If you are a fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder, there has been very little to complain about this season.
OKC boasts the NBA’s best record, has the MVP frontrunner and is the prohibitive favorite to come out of the Western Conference.
Despite all of those positives, negatives will surely arise — and one did Wednesday night. After leading by 10 at halftime, the Golden State Warriors outscored OKC by 17 in the second half, eventually winning 116-109.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 52, but his teammates let him down. The rest of the Thunder combined for just 57 points and couldn’t make a shot down the stretch. Isaiah Joe and Jalen Williams played ok, but too often they came up short in big moments. Williams played well in the final minute of the game, but by then it was all but decided.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s heroics have typically led to wins this season. On the surface, OKC’s issues are few compared to most NBA teams. But, on a few occasions, OKC’s lack of weapons outside of Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams has shined through in a big way.
In games against Dallas, Golden State and Cleveland it has come into focus that OKC’s role players can struggle over long stretches. Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Cason Wallace and others have established track records of being streaky shooters and when defenses collapse on Gilgeous-Alexander he is often dishing it out to players who have come up small in the few times that OKC has been in big-time situations.
Perhaps Chet Holmgren returning from injury will give Gilgeous-Alexander the release valve he needs in clutch situations, but it is easy to see a world where OKC’s ultimate ceiling is limited if its role players do not improve their late-game performances.
Luckily for OKC, there is a clear path to solving this issue.
The Thunder has access to an endless supply of draft capital and has tradeable contracts. It just so happens that players like that are consistent outside shooters and fit into a slot OKC still needs to fill size-wise and have been available (ie. Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith).
To think OKC is in desperate need of a trade is ignorant, but the same thing can be said of someone who thinks OKC shouldn’t be aggressive in pursuing roster upgrades for a team on the verge of competing for a championship at the highest level.
Wiggins and Joe are great players who can play at a championship level, but if trading one of them is the final straw for OKC acquiring a player like Johnson, it could be repeating the same mistake it made back when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were seen as a sure thing to win the championship.
It’s unlikely OKC will make a move this season, and Holmgren could erase all of these issues in his first game back. That being said, the Thunder should be taking note of its role players’ performance in clutch spots and adapting as needed.
