Rebuilding an NBA franchise into a serious contender is a big challenge that spans many years and involves tactical trades. While it is normal for a team to go through a rebuild, not every team gets the result they want in the end. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, it looks like they have rebuilt into a great team with significant potential for continued future improvement.
Currently, the Thunder have the youngest roster in the NBA, with an average age of 24.128. Even though only one month of the 2024-2025 season has passed, this young squad is currently sitting on top of the Western Conference with an 11-4 record, losing games to the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, and an upset at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs at the time of writing. Last season, the team ended with a 57-25 record, finishing as the first seed in the Western Conference—making the Thunder the youngest team to finish at the top of either conference in NBA history. Sweeping the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs, the championship run was cut short after falling to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. It became clear that the young team had some serious talent on the roster.
The team has not looked this good for years, and the successful turnaround is attributable to general manager Sam Presti. The rebuild started in 2019 when the Thunder announced the trade of Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA), Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks, and two pick swaps. In retrospect, it seems that SGA alone would have been enough in exchange for George, but OKC got the added bonus of numerous draft picks. After the trade, the Thunder parted ways with Russell Westbrook, trading him to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul, two more first-round draft picks, and two pick swaps. The Westbrook trade ended an 11-year relationship with the team, where he had many notable achievements. The following season, Paul was traded to the Phoenix Suns for numerous players and a 2022 first-round draft pick. In 2022, the Thunder used that pick to draft Chet Holgren second overall and Jalen Williams twelfth in the first round. From that point, the franchise had replaced many of the older players with a young roster.
During this year’s offseason, the team added veteran Alex Caruso in exchange for Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls. Additionally, the team added Isiah Hartenstein from free agency. Shai was last season’s MVP runner-up, continuing to play exceptional basketball, averaging 28.5 points per game this season. With Holmgren, Williams, and Hartenstein out with injuries, Gilgeous-Alexander and Caruso are going to play large roles in the team’s success in the coming months. Early in the season when the whole team was healthy, the chemistry between all the players was clear.
It is also worth mentioning coach Mark Daigneault, the reigning coach of the year from last season, who signed a multi-year contract extension in 2023. Being credited for player development, Daigneault’s commitment to sticking around for years to come will allow these players to continue honing their craft.
It is hard to pinpoint the exact move made by management that set this team up for success. I believe the draft picks played a large role in allowing OKC to find young talent and develop a pipeline of youth to their roster. It also seems that Sam Presti has a good eye for talent—after all, he picked four all-NBA players in Kevin Durant, Westbrook, James Harden, and Domantas Sabonis. Playing to his strengths, Sam Presti’s rebuild is looking quite impressive.
To top it all off, the team still holds significant draft capital to make further improvements. In fact, the Thunder hold the most future picks in the league. Holding onto this war chest of draft picks, the Thunder are legitimate contenders right now. They can trade picks for high-quality established players or more young talent to develop. Over the span of a few seasons, the Oklahoma City Thunder have turned it around and bright days are ahead. Rebuilding a team is a strategic endeavour and it seems that OKC has played its cards right. It is premature to say that the rebuild was a complete success until they win a championship, but from the way it looks, that may be on the horizon for this team.