With the NBA on the verge of heading into the offseason once a new champion is crowned between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals, there are a few interesting situations with some young teams potentially set to take a giant leap next season.
One team that has gotten zero attention heading into the offseason is the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who seems to be inching toward superstardom.
During the 2022-23 NBA regular season, the Thunder defied the odds as a team no one saw coming and were aiming at punching their ticket to the playoffs.
Unfortunately, Oklahoma City came back down to Earth in the second half of the season, which led to people writing them off, but next season the Thunder could be a force to be reckoned with for several reasons.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer lists a few reasons why the Thunder will be a team to watch in the years to come.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have one of the NBA's best futures.
-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
-Jalen Williams
-Josh Giddey
-Chet Holmgren
-A bunch of other talent
-#12 pick
-Tons of future 1stsI brought @jkylemann and @tylrparkr on Beyond The Arc to discuss the Bright Future Thunder: pic.twitter.com/7E3gzeAJvD
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) June 7, 2023
One thing many people forget when talking about the Thunder this season is that they lost rookie Chet Holmgren before the year even began for this promising young team.
Holmgren went down with a season-ending injury and won’t make his rookie debut until next season, another reason for optimism in Oklahoma City.
The young core of Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, and Josh Giddey is impressive enough to think this team might not be struggling for that much longer, let alone adding Jalen Williams into the mix and players they may bring in through the draft.
NEXT: The Thunder Continue A Trend Of NBA Excellence
