How the Thunder are Sculpting a Future Playoff Team

While the Oklahoma City Thunder continue to rebuild their squad for the future, there’s one thing they can’t lose sight of, and that’s winning. It’s important to build a team with potential, but also knowing there’s guys on the team that fit a winning mold.

For the Thunder, they began their rebuild with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the blockbuster trade that sent Paul George (and essentially Kawhi Leonard) to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Since then, the Thunder have paved the way for Gilgeous-Alexander to become the main guy on the floor, and he’s accepted that role and excelled in it.

This season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30.8 points per game on 50 percent efficiency from the field. He’s the clear-cut best scorer and has taken a jump each season in that department.

Jumping in points per game isn’t the only thing Gilgeous-Alexander has done, though. His efficiency is going up and he’s getting to the foul line much better. It’s been the biggest part of his leap this season. His ability to efficiently put points on the board is helping him reach superstar status.

While he’s picking up on that superstar status, though, he’s becoming the Thunder’s closer and clutch guy. He has knocked down three shots in the finals two seconds of regulation or overtime. This number is the second most in a single season in the past 25 years, behind only Kobe Bryant. First off, that’s an incredible comparison and company for the 6-foot-6 star, but there’s also plenty of season for him to tie or take the lead.

So, the Thunder have seemingly brought in their star, closer, and overall best player, which is the hardest part of the rebuild. Next, they’ll need a deep roster that embodies a “next man up” mentality. Come playoff time, teams are going to gameplan heavily around Gilgeous-Alexander, so how will the Thunder combat that?

Well, the Thunder’s second and third best players will have to be able to take over parts of the game. Next season, that will be Josh Giddey and Chet Holmgren. Those two are going to be talented enough to fill voids that Gilgeous-Alexander may occasionally leave.

The Thunder has got the potential to be an incredibly deep squad too. In the rare scenario that the Thunder’s top three players all struggle, it’s not impossible for Jalen Williams and Lu Dort to pick up the slack and score 20 or more points. Add Tre Mann into the mix, and even Ousmane Dieng. They’ve got loads of young talent that will make for a deep squad that is also top heavy, which is a solid mold for a playoff team.

Now, the Thunder will just need to continue and develop, which could ultimately lead them to some sort of postseason play next season, even if that is just the Play-In Tournament.

One thing every Thunder fan can agree with is that the last competing Thunder era lacked shooting, and this time around, it's hard to imagine the Thunder will ignore that. They'll be able to scalp a team that is built for postseason success, and that will lead to another exciting era for Thunder basketball.

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