What an exciting 2023-24 OKC Thunder season! Next key date for the Thunder comes in late June for the 2024 NBA Draft. Below are some final takes from our team!
Thunder Radio Network Host – Gideon Hamilton
The Oklahoma City Thunder concluded their wild ride through the 2023-24 season on Saturday with a loss to Dallas in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. The team enjoyed early success, but a difficult schedule was looming throughout late December and January. After the Thunder passed many of those tests, expectations continued to rise and be met by the group until achieving what few thought was possible; the number one seed in the Western Conference.
This year saw a complete transformation of the team without many major changes, with the exception of stellar play by their two rookie contributors. Oklahoma City went from one of the worst shooting teams in the league to one of the best offenses in modern NBA history, leading all other teams in field goal, three point and free throw percentage for most of the year. The Thunder’s training staff and youth also served them well, as they lost only 13 starters games due to injury, by far the best in the league. Can these two aspects continue into next year? If they do, the Thunder have an opportunity with individual improvement and additions to the roster to be in the discussion with some of the greatest teams that have ever entered a gym.
Thunder Radio Network Co-Host + Host of The Drive M-F 9a-12p – Matt Ravis
Playoff basketball is something else. The familiar highs that once flooded our brains with feel-good chemicals did return, and with those the emotional lows of adversity and an early exit from the playoffs. Such is Thunder and NBA basketball.
As far as moving forward: Thunder general manager Sam Presti has done the first of two very challenging things, the second more challenging than the first.
The first thing is building an identity, tapping cornerstone players, and surrounding that talent with a cast of sensible supporting players and a coaching staff that can develop and maximize their ability.
That’s difficult enough, but the second part is harder: making the configurations needed to put the team you’ve already built over the top.
There will be mock trades and mock drafts, there will be rumors and gossip. There will be an entire summer of discussing what the Thunder will do (or didn’t do) and how that will help (or hurt) them next year.
There will necessarily need to be improvement from an individual standpoint. SGA is excellent, but there is more room to elevate and empower teammates.
Jalen Williams will have to prove, over and over and over again, that he can be the 2nd option – and he absolutely can.
Chet can get stronger, work harder on exploiting mismatches. He can build on a very productive rookie year.
I could keep going, but we’ll keep this short for now. All of this will be hashed out all summer long. Just remember to keep this perspective: NBA history shows teams endure losses, usually embarrassing and lopsided, before they graduate to true champion material.
There is no guarantee for this team, but this experience will ultimately help them, both with lessons learned and motivation extracted.
Morning Animals Host – Curtis Fitzpatrick
That’s what I Tweeted/X’d out from inside the American Airlines Center after the Thunder lost Game 6 to the Mavs Saturday night. That sat well with many. Made others mad. And I get it. It’s hard to take big picture approach after a heartbreaking loss from a game you could/should have won. But, when you step back and look at the whole season, this was absolutely a home run campaign. Now, to make it a Grand Slam, more work is to be done.
Last year, the biggest improvement from last year’s Play-In team (Also unexpected) was the addition of Chet Holmgren. But, not far behind was the fact that almost everyone that returned improved. A lot.
So, next season, where can OKC find the best path for improvement? How can they get further in the Playoffs? I think it will be a combination of both paths they took prior to this season. Addition and internal improvement. Will Sam Presti take a big swing in the off season with all his assets? He could. But, he doesn’t have to. He can make a few small moves around the edges. He could let this team play it out again and wait until someone becomes available at next year’s trade deadline. He has options.
My guess is he will make a move. Will that include Josh Giddey going somewhere else? Again, that’s very possible. Whatever Presti decides to do, the biggest area to address is obvious. They need size. They need rebounding. They need another bad dude. They could sign someone. They could trade for someone. Again, Presti has options. Draft week and the free agency period will be fascinating.
Thunder Radio Network Producer – Preston Poole
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s arrival into the playoffs ended in Dallas on Saturday night. We’ve had a few sleeps since, and I think it’s important to sit back and realize what one of the youngest teams in NBA history did. Not many picked them to win 57 games, and no one picked them to be the number one seed in a tough Western Conference. SGA shined, JDub barked, and Chet was as promised. The future is bright in OKC once again.
Speaking of the future. Looking ahead it’s clear that the title window is open now in OKC. Sam Presti, and the Thunder Front Office need to capitalize on this. The Thunder have an arsenal of draft picks and young players to acquire the necessary weapons needed to win an NBA title. We’ve seen how fast a title window can slam shut before, it’s time to win now.
The Drive Producer & The Bottom Line Host – Matt Meyer
A season better than I could’ve imagined ended in heartbreak with the Thunder’s 117-116 loss to the Mavericks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Going into the year, I thought a reasonable goal would’ve been to be one of the top six seeds, earning the right to avoid the play in tournament. As this team kept winning, I thought the goal could be to be one of the top four seeds and have home court advantage in the third round. Never would I have thought that OKC would tie for the second most wins in the league and earn the top seed in the Western Conference. Win a playoff series, and everything else would be gravy on the chicken fry, I told myself. Well, the Thunder did that, put it still stings to see them lose in the second round as the one seed. The Mavericks’ trade deadline acquisitions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford bolstered a team that already had two of the top ten players in the world in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, so perhaps Dallas was better than a normal five seed. Disappointing ending aside, the future is incredibly bright. Questions loom about the futures of Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and Josh Giddey, but with 11 players under the age of 26, the core of the team under contract for years to come, and an army of draft picks at Sam Presti’s disposal, the Thunder is in position to contend season after season for the foreseeable future.
