The Oklahoma City Thunder have looked like a title contender and they haven’t played at full force yet.
Entering the season, there were many singing the praises of the Oklahoma City Thunder. They added Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein — two crucial role players — while only losing Josh Giddey (arguably addition by subtraction) and zero draft capital.
They’ve delivered since, as they currently sit atop the Western Conference with a 15-5 record. When factoring in injuries to both Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, the squad’s two centers, their record is impressive. They’ve dealt with other absences, too, like Caruso and Jaylin Williams.
The two additions have proved to be positive and the team is certainly headed in the right direction as a title contender. Having an MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a budding All-Star in Jalen Williams helps, too.
The Thunder can achieve a historical feat this season
The Thunder are on a 60-plus win rate with their current record. They’ve got a good squad, that much is no secret. As mentioned, having a player like Gilgeous-Alexander at the helm is quite beneficial. Still, they’ve got a play style that travels well.
Oklahoma City thrives on hard-nosed defense (which has only gotten more physical this year) and getting to the rim offensively to create quality shot attempts. The second of those two is unique and promotes everyone making plays at a high level.
Defensively, the Thunder are elite. Not just this season elite, either, but historically elite. Steph Noh revealed a glaring statistic on social media. The Thunder has a historical relative defensive rating at 8.6, which ranks No. 3 all-time (it’s worth noting, the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets are currently No. 10 all-time).
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What is a relative defensive rating? In the graphic shared by Noh, it’s described as this: “The difference between a team’s defensive rating and league-average defensive rating in any given season.”
The Thunder are an incredibly great defensive squad. The statistic does a great job of showing that as there is an absurd amount of talent in the league, yet Oklahoma City does a great job at slowing their opposition down.
The Thunder have yet to maximize their potential in the season
Not only does Oklahoma City have a Western Conference-leading record, but they’ve done so while balancing injuries. Not just ticky-tacky injuries, either. Hartentstein missed a portion of the beginning of the season.
Before Hartenstein was able to debut in Thunder threads, Chet Holmgren went down with an injury that will leave him out until February or beyond. Those two anchor an elite defense, yet they’ve been unable to share the floor together.
Whenever one of Holmgren or Hartenstein are in the Thunder’s lineup, they’ve posted a 12-2 record. They are elite when their centers play.
There is optimism the two will play incredibly well off one another, too. Hartenstein can body up defenders while Holmgren plays a “free safety” role, as in a football position, to disrupt the passing lanes with his length and mobility.
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