happen. The OKC core is set but they could move around the role players and add more bench depth to set them apart.
Josh Giddey is the first big question mark. A talented young player in his first couple of years in the league, he hit a roadblock during the 2024 season. Teams zeroed in on his 3-point deficiencies. This has led to whispers of the Thunder trading him this offseason. He is good with the ball in his hand but with so many other great attackers on this Thunder squad, there may be no room for him. A more catch-and-shoot-focused guard might fit the Thunder scheme better.
When Holmgren is on the court, he seems to snag every rebound, but when he’s not, it feels like the Thunder can’t get one. Their team rebounding was close to the bottom of the league and that’s something they need to address. It will most likely be answered in the form of more depth behind Holmgren.
Thanks to the Thunder’s impressive past resume in the trading realm, they have possession of the 12th pick in the 2024 draft. While it is an underwhelming class, they could use the pick to bolster their depth or package it up in a trade. No matter what they do this offseason, every NBA franchise knows that the Thunder could be legitimate contenders for the years to come.
