The OKC Thunder may be a prime example of a franchise rebuilding the "right" way, but even they may be susceptible to wrongdoing.
At least, that's something the NBA is currently looking into, as it was announced Friday night that the association has launched an investigation into the team for "potentially violating the league's player participation policy," according to ESPN insider Shams Charania.
The event in question is from Oklahoma City's March 7 home tilt against the Portland Trail Blazers, a night in which the entire starting five of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort, and Isaiah Hartenstein sat out. Standout sophomore guard, Cason Wallace was found donning street clothes as well.
The Thunder have dealt with widespread injuries and, as a result, player absences throughout the 2024-25 campaign. A plethora of core rotation players have missed 20 or more games so far this year.
Their game against Portland, however, was the first in which all five of their starters were shelved at the same time, which, amid the league's recent crackdown on suspected improper absences, has drawn special attention.
Should they be found guilty of such an act, a penalty could resemble that of the Utah Jazz's $100,000 fine for, in the NBA's eyes, suspiciously making star forward Lauri Markkanen unavailable for their March 5 bout against the Washington Wizards.
Jazz recently hit with example of what a Thunder fine could look like
Despite the fact that the team had a total of six core-members be designated with DNPs, and that all five were active for the Thunder's next game two nights later, it's hard to believe the league has any concrete evidence of violations of NBA protocol.
After all, as noted earlier in the piece, Oklahoma City has been plagued by health-related ailments all throughout this year's campaign.
Holmgren missed three months of action with a right iliac wing fracture; Isaiah Hartenstein had sustained a nasal fracture just six games prior to the Blazers matchup; and Jalen Williams has been dealing with wrist issues all year long and is now once again sidelined with a hip injury.
Perhaps the only question mark from this specific contest was Gilgeous-Alexander being held out, but considering it wasn't a national TV broadcast, nor has the star been a frequent DNP candidate throughout the year (he has missed just two games in total so far) there's a case to be made that their chances of being penalized are low.
However, should they be, the fine Utah received is likely what the Thunder should expect to be served with.