Let’s keep the sports analysis rolling, Dub Nation. Welcome to Oklahoma City, the final stop before we leave the Northwest division for good. This last team on my list in my division by division recap of the offseason shenanigans is the team that didn’t have the greatness to repeat as champions last season, the Thunder. They went to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals but ultimately fell short in a contentious battle against the uprising San Antonio Spurs.
But the Thunder were the #1 seed and
had a dominant regular season run, including sweeping the Golden State Warriors in their season series. I’m not going to pretend there’s a silver lining buried in there somewhere. They outplayed the Dubs and did everything they could to erase the trauma that the Golden Empire inflicted on the OKC franchise over the last decade.
OKC just won 64 games but injuries and that silver-and-black buzzsaw in Texas sent the ex-champs home. They’ve had to spend the offseason pissed off about it while trying to keep their salary cap from exploding from having to pay all their talent. Oklahoma City traded away Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins this summer all to duck the second apron tax penalties. Three rotation guys from a 64-win team, gone, just to keep the books clean. Most teams that lose three rotation players call it a rebuilding summer, but not the Thunder baby!
And after all that, look at who’s still there: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, and Chet Holmgren. BALLERS! Although I wonder how Chet’s stock is after the Spurs series.
They re-signed Isaiah Hartenstein to a three-year, $75 million deal, and Kenrich Williams came back too. Cason Wallace inherits the starting job Dort just vacated, and he’s not walking into it cold; he averaged 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and nearly two steals a night in barely 27 minutes off the bench last year. They also added Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz in the draft, a name to file away as the expectation is he’s ready to eat soon.
Per Roundtable sports: “Stirtz’s advantage could be simplicity. He does not need the offense placed in his hands to demonstrate value. If he reliably makes open threes, defends at an NBA level and avoids mistakes, Daigneault can use him without redesigning the rotation. Nikola Topić possesses intriguing size and playmaking potential, but Oklahoma City may need him to control the ball to discover the best version of his game. Those opportunities become difficult to provide when Gilgeous-Alexander, Ajay Mitchell and several other guards have already earned trust.”
Golden State went 0-4 against this team and the Thunder have proven themselves to be in a higher class recently. OKC responded to a Game 7 conference finals loss by trimming payroll and running it back with the same three-star core all 28-and-under. The gap between the younger Thunder and the older Warriors didn’t close over the summer. But if the Dubs can be fully healthy, I’ll always like their chances in a shootout, even against a difficult Thunder puzzle.
