During the early stages of last season, the OKC Thunder saw their center rotation get absolutely decimated by injuries.
With both Isaiah Hartenstein (left hand fracture) and Jaylin Williams (hamstring) sustaining preseason afflictions, and, only 10 games into the year, Chet Holmgren succumbing to a right iliac wing fracture, for months, Oklahoma City found themselves in quite a nasty positional predicament.
They got so desperate, in fact, that at one point, coach Mark Daigneault was seen rolling out rotations that featured 6-foot-6 Jalen Williams as the club's primary pivot.
Though the experiment actually proved to be surprisingly successful, as they went 5-2 while the eventual All-Star was seen posting sensational averages of 26.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks along the way, this lineup assorment clearly would have been unsustainable in the long run due to the physical toll it would have taken on his severely undersized frame.
Ultimately, Oklahoma City's center pool wound up becoming healthy enough just in time to aid in the club's first championship run since 1979.
Now, as they gear up for their follow-up 2025-26 campaign, these frontcourt injury woes have undeniably become nothing more than a distant memory, with all of the aforementioned players having had more than enough time to recover.
However, in an ironic turn of events, it appears that now the Thunder's biggest problem may actually be an overabundance of pivot options at their disposal.
Thunder have more quality center options than they can regularly use
As made evident by how last season played out, when active, the trio of Williams, Holmgren, and Hartenstein are each slated to receive north of 16 minutes on average, with the latter two almost certainly expecting somewhere between 25 and 28 a night.
Of course, after the past few months of roster building, these three are no longer the only ones who could warrant seeing regular on-court action at the five, which, as a result, could alter coach Daigneault's approach to divying up minutes.
Following an underrated rookie season with the ball club, where he revolved in and out of the development league, 7-footer Branden Carlson showcased enough potential to the point that he was retained this past offseason.
Considering his production when seeing double-digit minutes with the varsity team, where he averaged 10.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game, there's a strong case to be made that the big man would be a consistent contributor within a majority of other teams' rotations across the league.
Instead of jumping ship, however, Carlson remained with the defending-champion Thunder on a second straight two-way deal, with which he's almost certainly looking to see as much time on the hardwood as he possibly can.
Along with him, Oklahoma City also added Georgetown standout Thomas Sorber to their arsenal with the 15 pick in this past June's NBA Draft, and officially inked him to a standard rookie-scale pact on July 3.
With his elite defensive skills that saw him average 1.5 blocks per game, tremendous post-work and athleticism that made him a reliable 14.5 points-per-game scorer, and by receiving Third-team All-Big East and Big East All-Freshman team honors, many believed the 19-year-old to be one of the biggest steals from the 2025 class.
Someone of this status is likely expected to continue seeing and competing for substantial minutes when in the pros, though, on this Thunder squad, a consistent role is far from a given.
Without question, the lion's share of minutes at the five will continue to be given to the likes of Holmgren and Hartenstein, with Williams being used as a trusty reserve for both.
However, with promising youngsters like Carlson and Sorber now officially in the fold, it will be interesting to see how OKC opts to disperse playing time in both a strategic and fair manner among all five of their centers.
Though it may wind up being a bit of a headache to properly figure out, having an overabundance of big men certainly beats their previous dilemma of not having enough.