Will the OKC Thunder be a Playoff Team in 2023-24?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to have their most fun and exciting season in years, both due to the roster they’re fielding and the expectations set for them.

With former No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren seeing NBA action for the first time, Vasilije Micic finally making the move over and the addition of recent tenth overall pick Cason Wallace, the team, in theory, set to be markedly better than last year.

The number one question most fans are concerned with at this point in time: will the Thunder be a playoff team?

Just last season the team made the play-in tournament, and even won a game before being ousted by Minnesota. With big additions, all signs would point to them being a playoff team, as winning just a few more games could get them there.

But it’s not always that simple.

While Oklahoma City was adding assets, the Western Conference was loading up on its own. The Suns and Rockets added former eastern All-Stars in Bradley Beal and Fred VanVleet, respectively. Dallas signed Kyrie Irving to an extension and bolstered their team more Richaun Holmes and Grant Williams. And Marcus Smart was shipped over to Memphis with no star-level players heading East in return.

Aside from those, there were a number of other smaller deals to help Western Conference teams out even more.

One of Oklahoma City’s biggest advantages will be fresh legs. Teams like the Clippers, Lakers and more will likely need to sit their aging stars more often than that of one of the youngest teams in the league. And with a gauntlet of a conference games, each and every win will be pivotal towards their end-of-season seeding.

Another disadvantage, though, will likely be getting every team’s best shot. Last season, OKC surprised with a 40-win season. Now, they’ll be on others radars as a team to be feared night-in and night-out.

Suffice to say, winning games in the Western Conference will not be easy. And earning a top-six seed is likely to be an uphill battle for even the best of teams. But doing so this early in the rebuild could cement the Thunder as a perennial contender.

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