The 2024-2025 NBA season is only a few months away, and fans can’t wait for another competitive season. The Oklahoma City Thunder had one of the best offseason by any team, adding two critical role players. They are one of the deepest teams in the NBA and the favorite to come out of the West next year. However, with all that being said they still have questions they need to answer. Today, we will look at one question that the top six Thunder players need to answer going into next season.
2024-2025 NBA Season: 1 Question For Every Thunder Player
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had back-to-back incredible seasons for the Thunder. In those seasons he has averaged 30+ points a game. In addition to that, he has been a two-time all-star and finished top five in MVP voting in the last two seasons. Last season he was runner-up to the MVP winner. He is one of the best players in the NBA. However, even with everything he does well, there is still one question he needs to answer for the Thunder going into next season.
That is will he ever develop a three-point shot? Throughout his career, he has been below average as a three-point shooter only shooting around 34.9% for his career. If he can improve his shooting and become a threat from beyond the arc. In addition to everything else he can do on the offensive end. He would be even harder to guard. However, he did show promise in the playoffs last year shooting over 40%. The Thunder hope that he can translate that to a full 82-game season.
Jalen Williams
Jalen Williams is entering year three in his young career and has shown great progress. From year one to year two he increased his points per game by five to averaging 19.1 points. In addition to that, he increased both his FG% and 3-point percentage as well. In his first two years, he has shown potential of being a legit co-star to Shai. This brings us to the one question he needs to answer for the Thunder next season.
Can Jalen continue his development and take that next leap, in becoming a true co-star to Shai? Furthermore, he has shown the ability to be that in the regular season. However, when it came to the post-season last year he struggled a lot. The Thunder hope that he can improve, and show that he can perform on a consistent level in the playoffs next year. Whereas if he is unable to show that growth the Thunder may have to find a co-star to Shai via a trade instead.
Chet Holmgren
Chet Holmgren was a rookie last year after missing his entire rookie season due to an injury. He had one of the better rookie seasons we have seen in a long time. Chet was able to score 16.5 points, to go along with 7.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks a game. Furthermore, he would have been rookie of the year in any other year, if it wasn’t for the unbelievable season from Victor Wembanyama. Going into year two one question Chet needs to answer for the Thunder is, can he get stronger?
Even with his incredible rookie season, he struggled at times covering bigger centers last year. This showed up a lot more in the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks. The Thunder would like to see him get stronger and be able to compete better down low. However, they aren’t going to expect him to get Giannis Antetokounmpo’s strength, but they would like to see him add some strength and weight to his slim frame.
Alex Caruso
Alex Caruso is the newest Thunder after he was traded away from Chicago. He is going to improve a defense that was already a top-five unit last year. You know what kind of player he is going to be on the defensive end. However, his offensive game has more question marks. One of those questions that Caruso needs to answer for the Thunder next year is, can he build off of the three-point success that he had last year.
Last year, Caruso had an uptick in three-point volume increasing his three-point shot attempts by two a game. Nonetheless, he has never had back-to-back great three-point shooting seasons. One year he would shoot 40% and another he would shout below 35%. The Thunder are hoping that he can break that streak and have another good year shooting the ball with the same volume he had last year.
Lu Dort
Lu Dort, just like Shai, is the longest-tenured Thunder player left on the roster. Since he has been with the Thunder he has made great improvements from year to year. Coming into the league, Dort was only viewed as a defensive specialist with a raw offensive game. Fast-forward to know he has a legit offensive game as well as keeping his defensive intensity. Just like Caruso, you know what you are getting from Dort on the defensive end. However, his questions are on the offensive end. He has improved greatly as a three-point shooter but needs to improve other areas of his offensive game. The one question he needs to answer for the Thunder is, can he be a more reliable driver/finisher and playmaker?
Dort has come a long way on the offensive end, but being a better finisher and playmaker is something he can still improve. There were improvements in this last year, he just needs to build off of those improvements. There are still times that he drives to the hoop and makes a bad play or has a bad lay-up attempt. A lot of that happens because he is playing too hard, something the Thunder staff don’t want him to stop doing. However, just being more controlled when he is driving to be a better facilitator or finisher in those areas.
Isaiah Hartenstein
Finally, Isaiah Hartenstein just like Caruso was the Thunder’s big addition this offseason. He left the New York Knicks for a hefty price of 29 million per year over the next three seasons. However, he came to improve the major weakness the Thunder had last year and that was rebounding. Furthermore, he will also take a lot of the pressure away from Chet. The one question he still needs to answer for the Thunder is how he will fit in the role with the Thunder and their five-man out system. This is a big question for him since he is a big that doesn’t space the floor.
To go along with that, his passing ability should help with his limited floor spacing, but is that enough? He did however mention that he could look to add a three-point shot during next season, but how is that going to look? Will it be efficient enough to sustain for an 82-game season? These are all major questions he needs to answer for the 29 million price tag to be worth it. However, if he can fit into the role the Thunder staff will give him in this five-man out system and he is successful in it. It will be a major risk that is well worth it in the end.
