Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder: Why They Might Be Best Young Team in NBA

The Oklahoma City Thunder and their two superstar leaders, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, are already taking the league by storm. 

After just barely being beaten by the eventual champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, in last year's playoffs, the Thunder are well on their way to another 50-win season in 2011.

The Thunder are full of talented young players, and have only three players older than 26 years of age: only Nick Collison, age 30, Nazr Mohammed, age 33 and Royal Ivey, age 29.

The core of the Thunder is very young as well. Their two best players, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, are both just 22 years old, while sixth man James Harden, who has the best beard in the NBA, is barely old enough to drink at 21.

What's interesting about these young players is that they do not let their egos get in the way of the team's ultimate goal: to win an NBA championship, which is a very realistic goal now and in the immediate future.

Kevin Durant is extremely humble, and shows the work ethic that all great players must have to get better each season. He is a gym rat, and his love for basketball is unlike many players at his age.

Not only are the players young, but Thunder head coach Scott Brooks is also one of the youngest coaches in the NBA.

Brooks already has won a Coach of the Year award for his performance in turning the Thunder around last season, leading them to 50 wins after they managed just a bit over 20 in the 2009 season.

With the additions of Kendrick Perkins at center, the Thunder have a dominating defensive force in the paint, their most glaring weakness from a year ago.

Perkins is only 26 years old, and just signed a new four-year contract extensions with Oklahoma City just days after being acquired from the Boston Celtics for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic.

Even though he's only 26, Perkins brings a wealth of basketball experience to the Thunder, but his playoff experience will be the most valuable to the Thunder.

He knows what it takes to play at a high level in the NBA Finals, and his knowledge and experience of May and June basketball will help his young teammates this season.

The Thunder are young and talented at every position.

Alongside Perkins at center is Serge Ibaka, who is now likely to play more power forward. At 21 years of age, Ibaka is already a super-athletic force who is becoming a great shot-blocker.

At guard, second-year point guard Eric Maynor, and defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha are playing key roles for OKC, and are 23 and 26 respectively.

General manager Sam Presti, who helped build the current Spurs roster which always wins 50 games, has done a masterful job building this Thunder franchise.

He has not only drafted well, but he's made some shrewd trades to improve the ball club now and for the future.

In last year's draft, Presti traded their 19th overall pick to the Clippers in exchange for Los Angeles' first-rounder.

The Clippers have done better this season than in years past, but the pick OKC acquired will be a lottery pick, giving Presti another chance to add another talented young player to the roster.

The Thunder are good now, and will be devastating in the next few seasons. Durant is locked up in a new long-term extension, and his willingness to build a long-term winner in OKC will be contagious to his teammates.

With the added help of millions of dollars in salary cap space for next season, the Thunder will also be able to improve via free agency in the summer.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are title contenders right now, and by the time this decade closes, their could be four or five title banners hanging from the rafters in OKC.

Follow Nicholas Goss on Twitter, @nwgoss.