No. 8: 2009-2010
In 2009-10 the OKC Thunder won 50-games and finished with the 12th ranked offense, and 9th ranked defense. Things finally started to fall into place for an OKC Thunder squad bubbling with young talent.
They made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, when they got beat four games to two at the hands of Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers.
As the OKC Thunder walked off the floor for the final time during the 2009-10 campaign, after being bounced in the first round of the playoffs, the home fans got on their feet in appreciation for their upstart team. A lot of the teams success was due to the bench.
Scott Brooks got his first full season as an NBA Head man. He rolled out a starting lineup of Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefolosha, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Nenad Krstic.
That left the Thunder bench hanging their hat on their crafty veteran, Nick Collison. His fellow big man Serge Ibaka splashed onto the scene, as did the rookie and future 6th man of the year award winner James Harden.
Nick Collison helped Harden and Ibaka grow up, and fast. Harden became the teams fourth leading scorer with 9.5-points-per-game. Ibaka totaled 6.3-points per game during the 2009-10 campaign.
That was your bench unit version of your big 3–or OK3. However, it went deeper than that. Guys like Eric Maynor were solid for their roll that year.