For the better part of the mid 2010s through the early 2020s, the OKC Thunder, like the rest of the league, found themselves at the mercy of the Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson-led Golden State Warriors.
Amid the duo's four separate NBA Championship runs along this stretch, the association was fully subject to their wrath.
Oklahoma City, in particular, felt the full force of the heartache those teams could possibly inflict on an opposing club, specifically back during their ill-fated 2016 playoff run when they infamously fell to the Dubs in the Western Conference Finals after going up 3-1.
Now, while that Golden State core may no longer be intact, it seems the Thunder could soon see another tandem of this same caliber serving as a thorn in their side moving forward, as NBA legend Charles Barkley believes Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper are "going to be the next Steph and Klay," and that, if he were a guard, he would "not want to see them boys the next 10 years.“
Thunder may be subject to 'the next Steph and Klay' with Spurs duo
As Thunder fans are already aware, OKC has seen what this new era of Spurs basketball is capable of.
Last season, in particular, proved to be the most painful wake-up call to San Antonio's rise, as the two clubs squared off on 12 separate occasions, five during the regular season and seven in the playoffs.
The Thunder went just 4-8 in such matchups.
Now, granted, while the primary assailant against OKC in these bouts was without question Victor Wembanyama, who dropped a ridiculous 27.3 points, 10.9 points, and 2.7 blocks on 48.1 percent shooting from the floor and 40.0 percent shooting from deep during the Western Conference Finals, the idea of guys like Castle and Harper now rising to Curry and Thompson heights should only make what they just experienced even more terrifying.
Both of these guards came into the league as highly touted prospects who very quickly established themselves as regulars within coach Mitch Johnson's core rotation. With them on the hardwood last season, the Spurs placed in the 91 percentile in effective field goal percentage, the 92 percentile in opponent points per 100 possessions, and the 94 percentile in point differential.
This kind of impact is recorded from just one season of playing together.
Though they may not have the same style of play that both Curry and Thompson have, as these two Hall of Famers are more perimeter-focused compared to the Spurs tandem's drive-heavy style of play, there's more than enough reason to believe that Castle and Harper could one day develop into the "Slash Brothers."
This coupled with Wemby could very easily turn into a nightmare scenario for the Thunder.
After just seeing the end of the Warriors' star backcourt and experiencing the highest of highs by winning an NBA title soon after, should Barkley prove even remotely close to being right with his recent remarks, the Thunder could be bound to face very similar challenges to those they endured during the Splash Bros era.
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