How OKC Thunder Has The Brightest Future In The NBA!

the amount of young Talent on the Thunder's roster is enormous they have it all scoring shooting versatile big men defense and so on to further prove that this roster is really good we're going to break down every important player's game and review their expectations for this upcoming season starting with SGA shy Gill just Alexander averaged an impressive 31 points for rebounds and five assists while shooting 51 from the field 34 from 3 and 90 from the free throw line the 25 year old is a superstar he doesn't have any major weaknesses in his game and the best quality of his game is his Elite finishing where he's arguably one of the best in the NBA last season not only did he lead the NBA in drives per game but he also LED inefficiency on his drives his craftiness and unpredictability are why he's so Unstoppable in this area another thing he does well is finishing through contact and he's usually the one initiating the connection he might look fragile but when watching him throw his weight around in the paint you'll see he's a lot stronger than he seems he's able to be unpredictable because he's mad Master the ability to change speeds most players like Russell Westbrook usually see getting to the rim as a race a race Russ wins more times than not because he's one of the most explosive and quick guards of all time but with SGA he doesn't see it as a race he sees it as a timing game although he isn't a short guard standing above six foot five he's still small when compared to those seven foot Giants that roam the paint so rather than trying to out jump them and risk injury and dip in efficiency he chooses to play at a slower Pace to throw off their timing as a rim protector and shot blocker your best attribute is your timing the best shot blockers in the NBA like Anthony Davis jiren Jackson Jr Nick Claxton have an unreal ability to time and anticipate shots to get the better of them you just have to throw off their timing it's as simple as that and that's easier said than done it's not actually that simple but SGA does make it look that way he understands angles timing and momentum better than any other finisher in the NBA but getting to the rim isn't the only thing he can do because he is a great mid-range score as well he isn't the traditional mid-range jump shooter like KD or DeMar DeRozan he loves to operate just below the free throw line he was ranked second in the NBA and points outside the restricted area and ranked near the top 15 in mid-range scoring in general being dominant at getting to the rim and mid-range is amazing especially when you can draw fouls like he can he gets like 10 of his 31 points from free throws alone and for that reason alone some try to discredit his game by downplaying the 31 points which honestly to me doesn't really make sense I don't think casual fans realize that whenever a player currently or from the passes averaged well over 30 points they shot a lot of free throws Michael Jordan averaged 35 points per game in 1987 and shot 10 and a half free throws per game in 2006 Kobe averaged 31 points and shot 10 free throws per game in 2005 Allen Iverson averaged 33 points and shot a whopping 11 and a half free throws per game so my point is discrediting and downplaying a player's scoring average because he shoots a lot of free throws is just flat out wrong free throws are a part of the game and players should not be penalized by the fans for being good at drawing and making foul shots but now let's get back on topic heading into a sixth season I think we can all expect the same thing from last season he's going to continue to be a great scorer and finisher continue to make plays for others and his Improvement on defense hasn't gone unnoticed either SGA is averaging 1.6 deals per game which is due to him always being in the right place at the right time and being active in the passing Lanes with that high IQ now next up Josh Getty is the next player we're gonna go over the Australian averages 16 points eight rebounds and six assists the backcourt of SGA and kitty is working out better than most of us expected when he was drafted a lot of players who are only known as passers and Elite Playmakers in foreign leagues often don't see the same success in the NBA due to the Supreme athleticism skill and overall boatload of talent but not giddy while he isn't much of a shooter from three or the mid-range he has a nice floater that goes in a lot and the thing is with him being six foot eight he's taller than over 9 95 percent of players that guard him so combine that with his soft touch and you have someone who may have one of the best floaters in the league today he knows when and where to pick his spots he gets a lot of his points out of the pick and roll even as a young player he is Elite at identifying and making appropriate reads consistently he never really forces the issue if he sees an open Lane he attacks and if he doesn't he passes it out he doesn't hesitate or ever seem out of sort when handling the ball and that's why he's so good he just goes out and plays basketball the right way when you do that the scoring assists and rebounding will come naturally and he's not the best defender but who needs defense when you're playing alongside a player who Luka doncic called the best defender in the NBA Dort Lou is one of the best lockdown Defenders we have around today the toughness physicality and ability to guard the opposing team's best player every night is extremely admirable but offensively he needs to focus on his efficiency especially from three he shot 38 from the field and 33 from three which is not a good a combination as the Thunder get better and start making playoff runs which could be this season his inability to make shots could put him at a disadvantage the same thing happened with Dylan Brooks it was hard to play him in the postseason due to his poor shooting the same thing also happened with Jared Vanderbilt in the Western Conference Finals versus the Nuggets this past season Vanderbilt is a great defender but his lack of offense outweighed that at the biggest stage he's also a high volume shooter and I'm not saying he needs to shoot 40 percent but shooting around 35 to 36 would make a world of difference next up Jalen Williams he put on an impressive rookie campaign he showcased different things this season he averaged 14 points for rebounds and Priuses per game shooting 52 percent from the field and 35 from three but his versatility is what really stood out he can handle the ball when needed which is something he did a lot of in college similar to Josh Giddy and he doesn't play out of control and plays at a slow methodical pace which seems to be just how the Thunder play at this point averaging over 3.3 assists on a team with two Elite point guards shows how efficient of a playmaker he is every pass has meaning and he's always putting his teammates in a perfect position to score scoring wise he can get Buckets in various ways such as attacking the basket in the Picker roll and pushing the pace in transition but his most valuable quality on offense is his ability to cut off of the ball the chemistry he and Josh giddy have on the court is special and Not only would Getty he knows when and where to cut at the perfect time with giddy being one of the best post Playmakers in the game he can easily seek out Williams on backdoor Cuts as we've seen many times this past season he shot 35 percent from three on 2.7 attempts so while not a high volume shooter he can knock them down at a solid rate if he can improve his overall volume and efficiency from three that would be huge and at just 22 years old he has more than enough time to do so defensively he's good there too that incredible seven foot three wingspan allows him to be an elite threat in the passing Lanes which hints at his 1.4 steals per game he's a solid on ball Defender as well who's shown promise defending multiple positions editions so if he can improve his three in defense I will be more than confident in his ability to One Day become a star then we get to their newest edition rookie case in Wallace he is yet another nice addition to the OKC Squad the six foot three guard will provide a lot of value on both ends of the Court he even hit five threes in one half in the summer league and if he can continue to shoot that good from three then expect him to get a good amount of minutes I can't even see him making a mark on the defensive end especially learning from Lou Dort then Jalen Williams has the potential to thrive off of the bench his hustle tenacity and potential as a shooter stood out and every good team needs good bench players so his Improvement off of the bench could be instrumental moving forward the same could be said about Isaiah Joe and Osmond Yang coming off the bench they both have the job of providing spark Joe's already shown that he's an elite shooter which is exactly what he is most needed to do and yang although he's still pretty raw I expect at least a small amount of improvement I like his potential as an all-around two-way player Jeremiah Robinson Earl Poco and and their newest pickup Usman garuba are all excellent role players who are young and play both ends of the floor and of course how can we talk about the Thunder's future without mentioning Chet Holmgren Holmgren showed everyone why he was the number two overall pick in the summer league he averaged 16-9 along with two assists per game if he can carry this level of play into the regular season then the Thunder will be even more of a joy to watch imagine how many easy looks at The Rim he's going to get from playing with giddy SGA and even Jalen Williams and defensively he could change everything for OKC Rim protection is the most important aspect of a defense we've seen the Lakers be a dominant defense with A.D on the floor and then look like a middle school team when he goes down with an injury not saying that Holmgren will have a.d's impact but still his ability to protect the rim at a high level could make the Thunder a top 10 defense this season they were already the 13th best defense without him so adding him along with case and Wallace could slide them among some of the best defensive teams in the NBA but what do you think about the Thunder's future and could they actually make the playoff this season let us know in the comments down below thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one

Channel: NBA Swish

Views: 18,892

Keywords: How OKC Thunder Has The Brightest Future In The NBA!, Why OKC Thunder Has The Brightest Future In The NBA, OKC THUNDER, oklahoma city thunder, nba, okc thunder rebuild, okc thunder highlights, nba oklahoma city thunder, okc thunder future, oklahoma city thunder news, nba okc thunder, okc, okc thunder news, basketball, hoops life, shai gilgeous-alexander, jalen williams, thunder nba, josh giddey, chet holmgren, nba summer league, nba news, victor oladipo, nba free agency

Id: tL1tsMD3cvM

Length: 9min 4sec (544 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 26 2023