The Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets seem to be knocking on the door in the Western Conference, should the Oklahoma City Thunder be worried?
For the vast majority of the 2024-25 NBA season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been the best team in the Western Conference and the runaway favorites to make the Finals.
This season, the Thunder boasts the best defensive and net ratings and has the fifth best offensive rating. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the frontrunner to win his first MVP award, and OKC’s bright future laden with draft picks suggests they will be major players for the next several seasons, perhaps even kickstarting a dynasty with a Finals win this year.
However, both the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets are riding hot streaks and climbing up the standings. On top of that, the Golden State Warriors look the part of a playoff team after adding Jimmy Butler, which has led some to write off the Thunder.
Much like the Boston Celtics, the Thunder have a clear first option and then plenty of high-level role-players surrounding him.
Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, and Isaiah Hartenstein can all rise to the occasion, but in the event that SGA is double-teamed or injured in the playoffs, the Thunder might not be able to compete.
“When you get the ball out of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s hands, is there somebody, regardless of the enormous amount of talent they have on that squad, is there somebody you trust that will step up when it counts to deliver the goods?” asked Stephen A. Smith on ESPN.
“Is it possible that you’re questioning that about OKC now, knowing Luka and LeBron, Jokic, and others are going to be in the postseason waiting to go up against them? Is it possible that OKC has diminished your level of confidence in them?”
Smith’s argument, while technically sound, is flawed for two major reasons.
The baseline of Smith’s argument is that the ball needs to be in SGA’s hands for the Thunder to succeed. First of all, Williams is coming off his first career All-Star nod and can rise to the occasion if needed.
Second of all, if Smith replaced Gilgeous-Alexander with any other star, then he could make the same case.
If the Timberwolves get a poor game from Anthony Edwards, the Nuggets from Jokic, the Lakers from James, or the Warriors from Stephen Curry, then of course, the team will struggle. All playoff teams need their best players playing at their best levels in order to rush through the gauntlet that is the NBA postseason.
The Lakers and Warriors, and to an extent the Nuggets, are the new kids on the block this month, but the sustained dominance of the Thunder isn’t going away simply because they lost an ugly game to the Timberwolves. In a seven-game series, OKC is still the most dangerous team.
