3 Question Marks for the Thunder Going Into Next Season

The Thunder are still enjoying their first-ever championship by rewarding contract extensions to certain players. The first couple of extensions they handed out were new three-year deals to Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell. Then they gave their MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the four-year max extension, making him the highest-paid player in NBA history. Free agency is still in the early days, but the Thunder are focusing on extending their players and not looking to add anyone new. However, other teams in the West have done a great job in free agency to try and knock them off next season. Regardless, the Thunder are still favorites to come out of the West again, but there are still question marks for the Thunder heading into next season.

The Thunder are essentially running it back with the same group that just won a championship together. This is a good thing as the Thunder have great chemistry together, and they are still a young team with tons of chances to grow as a team. Furthermore, since they won it all this year, there will be a huge target on their back that they will have to overcome for the first time. Let’s dive into the three question marks the Thunder have going into next season.

3 Question Marks for the Thunder Going Into Next Season

The Thunder’s Three-Point Shooting

The Thunder, for the last two seasons, have been a good to great regular-season three-point shooting team. They don’t have a ton of great shooters, but they do have a ton of good shooters who can get hot and shoot with the best of them. However, for some reason they struggle to hit consistent shots in the playoffs. Last postseason, it was their downfall, and they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the second round. Ultimately, this year was no different as they struggled once again, shooting just 33.8% in the playoffs, which ranked 13th out of 16 teams. The good news they were able to overcome their shooting efforts with great defense and win the NBA Finals.

However, this time, they will have to do a better job of making more consistent shots in the playoffs. The good news is they have even more experience now and have played in all the high-pressure rounds, including the NBA Finals. Now they should have more confidence to shoot the ball in the postseason and have a better understanding of how to get more open shots when the game is tighter.

Are the Thunder too Deep?

A big reason why the Thunder won the NBA Finals was that they were a very deep team and could throw multiple different looks at an opponent. This is something they will have at their disposal again by running the same team back. However, they will be adding Nikola Topic, who missed the whole year last year due to a knee injury, and their recent addition of Thomas Sorber. The Thunder will essentially have 15 players on their roster who all deserve playing time. They won’t be able to get everyone consistent rotational minutes, and that could stunt certain players’ growth.

Having too much depth may do more harm than good. Certain players on the Thunder’s roster might not get enough consistent playing time. If you need that player in the playoffs, it could be challenging to throw them in while not having all the data around them. This will be very interesting to watch next season, and how Mark Daigneault handles playing time, as he has had great success in doing this so far.

Can The Thunder be More Consistent on Offense?

Finally, the third thing is whether the Thunder can have a more consistent offense. They already have the best defense in the NBA, and that is their identity. However, there were times throughout the regular season and postseason were their offense would stall and slow down. They rely heavily on Shai, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren to create shots for themselves or others. Outside of those three, there aren’t too many players on the Thunder’s roster who can contribute to the offense. This is why their offense can look messy at times. They will have to do a better job of consistently creating better offensive possessions so they don’t have to rely on their defense so much.

The Last Word on 3 Question Marks for the Thunder

The Thunder have done a great job in building this team and surrounding them with talent to contend for the next decade. They have a great opportunity to become the next great NBA dynasty. However, they still have question marks heading into next season that they need to figure out.

If they keep improving, barring any unforeseen injuries, we could be looking at back-to-back championships for the Thunder. However, if they don’t, they could fall short like the past six champions have done before, all of whom have a bigger target on their back and a better strategy on how to attack the Thunder.