The NBA Has a OKC Thunder Problem…

The NBA Has a OKC Thunder Problem…

I I don’t know why we’re playing this year. It’s actually ridiculous how freaking good the Oklahoma City Thunder are to kickstart off the 2026 season. This is a team that just won it all last year. The projected finals winner this year is off to an 11 in one start without their second best scoreer. And Jaylen Williams, who has not even played a single game this year. Jaylen Williams, who just got a rookie max extension that was an all-star last year. AllNmbba last year has yet to play and the Thunder have the fifth best offensive rating this year and the second best offense in terms of points per possession over the last two weeks with no Jaylen Williams this season. Lou Dort has missed five games. Chad Homegrren has missed four games. Aaron Wiggins has missed three games. Isaiah Joe has missed five games. Alex Caruso has missed four games. And Jaylen Williams JDub has missed all 12 games this year. And the Thunder are 11-1. 11-1 this year. Like I said, fifth ranked offense and you guessed it, the number one ranked defense. Hasn’t been really close. Best defense overall this year. Best defense over the last two weeks. This team is actually ridiculous this year. And when you were making your preseason predictions going into this year, their expectations, you could have gone two ways, right? This team had to regress 68 wins in the Western Conference. That is very hard to do in two straight seasons. they were going to maybe have a little bit more injuries this season, but like they were a banged up team last year. Cadet missed over half the year. Caruso missed over 20 games last year. And this team might actually win 70 games cuz that was the other end of the expectations you could have going into this year. I mean, I expected them to be the one seed. I expected them to go to the Actually, I think I took Denver, my preseason expectations, cuz I hate taking repeat winners. Um, so I took Denver. I don’t know who’s beating this Thunder team. It’s a shame we don’t get to see. OKC and Denver play until February. Now, hopefully both these teams are at full strength. JDub is back. Everybody’s healthy. Lou Dort kind of improves. He’s been off to a slow start offensively this year. Cam Johnson hopefully improves because he’s been off to a slow start as well this season. But who is beating the Thunder? So, we’ve had what, like eight different, seven different champions over the last seven, eight years. I think this may be the first repeat since the 2017 2018 Warriors. I don’t know who is beating the Thunder. It’s going to be somebody out of the Western Conference. It has to be, right? Cuz when you’re mapping out the best teams in the NBA this year, like maybe the Lakers, the Nuggets, the Rockets give them a run for their money. Maybe they can’t take on Wemi. Maybe the Knicks or the Cavs can actually beat them in the finals at this point. But this team is literally ridiculous. Shake Alexander 34 minutes a game is averaging 33 points per game. He has actually I I want to make sure he had did he have 30 points against the Warriors last night? Uh he didn’t he had 28. So now 10 out of the 12 games this year he has scored north of 30. And yeah, one of them was at 28 against the um against the uh the Warriors. They made the Warriors look like a G-League team. If you watch that game, it’s actually crazy how you know maybe sometimes you can get you watch the Thunder and they kind of get away with a little bit more aggression than other teams I think would have some leeway on like the I mean it was more so like Kase and Wallace and Caruso against Golden State where they’re able to be a little bit more pushy, a little bit more physical hand grabby than I think other teams are given credit. Um because Steph Curry had five fouls uh last night and I I think like probably should have had less fouls than a Caruso in that game or Case Wallace in that game in my opinion. But they’re just unreal. The switchability, the like cohesiveness, the uh defensive chemistry, the ability to just have a good enough rotation when somebody gets beat. It’s just unreal. And Golden State could not knock down a shot whatsoever. There’s some brutal Golden State line windups out there. When Kuminga is not hitting his shots and Draymond is a non shooter and Po Poemski is a non-shooter and Gary Peyton’s a non-shooter, it’s tough. Like, you kind of need a Will Richard out there at times for three-point shooting. You need your buddy Heields out there. Uh because there’s too many non-shooters for Golden State. And Al Horford had a good game, but he’s not going to play backtobacks anymore. And they looked like a G-League team. I tweeted out that OKC was making them look like a G-League team and they did last night because this team is actually ridiculous this year when like offense is at an all-time high. A defensive rating of 105.4 is insane. They have a 14 net rating on the year. You guessed it, number one in the league. And they have a pretty extensive injury report. Loud door shoulder injury. Thomas Sorber out for the year. Their first round pick. Nicole Topic. We know what he’s dealing with. It’s really sad. He hasn’t played at all like an actual NBA regular season game yet. Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams also hasn’t played yet this year. I should have mentioned that as well. Like a solid enough rotational player because Sam Prey is an absolute sicko. He just he can ace the draft now. He’s going to have his whiff on draft picks for sure. Like Usman Jen whiff. He was selected ahead of Jaylen Williams. Alexis Pukuzvski whiff. Terren Ferguson whiff, right? Like he’s going to have his whiffs for sure. But he’s going to have his goddamn hits. And AJ Mitchell is the definition of a hit. He was the 38th overall pick in a week draft. Yeah, in a week draft. He’s 23 years old. He was, I believe, a four-year player, excuse me, three-year player out of University of California, Santa Barbara. He’s averaging 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists this year. Those numbers are probably not going to stay like that. At least when Jaylen Williams comes back, you’re going to think that like that I could see like AJ Mitchell still averaging in like the 14 range at the end of the year, which is unreal for a second round pick in a weak draft. and he’s definitely going to be in consideration for six man of the year this season. He is so talented and skillful for a 23-year-old. I mean, like it’s not like an average sophomore, right? Like if you’re thinking one and done, they’re 20 in their sophomore year. They’re 21 in their sophomore year. Mitchell a little bit more polished, a little bit more experienced than some of these other like just sophomores in the league. But when he has the ball in his hands, he can attack a closeout so well already. He’s going to find somebody in the corner. if it’s a Woo Dort, if it’s an Alex Caruso, if it’s an Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe, and he plays off a Shay so well. And also like when he’s on the floor and Shay isn’t, he can kind of command this offense. He could be a four general. Like who needs a Tus Jones in free agency? Who needs a 40-year-old Chris Paul? You have AJ Mitchell who is under just such a steal of a contract, right? Like when you’re talking about just what you need in the modern CBA when you have the second apron looming that you need to hit on these late draft picks or these second round picks can really extend the shelf life of your super team or your elite team because you have these top heavy max contracts in Shay, Chat, and JDub. AJ Mitchell, if he was a free agent, what he’s playing right now, this guy’s probably playing at least worth a $15 million contract. He’s making3 million this year, $2.8 8 million next year and $2.8 million in 2028. He did the same thing with Aaron Wiggins. He did the same thing with the Woo Dort Sam Prey knows how to evaluate talent. Even like Isaiah Hornstein, right? They were able to absorb him in the cap space. We know how good he was for the Thunder last year as a screen setter. Uh his floater game inside running DHOs’s on the perimeter and even as a rim protector for this team. I don’t want to say Harstein became like overrated at one point. I do think he would be a little bit more flawed not playing in this just juggernaut of a defensive system in OKC, but like he went for 30 against the the Kings. Now, the Kings have like a Swiss cheese defense in general, and that’s a whole another rant, which I just did on my STS channel, but the Thunder just are mowing down anybody that they’ve played against this year. It’s actually incredible how good they have been. I’m kind of forgetting off the top of my head who they’ve lost. Um, it was against Portland. Yes, I was that. Yeah, it was on a backto-back because they beat the Clippers. They lose to Portland by two. They lost one game and it was by two. Uh it was their worst shooting game of the year. They went 41% from the field. They did knock down 39% of their threes. Uh they got to the free throw line 31 times in that game. Shout out to Portland. That was a fun game. Now I’m remembering it a little bit more. But the Thunder are just headto toe unreal. Like I mentioned, Shay, MVP candidate this year. It’s very tough to go back to back. There’s always going to be some voter fatigue. I don’t know if I would give it to Shay right now because I mean they’re 11-1, but when you talk about like the Nuggets are 8-2 and we’re so early in MVP talk, it really depends how close they are at the end of the year. But Jokic is going to have a case. Web is going to have a case. Giannis, Luca, these guys will definitely have cases at the end of the year for the MVP uh award. But Sheay definitely going to be in those conversations right now. Chad dealing with some injuries to start off the year and he hasn’t taken like an insane offensive leap. But this man is also once again an elite three-point shooter for basically a seven foot big man that could play the four, that can play the five, that is a good enough rim protector that is very skillful still around the rim. It’s not like he’s getting overmatched physically down low. He’s getting stronger. He’s playing 30 minutes a night and that’s going to be so crucial for like Chep going forward. No idea if it’ll stay the same when like I don’t know, Jay Will hasn’t been great this year. So, god forbid there’s like a Hearnstein injury and they really need to like extend Chad’s workload a little bit more, then I could be okay, it’s going to be a decent sample size to see what Czech can look like when you’re not preserving him so much cuz like 30 minutes a night, we’re not taxing the young guy, which is good. Uh, he’s been just unreal in those 30 minutes. And he could definitely be an all-star this year. Uh, which would be the first time in his career, right? He didn’t make the All-Star game last year, did he? Uh, he did not. I actually have talked about a lot of first-time allstars. Um, so far I probably should mention Chad. Like I mentioned Jaylen Duran, Josh Giddy, Austin Reeves. Chad definitely deserves to be in that conversation. I’ve already just, oh my god, man. Glazed enough AJ Mitchell how good he was. Like when I was watching him at the combine. I always say like I dude that 2024 draft class is like my baby. It was like the first I think draft class that I was able to like I’ve always done like mocks and some big boards in the past on YouTube. But like I think it resonated very well with like at least my viewers and you guys on my Swash channel with like the big boards and the mock drafts and so much volatility where I’m trying to watch Jail Burr games and shellot games and I could barely understand what the announcers are saying because I don’t know any French um outside of maybe one word. So, like I’m watching these games and you’re trying to get a feel of like who could be acclimated or transition well to the next level. AJ Mitchell was always kind of in like that Dylan Jones, KJ Simpson, older players in college, maybe not the best competition and like how would they be over to the NBA level. I mean, I wish Mitchell caught my eye more at the combine. I really do. And maybe that’s just a big miss by me. Uh maybe I was too focused on on like Bronny James and like the tower Kolix of the world or um like yeah I had I had AJ I’m pretty sure in like the Kolic tier and the KJ Simpson tier and I didn’t have him anywhere close to like the Nicole Topic point guard one tier like the Jared McCain guard tier. I like they say Kier more than AJ Mitchell. Um which I guess isn’t that crazy now because Kier had a good rookie year and who knows like Mitchell’s numbers are bound to go down, right? Like he’s not going to average 17 points per game unless JDub actually misses like 50 games this year which he’s going to be back soon. Um anyway, and then you have Aaron Wiggins who’s also under just like a ridiculous contract which is so crucial with the second apron 10 million and it freaking descends 9 million 8 million $ 8.3 million team option in 2029 when he’s going to be like 30 years old. Sam Prey, what the hell, man? It was what game was it too? He had 27 points on November 5th. That’s the game I’m thinking of in their Portland loss. It’s just like I don’t know. I think Chad didn’t play that game. Um, if I’m remembering correctly, or they were definitely short-handed. Yeah, Chad didn’t play that game. And it’s like, okay, Shay giving you 35. Who’s going to step up? Aaron Wiggins just 27 points. Not a lot of guys can just do that. Step up in a pinch, right? With the increase in workload and be efficient enough. He’s shooting 41 from three this year, 45 from the field. And this is all with like Lud Dorp not being able to hit a single shot this year. Alex Crusoe has still been pretty inefficient around the rim. If you remember his start last year for the Thunder, he was really abysmal efficiency wise in the first half. Jay Will has not been good this year in my opinion, but you’re not really going to be worried about that because you’re like he’s your third center and his minutes like I don’t even know if he’s going to be in this rotation when JDub comes back because you can have Jub at the four. You could stagger Hornstein and Chet and depending who you’re playing, you could definitely have Jdub play your small ball five. We saw that last year for the Thunder and you we even saw like Alex Caruso guard Joic in the playoffs. So, you could definitely sit Hardenstein and Chad at the same time for like six or seven minutes. Maybe that’s too much, but like 3 to four minutes and you’re going to be just fine out there. Uh, especially if you have a double- digit lead when those guys sit down. So, this team is unreal top to bottom. I don’t know if Brooks Barnheiser um or like I don’t think Usman Jang is going to be on this team next year, but like even seeing like Brandon Carlson and Usman Jang and Chris Young Bloodood and Brooks and Brooks Barnheiser play for this team. It’s just kind of mind-blowing how good they look and and like I expected them to be this elite team. I had them number one in my preseason power rankings. That’s not going to change. I do need to update that this week now that we’re like over 10% of the way through the stad or through the season. But this team is, I think, by far and away the best team in the league. I think when you’re talking about tier one teams in the league, it’s them at the top. Like, if you’re talking about like tier one teams in the 2018 NBA season, it’s Golden State at the top and then you have your Cleveland’s and Houston’s right behind them. Uh, I think it’s OKC. Clearly tier number one in the NBA. Clearly the best team by far and away in the league. And who knows, I this could be a curse and they’re going to lose to the Lakers tonight. It’s the second leg of a backto-back. I’m not sure uh if like Chet will be out or anybody like that, but they could definitely have some injuries. LeBron is practicing with like the G-League today. He’s not playing. The Lakers have their own injuries right now as well, but the Thunder could definitely lose to the Lakers tonight for their second loss of the year. They’re not going to lose five games this year. I highly doubt they go 77 and five, but could this team go 73 and N? It’s not not out of the cards if this team could stay remotely healthy this year. Now, we didn’t see them make a single trade really last year. I forget if it was last year where they acquired like Daniel Ty from the Pelicans to like help them get under the tax. I think it was last year and then they got like a free second for it or cash and then released him. Uh if you look also like a random lottery sim on Tankathon. Uh I don’t know if this one would do it justice, but right now they have a top 10 pick. So not only is this team like the probably hands down if we’re on this path better than last year’s team, this is the best team of the 2020s. Um, this is up there with 2014 San Antonio, the Peak Heels, and the Peak Warriors as like a top five team since 2010. This might be a top five team of this century. Uh, and who knows, maybe you think they’re going to be better than the Prime Warriors. Um, they don’t have that star power, but man, their defense is absolutely incredible. They’re going to add maybe a lottery pick. So, right now, if you do like a sim, the Jazz are not in the top 10. I believe that pick is either top 10 or top eight protected. The odds are the Jazz are not picking in the top eight are incredibly low. They lost Walker Kuster for the year. They just beat the Pacers. They just dropped like 150 on them, but they’re not going to get the Jazz pick this year. They’re going to get a Clippers swap in some way, shape, or form. I still think the Clippers make the playoffs, right? Like that would be such a failure of a season. I mean, we were worried last year. I say we, I was worried last year when Kawawaii didn’t play for Team USA. He was out like indefinitely. I was like, “Oh boy, Cooper Fle could could be a thunder.” Norman Pal stepped up. Uh, this team does not have Norman Powell. Uh, James Harden has been doing all right this year, but they look old. Chris Paul looks old. Brook Lopez looks old. Nick Batum looks old. This could be a lottery pick this year, just going to the Thunder. Um, which is actually incredible. Um, and then I don’t think they’re going to get the Jazz pick. They have the Sixers top four protected pick as well. I don’t think Philadelphia is picking in the top four. So, hey, another first round pick. And then they have a rocket swap. This is the last asset uh from the from the um Chris Paul trade. Now, uh you can’t quote like don’t quote me on it, but I’m pretty sure they get the Rockets and Clippers swaps this year as well. Uh maybe there’s a chance they only get one, but I’m pretty sure they’re getting both lot like the Clippers being from the Paul George trade and the Rockets being from the Chris Paul trade and then the Wizards will get like their pick in like a different like swap versions of a bunch of different trades. So yeah, uh the Thunder are going to possibly have three first round picks. It could be three top 20 picks for sure. Like Philadelphia is good right now. I think that pick will be in the top 20. I don’t think that will be into the 20s. You don’t know with the East, but like I think Milwaukee will be better than Philly at the end of the day. Like Cleveland’s going to be better than Philly at the end of the day. I would like to I mean I would still think. Who knows though? It could all change. Uh Paul George is coming back soon. Uh but yeah, OKC is going to have three first round picks and still plenty of picks in their possession to like make a trade if they really wanted to. Sam Prey didn’t make a trade last year. Like maybe they try to get like a third big man, like an expiring contract big man for like the cheat for like some seconds. Uh because you’re going to have Thomas Sorber coming back next year off the ACL tear. You sign Jay Will to an extension. Uh I think he’s under contract for three more years after this year. Two more years. I doubt they pick up that team option in 28. Damn, he got a nice payday. Jay Will, he’s he hasn’t been great this year. People are saying like I’ve seen some Thunder fans say cuz he kind of like lost weight, which is losing his physicality down low. He’s not knocking down his threes, but you’re going to have Sorber next year. You have Topic um obviously under contract as well. I don’t know if they would trade. Yeah, just for like another center. Uh the Hardenstein thing is going to be an interesting debate. Uh I mean, we’re looking so far down the line, but like will they pick up Henstein’s 28 million? Will Hornstein take a pay cut or would a team that want to add Henstein and free agency that has cap like a Wizards or a Jazz or something like that going forward? Like all those are definitely possibilities, but this Thunder team is actually ridiculous. You guys can let me know if I’m glazing them too hard or you agree with me that they are by far and way the best team in the NBA and it’s pretty much their title to lose. Um I said in the beginning of this video that like why are we playing this season? I’m just messing like we said that with the Celtics in the past. I’m pretty sure people said that with the Suns when they acquired Bradley Beal and Ed Kevin Durant. So we have so much time left in the year. Teams are going to get better. Teams are going to get worse. The Thunder could have a notable injury for sure in the playoffs. They were pretty much at full strength for the most part last year in the playoffs outside of like Topic. So like maybe there’s some injury regression in a negative way for them. We’ll see. It’s a long season. Teams will make some moves or not. But yeah, let me know what you guys think about the Thunder. I hope you guys did enjoy this video. Hope you guys have been enjoying the content here. Um just me rambling on this extra channel and I’ll catch you guys in the next one. Peace.

My Twitter: https://x.com/sixringsofsteeI