The Thunder have climbed to the top of the NBA. As can be seen, they are a team with a magnificent present, candidates for the championship this season by acclamation. But they can maintain that status for many years, as the moves in the offices of general manager Sam Presti have been as accurate as those of their stars on the court. It is not unreasonable to think of them as dominating the NBA for the next decade.
Oklahoma has the tools to do it, although the sport is often indecipherable and even more so looking so many years ahead. The Thunder are currently the best team in the NBA (37-8), but also the youngest. That already speaks of a brilliant short term. At the start of this season, they had an average age of just 24.1 years.
Their ideal quintet, with stars in their prime or growing prodigies, is 24.4 years old on average: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the leading MVP contender this season (26); Luguentz Dort, an almost impenetrable defender (25); Jalen Williams, an all-rounder who is bordering on All-Star status (23); Chet Holmgren, a prodigy who is destined to be a generational player (22); and Isaiah Hartenstein, the interior piece they were missing (26). The last two, due to injuries, have not yet played together. Their fit could be devastating for opponents.
A great template at a reasonable price
The Thunder’s wardrobe is as complete as it gets: Alex Caruso, Jaylin Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe… None of them are over 30 years old. The only threat to retaining such potential over time will be the maximum contracts that some of them are earning and will receive when they are due. Next season, the aforementioned ideal quintet will earn $104.7 million. That’s manageable for an extraordinary five.
In Oklahoma, they already enjoyed Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka at the same time, but the core fell apart without winning the ring. This time they are ready. It all started with the trade of Paul George to the Clippers in 2019, in which the Thunder got Shai. A masterstroke looking at it now with the perspective that time offers. The point guard is the heavy favorite to win MVP honors. He averages 32.1 points, 6.0 assists and 2.1 steals. He is decisive on both sides of the court.
Stockpiling Draft Picks: Madness or Genius?
Presti accumulated draft picks to the point of having 32 over the next seven years: 15 are first-round picks, although a good number of them are protected, and 17 are second-round picks. What seemed like madness has now turned into something akin to genius.
The flexibility that all those choices offer is infinite. They can, with some luck, select some of the best projects of the coming years, use those rounds to get a big NBA star, to incorporate the complementary players they consider, to rejuvenate the squad if they so wish… They are in a position to handle the market like no other team in the coming years.
The ball will have to go in, which is what decides the success of projects, but the Thunder have everything they need to dominate the league. They are already doing so and threaten to do so in the coming years. Their mix of current talent and future possibilities is something the NBA has rarely seen in history, if ever.
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