The OKC Thunder make it easy for fans and pundits to fixate on how great their star power and core five rotation is. Considering they have reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and two other All-Star talents in Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren leading the charge, this should be far from shocking.
However, what's perhaps lost in the hype of their elite primary unit is the fact that their secondary one is essentially just as good as any other team's first.
Fortunately, NBA.com's Shaun Powell shed light on this very fact in a recent post-trade deadline piece.
When discussing the immediate impacts and ongoing trends now a month removed from the club's surprise deal for Jared McCain, Powell was quick to dub it a "classic buy-low trade" for Oklahoma City and praised the sophomore for how fast he's managed to earn substantial playing time within such a stacked rotation.
Coughing up four relatively low-level draft picks for a recent should-have-been Rookie of the Year who's dropping 11.9 points and 2.8 boards on 41.1 percent shooting from deep in just under 20 minutes a night out in the Sooner State was undoubtedly a major win for Sam Presti and company.
However, the kicker of the piece came when the seasoned sports writer declared that this Thunder bench unit "is good enough to be a starting lineup for other teams."
Thunder bench unit has the makings of a starting five
Residing on the Thunder bench are a number of players who have more than made their mark on games when entrusted with big-time roles.
From Isaiah Joe ranking eighth in points per game off the pine since the start of February (minimum five games played) to Cason Wallace leading the entire league in steals per game (minimum 40 games), coach Mark Daigneault has quite a collection of talent waiting in his reserves.
Collectively, the Thunder bench unit boasts the seventh-best offensive rating at 59.3 and the top net rating at 4.8.
It's no wonder that a first-five lineup of Joe, Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams, and Jaylin Williams was able to keep their February 4 matchup against a full-strength Spurs core within reach through the late stages of the fourth period.
Now, what's perhaps more impressive is that the Thunder have yet to unleash their new-look second-unit attack with sixth-man stud Ajay Mitchell in the fold, as the second-year guard has been shelved for the last month and change with an abdominal strain.
Nevertheless, since McCain joined the team, "the deep got deeper," as Powell put it.
Simply put, along with great coaching, this Thunder second-unit is an incredibly talented bunch of two-way ballers who have proven capable of going toe-to-toe with just about anyone's starting squad.