Is OKC going to be one of those teams that looks even more stacked 5 years from now?

[Godymas]

Last year (2023-2024) when OKC started winning, it kind of came out of nowhere. The team had SGA as an All NBA 1st team guy the year before but were outed in the play-in. However, a lot of the pieces were already in place for what was coming soon.

The 2022-2023 OKC Thunder were led by the 1st Team All NBA 31 ppg SGA and had Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and Jaylin Williams, Kenrich Williams, Tre Mann. 8 players and SGA for a 9 man core.

In the 2023-2024 season the Thunder became the 1 seed with SGA still, in addition to the 9 above they added in Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace aka 2 lottery picks level talents.

In the 2024-2025 season, the Thunder made upgrades, but also we saw the departure of two names from above, and I want to point something out.

Tre Mann was traded at the deadline for Gordon Hayward as a rental, in Charlotte Tre Mann went from barely getting played in OKC to a legitimate headlining young talent that could very well be a starter on their team.

Josh Giddey was traded in the offseason for Alex Caruso and in the second half of the season Josh Giddey became the defining #1 option for the Bulls rebuild. In the context of OKC he was just a "nice piece" with mild disappointment. In Chicago he's going to be their star of the future.

Do you see the depth of talent that OKC has here? Guys that barely scratch their rotation on a WINNING TEAM are a tanking teams CENTERPIECE.

So I want you to remember all the names on the Thunder today, namely the non-headlining ones.

Isaiah Joe
Aaron Wiggins
Cason Wallace
Ajay Mitchell
Jaylin Williams
Lu Dort

No one really knows them that well (except Lu Dort) because of how quickly OKC ascended, but in a few years they will be headlining off season acquisitions and getting massive paydays from teams that believe that outside of the context of OKC these guys will be studs that will carry their franchise.

Ofc there's also the vets in Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein. Both of them got paid by OKC, and guess what? They will get paid on their next contracts by some other franchise once OKC is done winning with them.

Similar to what happened with the old OKC where a guy that's their 6th man somehow becomes the 4th greatest shooting guard of all time, the stage is set here for not just Josh Giddey to somehow ramp up to a star level, but even guys like an Aaron Wiggins or a Cason Wallace to somehow get plucked out of OKC and end up being meaningful 3rd options for other teams.

[nbafan38]

Perhaps. They are the exact kind of team a star at or past his prime might want to join (aka:durant to GS move). I do wonder if in small market they can attract big free agents but might not need to as you said they can flip some of these assets in a trade for a disgruntled star.

Ironically durant is an example of a disgruntled star they could trade for this to be even more dominant short term but idk if they want him back.

[jbk1234]

No because it's going to be very difficult to retain all those guys.

[Godymas]

No because it's going to be very difficult to retain all those guys.

that's the point of the thread

you already understand they won't be able to retain these guys because of how good they are.

when they do get their next deals, they will be studs on lesser teams and people will look back at today's OKC roster and say "wow how did they get all these names on the same team?"

I'm not talking about the OKC Thunder in 2030, I'm talking about when you open the BBall ref for today's team and see the list of names and go "wow how did all these guys end up playing together, that is insane"

[jbk1234]

No because it's going to be very difficult to retain all those guys.

that's the point of the thread

you already understand they won't be able to retain these guys because of how good they are.

when they do get their next deals, they will be studs on lesser teams and people will look back at today's OKC roster and say "wow how did they get all these names on the same team?"

I'm not talking about the OKC Thunder in 2030, I'm talking about when you open the BBall ref for today's team and see the list of names and go "wow how did all these guys end up playing together, that is insane"

So long as the NBA allows Dort to defend the way he does in the playoffs, the Thunder will keep him. As far as the rest, projecting a second unit player into the starting lineup on another team is hazardous. See, IQ. Ty Jerome is currently demonstrating why some guys are just a lot better off the bench.

[CobraCommander]

Once they grab this guy on the cheap it’s gonna be a wrap -
Plus Giannis is available?

The way they play they could plug damn near anyone in that’s not a draymond type guy -

[Godymas]

No because it's going to be very difficult to retain all those guys.

that's the point of the thread

you already understand they won't be able to retain these guys because of how good they are.

when they do get their next deals, they will be studs on lesser teams and people will look back at today's OKC roster and say "wow how did they get all these names on the same team?"

I'm not talking about the OKC Thunder in 2030, I'm talking about when you open the BBall ref for today's team and see the list of names and go "wow how did all these guys end up playing together, that is insane"

So long as the NBA allows Dort to defend the way he does in the playoffs, the Thunder will keep him. As far as the rest, projecting a second unit player into the starting lineup on another team is hazardous. See, IQ. Ty Jerome is currently demonstrating why some guys are just a lot better off the bench.

IQ is well below the guys OKC has in terms of overall ability, but he can be quite good at times, especially if he had real spacing to play with.

even physical gifts alone, same with Ty Jerome. You listed two small guards

Cason Wallace is the smallest guy I listed, he was the 10th pick in the 2024 draft and he's a 6'4 shooting guard from Kentucky and shoots 39% from 3 while being an amazing defender. Another franchise would choose Cason Wallace to be a serious starter and yet in OKC a talent of his level is a luxury, a cherry on top.

Ty Jerome is 6'5 and weighs 195 lbs, Cason Wallace is 6'4 and weighs 205 lbs, 1 inch shorter, 10 lbs heavier, that's all muscle.

[wade44]

It’s the 2012 Thunder all over again. Hopefully they retain the right players this time

[chilluminati]

Presti is gonna Presti. He'll continue to make moves to keep that roster as ultra competitors. With picks and expiring contracts comes opportunity, and OKC will always have valuable highly movable pieces if Presti continues being an absolute masterclass of a GM. I'm not worried about 5 years from now for them, I'm confident they'll be fine.

Players will leave for better opportunity eventually, as they should, but will have their careers elevated from being a part of that franchise. It's kind of like how Miami can take undrafted or young unknown players and make them into competent valuable piece in the NBA, OKC is becoming a destination of success and revival as well.

Just like with OKC's first successful team, we saw KD, Harden, Ibaka, and Jackson go to another team and immediately is handed a bigger role and bigger paycheck. 3 MVP players came from that squad.

[Jellybeans]

With this squad i think no because of new CBA and how it f*cks teams over

[OkcSinceSGA]

It’s the 2012 Thunder all over again. Hopefully they retain the right players this time

No. It’s the 2012 Thunder on an insane dose of steroids

[OkcSinceSGA]

Yes. They have had an embarrassment of riches. But as others have said sadly they cannot afford to retain guys long term. I said it two years ago I’ll say it again. We are looking at a dynasty. Not just a 1 and done most likely

[Jadoogar]

No because it's going to be very difficult to retain all those guys.

Yea okc has been through this before.
They may be able to keep their 3 main guys (maybe, 3 max contracts will be expensive) but they will have to make concessions with guys like Ihart, Wallace, other Jaylin williams, Isaiah joe, wiggins, etc. They will have to choose the supporting cast wisely and continue to hit on draft picks.

[nbafan38]

i would say i'd probably take prime SGA over prime harden, durant, or westbrook. Also the league is weaker right now as a whole then in 2012 (no heatles, no spurs/pop) so yes this team can win a lot over the next few years.

[Jadoogar]

It’s the 2012 Thunder all over again. Hopefully they retain the right players this time

No. It’s the 2012 Thunder on an insane dose of steroids

that 2012 team had 3 future MVPs, let's not downplay that roster.

[Jadoogar]

ah i misunderstood the question. It's possible guys like Chet or Jdub would look like stars on their own teams but it's also likely these guys look better playing off a guy like SGA.

[OkcSinceSGA]

It’s the 2012 Thunder all over again. Hopefully they retain the right players this time

No. It’s the 2012 Thunder on an insane dose of steroids

that 2012 team had 3 future MVPs, let's not downplay that roster.

This thread is about the top to bottom talent. OKC was more top heavy, but this team is way more stacked. Literally ANY player on their roster would probably be in any other teams core rotation. Guys like Ajay Mitchell for example who look like Jalen Brunson 2.0…. Don’t play a ton or are in and out of rotation.

You also need to realize many of their role players would blow up on teams with more minutes and touches. We have never seen a team like this. 13-14 deep with rotation players. And they have so many upcoming picks.

As pointed out they’ve had several role players in the last 2 years go to other teams and become borderline all stars already…

[nbafan38]

It’s the 2012 Thunder all over again. Hopefully they retain the right players this time

No. It’s the 2012 Thunder on an insane dose of steroids

that 2012 team had 3 future MVPs, let's not downplay that roster.

they were on paper but the reality is those 3 players have combined for 2 championships total in their career (and most people dont even count the 2 as legit championships). We haven't yet seen how SGA performs in late rounds of the playoffs but if he is clutch it would be a huge difference maker.

[ThunderBolt]

The reality is it can all change in one game. Klay tore his acl. KD ruptured his achilles. They have a great path toward sustaining greatness but these types of things seldom last as long as people anticipiate.

[bbms]

It’s the 2012 Thunder all over again. Hopefully they retain the right players this time

2012 roster had many weak links, both starting 5 and rotation.

thunder is a top 3 team in depth and top 1 in payroll health/club control of players