Mid-Season Grades: OKC Thunder One Mark Away From Perfect, 'Great At Almost Everything'
Last season, surprising and the Oklahoma City Thunder seemed to go hand-in-hand.
It had one of the youngest teams in the NBA, but instead of sinking to the bottom like expected, it thrived and made it to the Play-In Tournament in its inaugural year.
Now, the surprise element is gone. If the Thunder wasn't good anymore, it'd be chalked up to a positive one-off, and if it once again rose to the top of the league — which it has — then it'd be a continuation of a reality already been experienced.
The latter has rung true again and again this season as Oklahoma City has recorded win after win, which was enough to earn then a near-perfect grade in CBS Sports' mid-season rankings (A).
"The Thunder are elite in basically every area," CBS Sports wrote. "[It] entered the season as the league's second-youngest team and [is] already great at almost everything. [It's] an elite shooting team that also ranks fifth in paint points and sixth in fast-break points. [It] generates a ton of turnovers and never turn[s] the ball over. [It] allows the lowest field goal percentage in the restricted area in the NBA and the ninth-lowest corner 3-point percentage."
Dec 8, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7), and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) celebrate after Chet Holmgren scores a basket against the Golden State Warriors during the second half at Paycom Center.
© Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
The list goes on, and for good reason. The Thunder this season have excelled in all facets, which is why it's been able to knock off teams night in and night out. But despite the near-perfection, as seen by the A-grade without an additional "+" marking, there are things that the young team has to work on.
"The weaknesses are scarce and solvable," CBS Sports wrote. "They're not a particularly strong team. ... They can't get a rebound to save their lives. ... They foul too much, but many top defenses do, and frankly, their young players will start getting their own star whistles soon enough."
So, with a little extra strength and a lot more experience, the Thunder has the makings of a great team, but again, that's exactly its thing. It already is. And it's still young.
"It do[es] all of this and it's pretty safe to assume [it's] going to continue getting better, both because of age and [its] mountain of trade assets," CBS Sports concluded. "It's not even fair to say the Thunder is ahead of schedule at this stage. ... The NBA has never had a team that was both this young and this well-rounded."
With an A-grade and plenty more time to develop ahead of it, the Thunder sits in a strong position. That much is known, and right now, that might be all it needs.
Now, it just has to continue to prove it.
Oklahoma City is back in action at home Tuesday evening against the Portland Trail Blazers. Tipoff from Paycom Center is set for 7 p.m. CST.
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