Why OKC Thunder’s Starting Five is the NBA’s Best

Oklahoma City needed all hands on deck for its magical Finals run. The franchise brought home its first NBA championship after a historic regular season and silenced every doubter along the way.

It was an organizational effort from top to bottom, but it really was a perfect roster. Oklahoma City was the deepest team in the league and it showed on the brightest stage. Mark Daigneault never wavered from his strategy of playing a deep bench and the effort and energy outlasted other elite teams in the postseason.

The bench played a key role in the Thunder’s title run, there’s no doubt about it. But the Thunder also had one of the best — if not the best — starting lineups in the NBA. Oklahoma City’s starting lineup logged an unbelievable plus-14.8 when sharing the floor together. It didn’t matter if Oklahoma City went big with Isaiah Hartenstein or small with Cason Wallace — it was sheer domination.

As the Thunder turns its attention to a quest for going back-to-back, there will be a lot of familiar faces up and down the rotation. The starting five should remain unchanged, and the team’s entire lineup is back for another year. The chemistry will only continue to grow.

As Oklahoma City’s starting lineup was the NBA’s best a season ago, there’s no reason to expect that will change this upcoming season. Bleacher Report recently graded each team’s starting lineup after the offseason, and it’s no surprise that the Thunder’s was in the top group.

“OKC's title-winning team is fully intact and should have plenty of trust in the above unit, which offers a double-big look without sacrificing spacing or secondary facilitation,” Grant Hughes wrote. “If anything, (Chet) Holmgren should be expected to improve his shooting, and Hartenstein could easily make further developments as a foul-line passing hub.

“(Lu) Dort and J-Dub are as good as it gets defensively on the wing, and Holmgren is arguably more impactful than either of them as a highly mobile shot-blocker. With SGA running an offense that should be focused on improving its flow, there's no reason to expect these guys to be anything less than the best lineup in the league.”

Oklahoma City received the highest grade given out at an A, as there were no A+ grades given out across the league. Joining the Thunder at A-status was the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Houston Rockets. Of course, three of those teams are Western Conference foes, and the Thunder faced off against two of them in the postseason.

This Thunder team getting even better with another year of chemistry, development, and continuity should be a terrifying thought for the rest of the NBA — but it’s entirely possible. By the time the bench unit comes in, the comfortable lead allows the rest of the rotation to play a free flowing style of basketball and maintain the pace on both ends of the floor.

Oklahoma City’s starting lineup should only improve with more court time and motivation to back to back.