Young OKC: Holmgren & Gilgeous-Alexander Fuel West Ascent
Young and dynamic, the Oklahoma City Thunder showcase Chet Holmgren's brilliance and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's star power, posing a formidable challenge in the competitive Western Conference.
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Sharing a division with the reigning NBA champions is a challenging prospect for an up-and-coming team like the Timberwolves. Minnesota is off to a franchise-best start while Denver has meandered in the top four of the West. Yet, the Timberwolves aren’t the only upstart. No, the Oklahoma City Thunder have also been among the league’s biggest surprises through the first quarter of the NBA season.
The Thunder moved to 19-9 after a 129-106 victory over the Timberwolves at home on Tuesday night. This victory comes almost exactly one month after the Timberwolves squeaked past the Thunder at Target Center. Tuesday’s defeat was reminiscent of Minnesota’s defeat to Sacramento when they came out lethargic, as evidenced by Oklahoma City shooting 60 percent on the night.
There was no question the Thunder were on the come-up after their finish to last season. Although the Timberwolves ended their season with a 129-95 victory in the play-in tournament, in which Minnesota exploited its size advantage, the Thunder winning 40 games was a rousing success. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had arrived as a star and Jalen Williams was a Rookie of the Year candidate. Oh, and they were going to add Chet Holmgren to this potent mix of young talent.
On Tuesday, the Thunder rookie picked apart the Timberwolves’ defense, primarily defended by Rudy Gobert. In fairness, Gobert and Jaden McDaniels were overwhelmed at times by the Thunder. If those two were not up to the task, then who was? Opposing teams will execute and make plays, just as, say, Anthony Edwards does when he heats up.
It was Holmgren’s dynamicism as a 7’1” center that created a persistent matchup problem. Holmgren set the tone early with plays like these.
Holmgren finished with 20 points on 13 shots and five assists and four rebounds. The rookie’s performance was stellar, not to be outdone by Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 34 points on a preposterous 14-for-19 shooting night to go with nine rebounds and six assists. Gilgeous-Alexander is more of the known commodity at this point but Holmgren being so far along this early in his career also stands out.
There are two meetings left between these teams this season, both in January. If the first two matchups are any indication, they will be must-see TV.
How Far Can The Thunder Go?
There is no denying the talent of this Thunder team. Their start to the season is no fluke, they are a great team. In a toughened Western Conference, I guessed they could win five-ish more games this season than last. Why? This team is young. Like, very young.
The Thunder are the youngest team in the league with an average age of 24.0 years old. Looking to the extreme, the youngest team to ever win the title was the 1977 Portland Trailblazers. There is only one team since that Blazers team to make this list of the 10 youngest championship teams: the 2015 Golden State Warriors.
The average age of an NBA champion is just over 28 years old. It feels safe to say that the Thunder are an unlikely, though not impossible, championship contender based on age alone. Even the 2012 Thunder team that made the Finals was 25.5 years old and most people feel that team has superior talent to this team.
For comparison, the 2024 Timberwolves have an average age of 25.9 years old. That is nearly a two-year difference. However, in those two years, they have two more playoff series worth of experience than these Thunder. Oklahoma City are so promising but a team going from zero playoff experience to champion, or even Finals team, feels highly unlikely/improbable.
What we can say is that losing to this Thunder team in the postseason would be no shame. There is no reason this Thunder team cannot make the conference Finals — especially if the 2021 Atlanta Hawks could do it — and then use that experience to their advantage in the future.
There is also too old, but history tells us young teams do not win often. These Thunder are on a promising path and they may not reach their peak this season. Considering where they were a couple of years ago, this is incredible progress as it is.