How Solving One OKC Thunder Pain Point can Further Fortify the Defending Champions

Last year's Oklahoma City Thunder squad didn't have many weak points.

The team was notably the best defense in the entire association on both reference of metrics and the eye test. With length, communication and talent, this defense helped forge the largest point differential across the regular season in NBA history, and it also fostered two NBA All-Defensive team members in Lu Dort and Jalen Williams.

The team was one of the most talented teams in the league in transition and capitalizing off defensive production, similar to the year prior. Leading the league in points off turnovers in both the regular season and the playoffs, this was Oklahoma City's bread and butter.

Those are a couple of Oklahoma City's strengths from its title-winning season, with many other subcategories of their play being above average of course, including their scoring ability—the Thunder placed top four in the league in points per game in the regular season and placed second in the postseason,.

But like any team, as great, young and talented as this team and its players are, they had times where they stagnated.

We didn't see too many glimpses of that throughout their 68 wins and 14 losses before April. But come the postseason where every team gives it their complete effort to reach the NBA Finals, a certain Oklahoma City issue glared.

That issue came in the form of scoring, offensive production and playmaking. You have the MVP and scoring champion in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and a partner in crime in the three-level maestro Jalen Williams—you'd think all your bases could be covered knowing you have these two talents plus the incredible supporting cast they had.

And, ultimately, there bases were all covered as they claimed the team's first-ever championship.

Though, teams will be looking at weaknesses in the Thunder from their past year's successes, and identifying that zeroing in on the two Oklahoma City playmakers can create some stagnation in the Thunder offense is imperative.

When examining some of the team's performances in the Finals a season ago, Gilgeous-Alexander iso ball was what the offense hinged on in multiple losses against the Indiana Pacers. It's not a bad thing to lean on, though Indiana had game planned against this team enough to know how to minimize the impact—in turn, many offensive possessions for Oklahoma City looked stagnant.

Now, introducing a potential additional playmaker in Nikola Topic—pending his adaptation to the league—could be a piece that could mitigate that. But before that, the Thunder's offense needs to be a bit more dynamic, more versatile in its preparations to get their stars the ball and surrounding players in scoring position.

So as Oklahoma City looks to break the NBA Finals once again, this'll be a point of emphasis to keep an eye on throughout the season.