Whereas the 2025 Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder’s resume will stack up with a number of the best of all time ought to they win the NBA Finals, the informal fan should still imagine this staff is league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander taking part in the star whereas his teammates assume lesser roles within the manufacturing.
If Monday’s resounding Recreation 4 victory in Minnesota proved something, it’s the crew in Oklahoma Metropolis is rather more of an ensemble solid than it’s a Gilgeous-Alexander carry job. If the emergence of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren continues on the trajectory Recreation 4 exemplified, the NBA’s newfound period of parity could be way more short-lived than many would hope.
Supporting Solid Emerges
Whereas Gilgeous-Alexander after all led the way in which together with his first 40-point playoff outing, Williams was proper behind his teammate with 34 factors and a 6-of-9 taking pictures clip from 3-point vary. Holmgren served as a dominant defensive presence with a team-high 4 “shares” (analytical jargon for steals + blocks) to go along with 21 factors on 9-of-14 taking pictures and 7 rebounds.
The soiled secret behind SGA’s 40-ball on Monday was his 13-of-30 efficiency from the sphere total and his 2-of-9 clip from 3-point vary. Williams went 13-of-24 from the sphere total, which means the third-year guard out of Santa Clara had the identical quantity of made area targets as the present MVP of the league on six much less pictures. That time have to be emphasised to not criticize SGA, however to contextualize simply what Thunder GM Sam Presti has in-built Oklahoma Metropolis.
“The factor I am most impressed with about (Williams) is his capacity to study from his experiences in a short time,” Thunder coach Mark Daigenault stated. “He had some video games within the Denver collection the place he wasn’t nice offensively. He simply appears at it in a really intentional manner and he improves. Shai did a very good job of discovering him, however I simply suppose his carryover and his development from sport to sport is thrilling as a result of he’s nonetheless a younger participant, as nice of a participant as he’s.”
J-Dub this postseason:
20.5 PPG5.6 RPG5.3 APG1.7 SPG
High two in PPG, APG and SPG for the Thunder. pic.twitter.com/nXmHdEwAxb
— StatMuse (@statmuse) Could 27, 2025
What Monday additionally confirmed is that the NBA will seemingly don’t have any reply for this rising ensemble solid. The Thunder’s beginning lineup took 72 area purpose makes an attempt and scored 101 factors in complete, with 68 of these area purpose makes an attempt and 95 of these factors coming from the “Massive 3” that consists of Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren.
Reinforcements Nonetheless To Come
Oh, and I say that it’s a rising ensemble solid as a result of Presti nonetheless has what looks like half the league’s draft capital and a Serbian phenom by the identify of Nikola Matter ready within the wings.
How is that doable, you ask? As a result of the Thunder nonetheless had the No. 12 choose in final yr’s NBA Draft regardless of having one of the best common season report within the NBA. With that choose, they selected Matter, who at one level was slated to go on the very high of the 2024 NBA Draft earlier than struggling a torn ACL that required him to overlook the 2024-25 season. Thus, the wealthy get richer.
Nikola Matter ranked amongst Europe's greatest PNR gamers at 18, which is horrifying contemplating how a lot PGs sometimes enhance with age and expertise. His capacity to make instantaneous reads, map out the court docket, and course of the sport with surgical precision is a uncommon and coveted commodity. pic.twitter.com/AXQmmJdeR0
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 10, 2024
The Thunder personal the Miami Warmth’s first-round choose this season, putting them proper outdoors the lottery with the No. 15 total choose regardless of the staff being on monitor for an NBA title. Oklahoma Metropolis additionally owns Philadelphia and Utah’s first-round picks in 2026, although the 76ers’ choose is protected if it lands within the 1-4 vary, whereas Utah’s could be protected if it falls inside the 1-8 vary.
Why KAT Is The Most Essential Participant For NYK’s Title Hopes
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