The Oklahoma City Thunder are tasked with high expectations this season. Gone are the days of being the spunky up and coming squad, despite their youth on the roster everyone is tabbing the Thunder as contenders.
Anything shy of a Western Conference Finals appearance is going to be viewed as a disappointment and even that mark might not satisfy every observer. However, that is the price of loading up a truly elite roster with an embarrassment of riches and a team still on the rise with young talent developing each season.
The Thunder won 57 games a year ago, nabbing the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and winning their first playoff series since 2016. This summer, all Oklahoma City did was bolster that roster adding Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso while only losing Josh Giddey as far as relevant impact players go.
While this has led many pundits – and even Vegas – to tab the Thunder as the top team out West, the advanced stats back it up. According to Synergy’s player impact stat, Oklahoma City has the most players that fall into the plus category in the NBA.
Hartenstein and Caruso join an already impressive group of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams and Chet Holmgren
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