4 Key things to look out for at 2024-25 Thunder Media Day

The 2024-25 NBA season is right around the corner, and a great reminder of this will come in the form of OKC Thunder Media Day, which is slated to be held this coming Monday.

The festivities will kick off at 11 AM (CT) with press conferences involving coach Mark Daigneault, superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the other cast of characters, both old and new, that help make up the roster of the West's reigning top seed.

Though this may not be their long-awaited return to the hardwood that so many are longing for, Media Day provides fans with their first chance to hear from the organization since being bounced from last year's playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks.

Heading into the event, there are several things the faithful followers of this Thunder franchise should have in the back of their heads and be on the lookout for throughout the day.

Key things Thunder fans must be on the lookout for during Media Day

Coach Daigneault sharing insight into how he plans to utilize Holmgren and Hartenstein

This summer, Sam Presti and company managed to address arguably the team's biggest rotational weakness in the size department with the signing of Isaiah Hartenstein on day two of free agency.

With his 7-foot, 249-pound frame, not only does he sport the build of an optimal upgrade within their previously featherweight frontcourt, but his rough-and-touch, rebound-oriented skill set could prove to be of major benefit to a team that struggled mightily on the glass in 2023-24.

Frankly, the only somewhat negative talking point regarding this overall exciting addition to the roster has been the topic of how he and reigning rookie phenom, Chet Holmgren will mesh in the lineup together.

Both natural centers, many have questioned how coach Mark Daigneault will opt to structure the rotation in 2024-25. Will he have Hartenstein come off the bench to serve as Holmgren's high-usage backup? Would sliding Chet up to the four and having a double-big lineup with I-Hart at the five be a feasible concept?

It's guaranteed that the headman will address his new tantalizing frontcourt tandem, and fans should be on the lookout to get an early idea of what last season's Coach of the Year has in mind as far as rotations are concerned.

Any public desires from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to gun for NBA MVP in 2024-25?

Last season, the OKC Thunder became the youngest team in league history to finish as the top seed in the Western Conference standings with a record of 57-25. Though accomplishing such a feat was ultimately the result of a full team effort, leading the charge for the league's new "It" team was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

As a result of his efforts that saw him average 30.1 points, 6.2 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and just shy of a block per game, the 26-year-old went on to claim his second consecutive All-Star and All-NBA nods while also finishing second in the running for NBA MVP.

Though wrapping up in such a high-end fashion may be seen as a major accomplishment for some, many believe that his runner-up standing behind the ultimate winner, Nikola Jokic was an egregious snub.

Heck, even Gilgeous-Alexander himself expressed his desire to receive such an award prior to his second-in-command finish.

While the star guard may be a man of few words, it would be interesting to see him discuss how last season's MVP race wound up unfolding, and whether it fuels a desire for him to take home the hardware come the conclusion of 2024-25.

Has Chet Holmgren been prioritizing strength training?

Throughout the offseason, many clips of stud big Chet Holmgren putting in work on the hardwood have surfaced, some of which have involved him running scrimmages with all-time greats like Kevin Durant.

Because of these glimpses, the hope heading into year two is that the 22-year-old can up his production from his debut campaign and, in turn, thrust himself into the conversation of being a legitimate star in the league rather than just a budding stud.

However, though seeing his stats improve from last year would certainly be a welcomed sight to see -- after all, his averages of 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks on 53.0 percent shooting and 37.0 percent shooting from deep were already extremely impressive --, arguably the most important thing the Thunder should be looking to for is how much work he's put into his weight training.

While his length of 7-foot-1 with a 7-foot-6 wingspan are absolutely menacing metrics, his 207-pounds and lacking strength proved to be two things that opposing frontcourt players seemed to take advantage of in 2023-24, especially during the playoffs where he was visibly manhandled by bulkier bigs like Jonas Valanciunas, Daniel Gafford, and Dereck Lively II.

The goal moving forward should not be for Holmgren to strive for a muscular and overwhelmingly chiseled physique a la Dwight Howard -- his game, particularly on offense, is far too reliant on his quickness and agility to bulk up that significantly.

That said, putting on a few pounds of muscle is something the young big should be aiming to accomplish. Hopefully he reveals during his media day availability that he's been hitting both the hardwood and the weight room this summer rather than just the former like these social media videos may suggest.

What has Jalen Williams been doing to try and improve his skills as an offensive creator?

Arguably the biggest question mark concerning this Thunder team heading into 2024-25 is whether Jalen Williams can continue his high-end momentum during his third season in the association and officially thrust himself into the legitimate star conversation.

Upping his all-around production in a major way during his sophomore run compared to 2021-22, the forward found himself setting career highs across the board with averages of 19.1 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.1 steals while shooting 54.0 percent from the field and 42.7 percent from distance.

On the surface, it seems that, based on his trajectory, Williams is a shoo-in to find his name floating around during All-Star voting season, though, while his overall game seems to have the makings of being All-NBA worthy, there's still one grave weakness that he may need to address before officially receiving such honors.

Said weakness: Offensive creation.

From the fact that 40.4 percent of his twos and 74.8 percent of his threes came by way of assists last season to the fact that his limitations as a isolation scorer could be argued as the main factor that led to the demise of the Thunder in round two against the Mavericks last postseason (just 38.5 percent of his makes were unassisted), there are valid concerns over J-Dub being seen as the co-star alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on this title-hopeful team.

Improving upon his offensive creation abilities may be the last hurdle Williams needs to hop over before he can be confidently anointed as a true "star" in the association. Hopefully, during Media Day, he talks about what he's done this offseason, or what he plans to do during training camp to better his brand of production in this area of the game.