Last season, the Thunder surprisingly completed a rebuild ahead of schedule, and not only that, but they won the Western Conference regular season championship in the first year that the youth team regained the record.
Coming to the playoffs, the Thunder originally had an experience-oriented mentality, but in the first round, they shocked the league again with a 4-0 sweep of the Pelicans......
As the core of the Thunder, Alexander has also grown into one of the league's top stars. You know, in the 2022-23 season, Alexander has averaged 31.4 points, 5.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. With such a high level of output, it is actually quite difficult to achieve further breakthroughs...... But what is amazing is that last season, while maintaining a high output of 30.1 points per game, Yali maintained a high output of 30.1 points per game, and the three basic statistics of assists, rebounds and steals were still improving, and his average assists per game reached the level of 6+ (6.2) for the first time, and the contribution of 2 steals per game also ranked second on the total steals list.
In addition, in the end-of-season awards, Alexander was once again selected for the best team without any suspense, so that Curry, Durant, James and other old kings can only be willing to be foils. What's more, in the selection of the regular season MVP, Alexander has been second only to Jokic in the number of votes. It can also be understood that his performance last season has reached the standard of the second active player......
Alexander is not alone, and the rest of his comrades are growing up at a speed beyond the norm. Chet was a year late for his NBA debut due to injury. But throughout his debut season, he barely showed any rustiness for his new surroundings and quickly brought out his own characteristics. In the regular season, Chet averaged 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and his three-point shooting rate reached 37%. Over the course of the season, Chet had a total of 190 blocks, which is second in the league behind Wembanyama. In addition, in the race for Rookie of the Season, Chet has also been putting pressure on Wemban, adding a lot of suspense to the latter's award-winning script.
Jalen Williams' progress has also exceeded expectations, and in his second season of career, he has averaged 19.1 points and 4.5 assists per game, and his three-point shooting rate has soared to 42.7%. In the Thunder's system, Jay became the No. 2 offensive option for teams other than Alexander. In the selection of the most improved player of the season, Jay Wei also received the fourth most vote, behind the final three nominees - Maxey, Kobe White and Shin Jing...... What's more, the combination of Jayway, Yali and Chet also has a bit of the style of the new three young people in Russia, and has become an extremely vigorous new force that will stir up the alliance pattern in the next three to five years or even longer......
The Thunder's supporting legion execution is also high-quality, and on the outside, they have defensive stalwarts like Dort and accurate shots like Isaiah Joe. On the bench, youngsters Carson Wallace and Aaron Wiggins may seem lackluster, but their reliable attendance and the value of quality tactical patches have also been proven over the course of a long season.
Teenager Dagneault is no longer an interim manager with a precarious job, having signed a contract extension last summer and continued to cement his position last season. At the end of the regular season, Dai Shaoshuai won the trophy of the best coach of the season with an overwhelming majority of 89 first votes. You must know that last season, Magic's Jamal Moseley and Timberwolves' coach Chris Finch also had very convincing team results, but in the award process, most reporters and experts were still conquered by Daigneault's ability and the Thunder's reborn changes this season......
The Thunder's season has been full of surprises and cheers, and it wasn't until the Western Conference semifinals that they really hit the iron plate against the more experienced Mavericks. Throughout the series, the Thunder once relied on their smart style of play and their quick operation on the offensive end to force the Mavericks into a corner. But in the end, the Mavericks were able to turn things around because of the team's more outstanding single-point talent, as well as their ferocity and versatility on the defensive end.
And it wasn't until the moment the Thunder's youth storm stopped that the team realized that there was still a gap between them and the real championship team.
But now that the Thunder coach has overfulfilled his task last season, it is time for another intelligent star in the next offseason, the team's boss Presti, to make a shining appearance......
Mr. Putin didn't disappoint his supporters, and while other team management was still working on operational sketches, he had already made an early move to make a blockbuster deal with the Bulls.
At the end of last season, the Thunder reflected on a number of team issues, and the focus was on Josh Giddey alone...... In the regular season last season, Giddey, the team's No. 2 tandem player, averaged 25.1 minutes per game and only dished out 4.8 assists per game. In the playoffs, his basic stats continued to plummet, and he was even abandoned by the team for a time. After the organizational function has been greatly weakened, Giddey's projection weakness has been ruthlessly amplified, which has been fully utilized by opponents after entering the playoffs, especially after reaching the semifinals, and has become a factor that cannot be ignored by the Thunder.
Obviously, in the context that Alexander has become the top of the league and Jay Wei and other young people have also grown rapidly, the Thunder's need for Giddey is no longer so urgent, and they need the kind of player who is experienced, has less possession, has a more stable projection, and can defend and "block the gun's eye". And for these conditions, Presti quickly found the most suitable object.
As early as his time with the Lakers, Caruso's defensive talent could not be hidden. After switching to the Bulls, although the team's record is not good, it does not affect the bald mamba to continue to amplify his advantage. In the regular season last season, Caruso averaged 10.1 points, 3.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1 block per game. On the offensive side, he also shot more than 40% from three-point range.
In addition, Caruso has been named to the All-Defensive Team for the past two years. And in the league-wide dimension, Caruso and Celtics' Derrick White are also the only two guard players who can average more than 1 steals and blocks per game [last season]. If in the future, the characteristics of the bald mamba's court can be perfectly connected with the Thunder's system, then this team may usher in a new round of improvement in both defense and attack.
On the inside, the Thunder also found a more reliable helper for Holmgren. Last season, Chet's basket protection was really outstanding, and as a seven-foot-long man, he was one of the most mobile interior players. But unfortunately, as the season progressed, especially in the playoffs, Chet's shortcomings in the physical confrontation level were exposed. Another statistic shows that while the Thunder's defensive efficiency last season was already at the 4th level in the league, they ranked 4th from the bottom in the league in rebounds per game.
Based on the above facts, the addition of Hartenstein is quite timely. Last season, Harden became a new pillar of New York's interior after Randle's injury, and by the playoffs, he was averaging even 30 minutes per game, which was unprecedented in his career...... Now, Hatten has come to Russia with the aura of meritorious service in New York, he has tonnage, can fight, and can perfectly make up for Holmgren's natural shortcomings in confrontation. With the addition of Germany's inner line, the new season Thunder's personnel rotation, especially the internal rotation plan, has also been enriched a lot.
In addition to the addition of two new signings, two supporting roles, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, also received contract extensions from the Thunder in the offseason. It seems that under the premise that the core lineup has not been touched at all, the Thunder has made extremely precise reinforcements this summer. If last season, the Thunder locked the top spot in the West (regular season) and swept in the first round, it is somewhat a dark horse. So with the completion of this summer's roster upgrade, the Thunder can officially enter the ranks of the championship group next season...... For this team, no opponent will dare to take it lightly. And for the new three Alexander, Holmgren and Jalen Williams, they obviously also have a clearer goal, which is to replicate the trajectory of Durant, Westbrook and Harden more than 10 years ago, and lead the team to the Finals and even the championship mountain...... (Sohu Sports Original: Poirot)