The Oklahoma City Thunder has been one of the most dominant teams in the NBA since the start of the 2024-25 season. Compounding last year's season of success with two veteran additions in Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein with added experience helped catapult this team from a strong, tough-to-beat team to a serious championship contender.
While not having Hartenstein to open the season, Chet Holmgren bore the large interior responsibility as he did a year ago -- and he'd handled it extremely well before his untimely hip injury. From then, several games without Holmgren, Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams saw Oklahoma City with no center to field. The team weathered that storm before Hartenstein made his Thunder debut shortly after -- which completely changed the dynamic.
And now just under 30 games into the season, the Thunder sit with only five losses and firmly hold position as the top team in the Western Conference.
There haven't been many times this Oklahoma City team has been exposed or looked defeated in 2024-25, but its recent loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup Championship has caused some to pose questions around the Thunder's readiness to be one of the top teams in the league.
After posting a mere 81 points in that bout, the Thunder couldn't crack the lid off the bucket.
But that loss doesn't paint the entire picture of who this team is or who they can be of course -- especially knowing Holmgren and Hartenstein haven't touched the floor together. As arguably the best defense in the league with offensive stars on offense in Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City is still in prime position awaiting Jaylin Williams and Holmgren despite that lackluster performance versus the Bucks.
Next, Oklahoma City faces off against a four-win team in the Washington Wizards on Monday night.