Arguably the biggest complaint made by naysayers about this 2024-25 OKC Thunder team is that they lack a reliable offensive punch when cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets taken out of the game.
Fans have heard the supporting arguments an ungodly number of times throughout the season: When the superstar is on the floor, Oklahoma City is averaging 123.9 points per 100 possessions and an offensive rating of 122.3, and they plummet to just 113.2 points per 100 possessions and an offensive rating of 109.7 with him off the floor.
While this case certainly increases concerns over the Thunder's widely perceived inefficient offensive firepower outside of SGA, context is key when analyzing these metrics.
All season long, OKC has been absolutely ravaged by injuries and player absences, as they have eight core members of their rotation who have missed double-digit games and five who have seen more than 20 DNPs.
Frankly, it's no wonder that this team's efficiency have plunged drastically when Gilgeous-Alexander has been taken out of the equation, for, with 71 games played so far, he's been without question their most stabilizing figure.
Now, with the regular season winding down and key names finally making their way back into the fold, the Thunder are starting to get a better understanding of what their full-strength team could look like both with and without their MVP candidate.
And while they obviously still see that their best shot of winning is with the 26-year-old in tow, recently, we've gotten to see the wonders that a particular, non-SGA three-man lineup is capable of.
OKC Thunder must experiment with specific, non-SGA 3-man lineup
Due to various chomps from the injury bug, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Isaiah Hartenstein didn't get the chance to step foot on the floor together for regular season action until Oklahoma City's February 7 bout against the Toronto Raptors.
Since then, the trio has found themselves frequently dealing with health-related ailments in one way or another and have played just 11 games as a collective during this nearly two-month span.
However, though their sample size as a trinity may be rather small, throughout this time they've shown glimpses of becoming a truly elite force on the floor.
As things currently stand, per Cleaning the Glass, they find themselves averaging an electrifying 125.8 points per 100 possessions (ranks in the 98 percentile), boasting an effective field goal percentage of 61.9 (ranks in the 99 percentile), and registering a point differential of +14.2 (ranks in the 97 percentile).
Now, again, these statistics have come in a rather small time frame, as they've been recorded in a total of just 310 possessions. That said, considering they have all areas of offense covered with both Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren's inside-out scoring abilities and Isaiah Hartenstein dime-dropping skills, this high-end level of play should come as no surprise.
With only two weeks remaining between now and the end of the regular season, and with the number one see already locked up, coach Mark Daigneault may want to start experimenting with his rotations now more than ever.
Should he be feeling this urge to be creative, the trio of J-Dub, Chet, and I-Hart should be utilized at a much more frequent rate in an effort to see what, exactly, they have up their sleeve during non-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander minutes of action.