What to Expect from the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024-25 Season?

From being the black eye of the league to being the best in the West, OKC’s arrival has been somewhat kind of prophetic for Thunder GM Sam Presti’s perspective, and he did a great job of putting up the best in the game that many fans have been looking for. As the Thunder gears up for the massive campaign next season, it does seem that the stakes are high, and the offseason moves they made recently make a lot of sense at this point. After all, the Thunder GM wanted an arrival for the team, not just an appearance. The Thunder are making a strong headway towards that goal after a run in the Semis, and it seems that they will be back for more - with a bigger goal in mind now more than ever.

Many fans and critics have clamored the Thunder to trade Josh Giddey in the February trade deadline last season. Presti waited for the season to run its course and figure out what OKC really needs, and he did that perfectly when he traded the Thunder guard to acquire Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls in a straight swap, which made it look like the Thunder have won the trade by a mile. For starters, Giddey has been quite a liability for the Thunder after putting up lowly games and was even challenged to shoot – which has been his quite weakness, and it cannot be denied that with Caruso, OKC brings in a 3&D winger who can also make massive decisions and handle the ball while shooting the three before defending in transition.

It cannot be denied that OKC’s rebounding proved to be a pivotal factor in their short playoff run that ended in the West Semis at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. OKC only had Chet Holmgren as its true center presence in the game, which made it risky to run him through the entirety of the game. Presti once more addressed that with a massive signing in Isaiah Hartenstein to a a three-year, $87 million deal. For those who are wondering, the Thunder were dead in the water when it came to cleaning the glass, ranked 27th in rebounds per game and 28th in rebound percentage.

OKC does not only focus on its main stars, but also on the rest of the squad’s structure as a whole, and it cannot be denied that both Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins are crucial pieces in the team’s playoff campaigns in the years to come. Wiggins was slated to come up with a $2 million player option, but instead, OKC offered him a long-term deal for five years, worth $47 million. As a promising role player off the bench, Wiggins averaged 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game in the previous season while shooting 56.2% from the field and 49.2% from three. On the other hand, OKC’s sharpshooter, Joe, was signed a four-year, $48 million deal after he averaged 8.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists on 45.8% shooting from the field, including 41.6% from three.

OKC has been notorious for building big threes in the game so far, as was first seen in the Kevin Durant era where he played alongside Russell Westbrook and James Harden. That trend continued when Westbrook played alongside Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. However, never have the Thunder utilized a big three that had a center in it. So far, the trio of SGA, Jdub, and Chet proved to be a promising union of young stars in the game, and they are definitely expected to grow together as a massive set of players who can finally lead the Thunder to the promised land now more than ever. This is a new era of Thunder basketball that essentially delivers quite a promising touch of nostalgia that actually has a chance to come up with a title run that many fans have been waiting for in almost a decade.