3 Key storylines for Thunder heading into the 2024-25 NBA season

The preseason has officially ended for the OKC Thunder, and, now, fans find themselves longing for meaningful basketball to come underway. Though Tuesday marks the league's official opening day, the franchise's faithful followers will have to wait until Thursday, October 24th to see the Bricktown ballclub back in action, where they will travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets. 

Oklahoma City ended the preseason 4-1 following last week's 104-99 win over the Atlanta Hawks. This squad showed just how deadly they can be when bringing their A-game and when fully intact.

Unfortunately, this latter part may be a bit hard to come by during the infancy stages of the upcoming regular season, as it was announced last week that center Isaiah Hartenstein sustained a left-hand fracture and will miss the next five to six weeks of action.

Fans were also hit with another scare regarding budding star Jalen Williams, as he suffered an ankle sprain in the last preseason contest against the Atlanta Hawks and is considered day-to-day. 

Even though the ending of the preseason and training camp was not what fans expected before starting the season, noteworthy storylines were created that will wind up following the Thunder for the foreseeable future, and there are three, in particular, that should be heavily monitored.

Key Thunder storylines heading into 2024-25 NBA season

Can the team stay healthy?

As it was mentioned, Isaiah Hartenstein is out for the start of the season. This injury is a huge blow to the team, as Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams still are not cleared to play.

As a result, OKC is left with a clear lack of depth in the size department, and, though early on it should not affect the team too much considering they'll essentially be rolling out the same rotation that won 57 games last year, it is still far from a desirable situation to be in.

If the Thunder were to lose a different player such as, say, MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, it could lead to the team's downfall in the season. Staying healthy is a reason why Oklahoma City was so successful in 2023-24, as they had eight of their core players log 70 or more games.

The Hartenstein news does hurt the team, but it is a good thing it happened so early. If this were to happen before the playoffs, it could lead to a giant problem. Remaining healthy is possibly the biggest thing for this Thunder squad.

If no one suffers a severe injury, there is no reason the Thunder cannot win 60+ games. 

Can Jalen Williams take the leap?

There's an argument to be made that Jalen Williams is the most important player on this squad. Since being selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, the Santa Clara product has managed to exceed expectations.

Last year J-Dub went on to average career highs virtually all across the board, dropping 19.1 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the floor and 42.7 percent from distance.

This year, Williams is someone who has some believing could be in the running to win the Most Improved Player award, though he is not putting too much thought into chasing these types of individual accolades.

His explosive playstyle was in full effect during the 2023-24 regular season, as well as during their two-round playoff run. Now, heading into his junior season, the Thunder need him to take that next leap and officially solidify his spot as the second scoring option. 

Preseason has made it clear that he is taking more shots per game, along with hoisting up more three balls.

Coach Daigneault made it known at the start of training camp that wants Jalen Williams taking more shots. If this is the case, the third-year forward could realistically be on his way toward a breakout season.

Where do the Thunder land in the 2025 NBA Draft?

With a loaded 2025 NBA Draft class right on the horizon, one headlined by Cooper Flagg, many may count the title-hungry Thunder out of the sweepstakes for the coveted number one pick, However thanks to their trade endeavors from over the years, Oklahoma City could find themselves back in the lottery while, in theory, claiming their franchise's second Larry O'Brien Trophy. 

The blockbuster trade that sent Paul Geroge to the Clippers back in 2019 is still showing some serious benefits. With the recent Kawhi Leonard injury news, it seems that the Thunder could realistically land a lottery pick thanks to the pick swap rights with Los Angeles.

Of course, this is not the only pick the club can end up with. They also have rights to the Utah Jazz top-10 protected selection, the Miami Heat's lottery-protected pick, Philadelphia's top-6 protected pick, and, if the Rockets' pick is better than the Clippers' pick, they can swap with Houston instead. 

This is a topic that can fly under the radar for the majority of the season, as the success this team is set to have can outshine the draft capital in stock. The question remains, though -- will they take a prospect with whatever picks the Thunder ends up with, or do they trade it away for an established player? 

Either way, this is quite an enviable position to be in for a legitimate championship contender.