The Oklahoma City Thunder were wildly impressive during the 2023-24 NBA regular season, posting 57 wins and earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
The young, talented squad ended up losing in the second round at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, with the series finishing in six games.
After the disappointing playoff result, the Thunder hit a home run in the offseason, which began with the club trading Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso.
Caruso is a perfect fit with Oklahoma City, adding to the team’s elite perimeter defense while also proving solid floor spacing.
The Athletic’s Kelly Iko believes Caruso could have altered the team’s series against the Mavericks.
“I can’t help but imagine how differently the end of May’s second-round playoff series with the Dallas Mavericks would have played out with Caruso, a low-maintenance, efficient floor spacer (40.8 percent from 3 on nearly five attempts per game), as opposed to leaning so heavily on Luguentz Dort, who spent so much energy chasing around Luka Dončić that his 3-point shooting suffered (39.4 percent in the regular season compared to 31.7 percent for the series),” Iko wrote. “The Thunder felt like they were missing another “guy,” especially considering the scoring drop-off after Oklahoma City’s big three and Giddey’s inability to stay on the floor.”
Of course, none of this matters because the season is now a thing of the past. The Mavericks went on to the NBA Finals, where they Boston Celtics were named champions after five games.
On top of adding Caruso, the Thunder added Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency. He’ll add size to a team which now how fewer holes than last season, and it wouldn’t be a shock if they somehow tally 60 or more regular season wins.
Keep an eye on the Thunder to repeat as the top seed in the Western Conference and hold some of the best odds to win the title next season.
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