The Oklahoma City Thunder's Championship Window Remains Wide Open
Despite finishing a season that fell just short of a playoff berth, the Oklahoma City Thunder's championship window remains open going forward. Assuming Kevin Durant and Co. can stay healthy, few teams will be able to match the Thunder's combination of talent, youth and depth.
The Thunder's absence from the postseason and the rise of teams like the Golden State Warriors make it easy to forget how great this OKC club is. How many franchises can boast having two MVP-caliber players as well as a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate?
What is even scarier is Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka are still in the prime of their careers.
With an elite core still in its mid-20s, Oklahoma City is one of the rare clubs built both for now and the future. General manager Sam Presti has also done an excellent job of surrounding OKC's "Big Three" with young role players through the draft such as Steven Adams, Andre Roberson and Mitch McGary.
This past season, the biggest obstacle to the team's championship hopes was themselves. Injuries limited Durant to just 27 games, forced Westbrook to miss the first month of the season and shut down Ibaka at the beginning of March.
Even with all of the poorly timed setbacks, Oklahoma City still came just a win shy of making the postseason. Although the ending to the 2014-15 campaign was disappointing, it sets the stage for an exciting comeback season.
In his latest NBA power rankings, Bleacher Report's own Josh Martin has OKC at No. 12, which is the highest of any team that missed the postseason.
"The Oklahoma City Thunder have the pieces in place to start next season much higher in these power rankings. A core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka—with a store of young talent filling out the rotation—should be enough to thrust the Thunder back into the thick of the championship conversation in year one of the Billy Donovan era.
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Even with Donovan making his NBA debut and Durant's pending free agency looming over the upcoming year, the Thunder need to be considered as legitimate title threats. This past season, the world saw the team while it was down.
Now, it is going to prove it's not out.
While other contenders are getting long in the tooth, the Thunder possess the third-youngest roster in the Western Conference with an average age of 25.5 years old. It's amazing that Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka have all been in the league for at least six seasons and are still under the age of 27.
The Thunder's average age could get even lower by the end of the month, as the team owns the No. 14 and No. 48 overall selections in this year's NBA draft.
The Thunder's chances of climbing back up the NBA ladder go hand-in-hand with Durant's ability to bounce back from the first major injury of his career.
According to ESPN.com's Royce Young, Durant is expected to return to the court in August after undergoing a bone graft procedure in March. Recency bias aside, Durant is still one of the game's most electrifying scorers, as evidenced by his 25.4 points per game this season. That marks the seventh straight year KD has scored at least 25 points per game.
The 26-year-old has plenty of reasons to be motivated going into the 2015-16 season. The most lucrative one being the fact he'll hit the open market when the salary cap is expected to spike. However, Durant is also focused on reclaiming his spot among the NBA's elite, per Young.
"Just gotta show and prove. I don't deserve to be up there with them this year. Next year is a different story," Durant said. "Sometimes you gotta remind people what you do. They tend to forget."
When Durant returns, he'll find the team around him has changed for the better.
In KD's absence, Westbrook took his game to another level, joining LeBron James and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 27 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals in a single season, per Basketball-Reference. Westbrook's willingness to put the team on his back helped earn him fourth place in the MVP voting, despite the fact his team missed the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Ibaka made strides in his evolution as a floor-spacing big man, knocking down a career-high 77 three-pointers, which was more than his previous five seasons combined. The Serge Protector still found time to polish his reputation as an elite rim protector, finishing second in the NBA with 2.4 blocks per game.
| Name | FG% | 3P% | PPG | RPG | APG |
| Westbrook | 42.6 | 29.9 | 28.1 | 7.3 | 8.6 |
| Durant | 51.0 | 40.3 | 25.4 | 6.6 | 4.1 |
| Ibaka | 47.6 | 37.6 | 14.3 | 7.8 | 0.9 |
| Kanter | 56.6 | 75.0 | 18.7 | 11.0 | 1.1 |
The biggest difference between future Thunder squads and the teams of the past is the possible return of Enes Kanter, who, following a midseason trade from the Utah Jazz, quickly established himself as the interior scoring presence OKC has longed for. Kanter is a restricted free agent this summer, but Presti is confident he can re-sign the 23-year-old, according to Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman.
Kanter averaged 18.7 points and 11 rebounds in 26 games, which was the best offensive output by a Thunder center ever. His defense leaves much to be desired, as the Thunder allowed 110.4 points per 100 possessions with the Turkish Tower on the court, per NBA.com.
Nevertheless, Kanter's addition to a lineup with Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka will give OKC one of the most dangerous and versatile offenses in basketball. The team can hide his defensive shortcomings by pairing him with a stopper like Ibaka or Adams.
In the meantime, the Thunder have a chance to be a master of styles. They can go big with Kanter and Adams together in the frontcourt or small with Ibaka at center and Durant spreading the floor as a small-ball power forward. Westbrook is also capable of running point or playing off the ball in a two-point guard set with backup D.J. Augustin.
The draft will also allow the team to add depth to a second unit that already includes Adams, McGary, Roberson, Augustin, Nick Collison, Anthony Morrow and Dion Waiters. With injuries playing such a key role in derailing the Thunder's championship hopes the past three seasons, having a good contingency plan is a top priority.
| Name | Notes |
| Waiters | Averaged 12.7 ppg, never missed a game with OKC |
| Morrow | Shot 43.4 percent from three, seventh-best in NBA |
| Adams | Started 67 games, developing nicely at both ends of the court |
| Roberson | Underrated perimeter defender, held opp. to 39.8 percent shooting |
| Augustin | Capable backup, needs to improve on 37.1 FG% |
| McGary | 6.3 points, 5.2 boards in just 15.2 minutes per game |
| Collison | Production in decline, still a master of intangibles |
The wild card to the Thunder's future is Donovan and his ability to transition from a storied career at Florida to making a dent in the pros. He will be tasked with finding enough playing time for what might be the deepest Thunder roster ever as well as fixing a defense that allowed 101.8 points per game and ranked 16th in defensive efficiency.
Still, with the wealth of young talent at their disposal, the Thunder will remain in the NBA title picture for as long as the team stays healthy.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will be out to prove that this past season was merely an aberration, and the 2015-16 campaign will be about taking care of unfinished business. With an elite core, solid depth and the potential for continued growth, the team's championship window isn't closing.
It's getting even wider.
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