Analyzing OKC Thunder’s ‘Top Goal’ to End the Season

Oklahoma City’s goals and priorities have changed more than anytime in the NBA over the last five seasons. From the rebuilding seasons to now, the Thunder’s management has had a very meticulous plan in place each season to best set the team up for future success. It appears that the time is now to reap those rewards.

There’s still plenty left to accomplish for the Thunder. If the first half of the season is any indication, though, they are more than capable of achieving anything.

Currently, Oklahoma City is 44-10 with a full 8.0 game lead on the Western Conference. The team has an MVP candidate, a supporting All-Star, and one of the deepest benches in the league. The Thunder’s defense and point differential are historic, too, ranking near the top all-time lists for NBA squads.

This week, Bleacher Report dove into every team’s goal post All-Star Break. Oklahoma City’s goal for this season is what hurt them in the playoffs last season — locking down a lineup and fine-tuning the rotation.

“The Thunder have an embarrassment of riches with the best team in the West, too much depth for coach Mike Daigneault and a laundry list of future draft picks,” Eric Pincus wrote. “Now that Chet Holmgren is back from a pelvic fracture, the team is finally at or near full strength—after running away with the conference.

“Outside of staying healthy, the franchise needs Daigneault to find the ideal playoff rotation. That may not be easy, but the Thunder don't seem to have too many ego problems. It's more a question of finding the right combinations for the postseason.”

The main difference between this year’s Thunder team and last year’s is the overall depth throughout the roster. From top to bottom, there really is no weak link. Oklahoma City won’t have to make the tough lineup decisions that they made a season ago because everyone is capable playing within this scheme.

It made things hard with Josh Giddey’s role fading as the season went on, and not wanting to mess up chemistry in the starting lineup. It’s a different story this year, though, with the additions of Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. Plenty of players have experience in and out of the starting lineup, too, as last season’s rotation was more set in stone.

Of course, the Thunder’s short sighted goal is to nail down its playoff rotation. But the full season goal is to win the whole thing at this point. With the way Oklahoma City is playing, it’s not out of the question.

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