3 ways the new CBA benefits the OKC Thunder this time around
By Rylan Stiles
The Oklahoma City Thunder can also benefit from changes to the NBA end-of-season Award and Honors.
The NBA is in the middle of one of its best seasons ever. The Standings are tight, the award races are tighter, and no one knows who will hoist that beautiful Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. This parity, this uncertainty, is what the league thrives on.
After years of fans complaining about predictability, legitimate arguments exist for the teams sitting in the 6th and 7th seeds to go on a miraculous title run.
The MVP race is not only close but bitter. Who will it be? Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid? People not only have opinions but are going to war with those opinions. We usually know who will win these awards with a week left in the season, but not this year.
The League is changing the award season under the new CBA, putting the games played requirement on the end-of-season honors set at 65 games in an attempt to curb load management.
Along with that, the league is doing away with positions on the All-NBA teams and honors along those lines. That is excellent news for the OKC Thunder, who are building a position-less team.
It is perfect for Jalen Williams in four or five years. Williams, he played backup point guard, shooting guard, small forward, and center this season while being the team’s starting power forward for the majority of the season.
So instead of voters splitting his vote between guard and forward, and likely costing him a spot on the team, Williams will have a much better shot at finding his name on these lists.
This split vote issue has happened before, when Khris Middleton was left off the third team back in 2020.