7 Biggest Threats to the Celtics' Chances to Repeat as NBA Champions
By Andrew Fiore
6. Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City has been one of the most remarkable stories in the NBA.
After four consecutive first-round exits, the Thunder decided to blow it all up and start from scratch. In 2019, they parted ways with the face of the franchise Russell Westbrook and traded away star Paul George for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks, and two first-round swaps.
They failed to win 25 games in each of the subsequent two seasons and remained below .500 in 2022-23. In a major turn of events however, the freshly revitalized Thunder went 57-25 and earned the top seed in a tightly contested Western Conference, sweeping the Pelicans and proving to be a tough out against the eventual conference champions Dallas Mavericks.
Over the past two seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as a superstar. In both seasons, he averaged over 30 points per game, finished top 5 in MVP voting, and earned All-Star and first-team All-NBA honors. His supporting cast is nothing to scoff at either. 2022 second-overall pick Chet Holmgren played his first season and finished as the runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting after averaging 2.3 blocks per game. Jalen Williams, acquired through one of the Paul George trade draft picks, made a massive leap and averaged 19.1 ppg last season.
The team also added veteran Alex Caruso, a notable defensive stalwart who landed on the All-Defensive Second Team. There is definitely a bright future for Oklahoma City after they pulled off one of the fastest rebuilds in recent memory.
However, this is a young team with limited playoff experience that has yet to go on a deep run and establish its identity. While they were able to beat Boston last season by four, the Celtics blew the doors off, winning by 35 in their next matchup. They lack the talent off of the bench to match that of the Celtics and some of the other major Western powers, which showed in the Dallas series last season.
It feels as though a championship is inevitable for the Thunder at some point in the SGA era, but their inexperience and lack of depth suggests that it is not their time yet.