What is OKC Thunder’s Biggest Question Mark Heading Into Game Week?

It’s no secret. Oklahoma City is the NBA’s best team on paper — that’s why they’re the odds on favorite to go back-to-back and win another NBA Championship.

But as Oklahoma City knows all too well, sometimes it’s not about who’s well positioned, or who has the best roster on paper. It takes luck and the perfect situation, combined with all of those things, to bring home the Larry O’Brien. It was simply the perfect storm a season ago with an all-time roster for the Thunder, and Oklahoma City is certainly hoping that’s how it goes down again.

When thinking about the Thunder’s biggest question mark heading into the season, it’s honestly difficult to find one. The Thunder’s management has done a fantastic job of filling in the gaps, adding depth, and putting this team in a great position to succeed. There’s still overarching questions that could be asked, though. And in Bleacher Report’s latest article detailing a question mark for every NBA team, an interesting one was posed for the Thunder.

Did near misses in the playoffs reveal any vulnerabilities?

“There's no objective argument against the Thunder being the NBA's best team last season and no obvious reason to believe they won't hold that title once again,” Zach Buckley wrote. “They return, almost entirely intact, a roster that won 68 games, (comfortably) set the all-time mark for scoring differential and went home with a title.

“That said, these weren't exactly the Sooner State Steamrollers in the playoffs. While they made quick work of the Grizzlies and Timberwolves, they needed all seven games to fend off a Nuggets team featuring an injury-impacted Michael Porter Jr. and an unreliable reserve unit. Then, they needed another seven tilts to get past the superstar-less (and, for much of Game 7, Tyrese Haliburton-less) fourth-seeded Pacers.”

At times during the playoff, Oklahoma City's offense really appeared to dry up. The main problem seemed to be a lack of offensive initiators, especially when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench. It felt like the beautiful, free-flowing ball movement from the regular season wasn't on display nearly enough when the court shrunk in the postseason.

Oklahoma City has a few options to combat that this season, but none should be considered sure-fire things. Ajay Mitchell and Nikola Topic could certainly be offense initiators off the bench and take some of the pressure off of Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. Mitchell, specifically, is probably ready for a bigger role like that and would be in line for postseason minutes.

Williams also played the entire postseason on an injured wrist that needed surgery directly after, which likely hampered his ability to take over the offense and really pound the rock like he wanted to. Another leap from him this season could play a big factor here.

“None of that diminishes their accomplishment, obviously, but did those series show any vulnerabilities that were otherwise seldom seen?” Buckley asked. "OKC did have some shaky shooting moments, and if there's any weakness with this team, that's probably the one.”

When the isolation offense takes over, it can lead to late shot clock catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts, and sometimes that plagued the Thunder. If that's the least of their concerns, though, they're certainly in a great spot. It'll be something that the roster and the staff will have to work through, and it'll only help them grow in the long run.