Even before the pre-deadline trade that sent Jared McCain out to the Sooner State, the OKC Thunder were widely regarded as having the most elite-level depth chart in the association today.
From off-ball sharpshooters and isolation creators to nitty-gritty defensive gurus, Oklahoma City's roster is simply jam-packed with tremendous talents.
So much so, in fact, that Chandler Parsons believes many of the club's mere role players are good enough to start on the top-seed in the East, the Detroit Pistons.
During a recent edition of FanDuel's Run it Back, the former NBA veteran turned analyst was seen gushing over the Thunder's depth post-McCain trade, saying "the ninth, tenth, eleventh guy on their team" could legitimately start for other clubs.
Of course, he made it a point to specify that said teams aren't mere cellar dwellers like the Washington Wizards or the Sacramento Kings, but, in fact, a legitimate title contender in the Pistons.
"There's probably four or five guys on this bench that would start on the Detroit Pistons, who are number one in the Eastern Conference. They are that good [and] they are that loaded," Pasons said.
Parsons would specifically single out "guys like Wiggins, guys like Joe, guys like Cason Wallace," and, of course, McCain, who he reminded everyone was "the best, most consistent player on Philly" before going down with a UCL tear just a season ago.
Every one of these aforementioned studs would presumably be major impact players on a Pistons team that could certainly use more three-point snipers (rank 10-worst in the league in efficiency with a 34.9 percent clip) and has struggled defensively at their guard position behind superstar Cade Cunningham.
Whether it's the steady-handed shooter in Isaiah Joe (boasts a 40.3 percent long-range clip for his career) or the league's best ball thief Cason Wallace (2.0 steals per game this season), Detroit and, frankly, any other team in the association would be absolutely thrilled to thrust any number of Oklahoma City's second unit ballers into their own first-five lineup.
Thunder depth could go against them in proposed league expansion
Though Parsons argued that this depth is an overall positive for the Thunder here in 2025-26, as it allows them to seamlessly run a "next man up" approach to their rotations, particularly amid Jalen Williams' slow recovery from a hamstring strain, there could be one major drawback to such a luxury should the league get their way.
On Monday, ESPN's Shams Charania revealed that the NBA will hold a vote at the Board of Governors meetings in late March "to explore adding expansion teams," particularly out in Las Vegas and Seattle.
Should this proposed idea come to fruition, each existing team will be able to protect up to eight players from being entered into an expansion draft pool.
For most organizations, would essentially cover all core talents.
However, as Parsons noted, roughly 11 players on the Thunder have shown flashes of being quality starters in the league, meaning that, though holding onto the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren would be a no-brainer move, figuring out the other five protectees is truly an up-in-the-air conversation.