Considering they're the top seed in the Western Conference standings and sport the second-best record in the entire league at 37-9, the OKC Thunder are considered to be a strong and serious threat to win the 2025 NBA Finals.
However, before they can even begin to focus their efforts on fighting for the Larry O'Brien Trophy, Oklahoma City must look to address some of their biggest weaknesses as a collective. Surprisingly, there are more multiple.
From lacking big man depth to middling long-range shooting, Mark Daigneault's club could certainly use a number of things to be added to its arsenal.
However, during their most recent loss to the Golden State Warriors, one of their most debilitating flaws was put on full display.
Thunder offense plummets drastically without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Early on in the contest, it appeared the Thunder were on their way toward yet another commanding victory over a direct conference foe.
Their defensive efforts were truly captivating, as they held the Dubs to a putrid 27.3 percent shooting while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander alone outscored Golden State 21-20 en route to a 34-20 advantage by the end of the first.
In response, the battle-tested Warriors made adjustments to their in-game approach against OKC, as they upped the pressure on Gilgeous-Alexander and forced his teammates to step up and beat them.
Unfortunately, his running mates were unable to answer the call and, despite a masterful 52-point performance from the superstar guard, the Thunder fell by a final score of 116-109.
The unfortunate part about this chain of events is that it's far from a one-off example.
All season long, the Thunder have struggled mightily to generate effective offense and scoring opportunities outside of SGA.
Perhaps the most staggering statistic thus far into the season is that, with the guard on the floor Oklahoma City's offensive rating is 119.8, ranking in as the second-best mark in the entire league. With him off the floor, however, this mark plummets all the way down to 104.2, which measures in as the worst in the league.
Now, granted, one could make the case that this fall-off has been influenced by injuries throughout the season, particularly to key offensive cog Chet Holmgren whose absence has cost the team the benefit of having a player who boasts 18.2 points per game on 51.9 percent shooting from the floor and 40.0 percent shooting from deep (based on the nine games he was fully healthy for).
However, with the fact that their second go-to scoring option in Jalen Williams is sporting a ridiculously low effective field goal percentage of 39.4 in isolation sets and that their bench unit ranks just 20 in points per game, it's become more than apparent that the Thunder severely lack in offensive playmakers and bucket-getters outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Perhaps this trade season will present them with an opportunity to address this grave need but, until they do, their championship potential may be severely impacted as a result.