3 popular misconceptions about the OKC Thunder (and the truth behind the delusion)

After becoming the youngest team in league history to clinch a number one seed in a conference standing and advance to the second round of the playoffs, all eyes are on the OKC Thunder heading into their follow-up 2024-25 campaign.

Can they recapture the magic that saw them claim 57 wins last year? Will they backslide? How will their new additions fit into coach Mark Daigneault's scheme?

Throughout the offseason, questions galore have risen relating to this promising young Oklahoma City squad, and, while many have been busy searching for answers to these queries, in doing so it appears that some key factors and factoids concerning the Thunder have been thrown to the wayside.

As a result, misconceptions have been spreading like wildfire all summer long, and, before jumping to conclusions about what this coming season may look like for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company, one must understand what this team is and who they are made up of.

Popular misconceptions about Thunder ahead of 2024-25 regular season

3. The Thunder were the best long-range shooting team last season

The Thunder frequently ran with a five-out rotation in 2023-24 and had four regular starters cash in on above 35.0 percent from three-point range. Of the 10-most utilized players last season, only one saw a long-range shooting clip below this aforementioned threshold (Josh Giddey at 33.7).

By season's end, Oklahoma City had registered a 38.9 shooting percentage from distance as a collective, which ranked as the best of all 30 teams in the association. Because of this, many may believe the team was the best perimeter scoring club last season and, from an efficiency standpoint, this is true.

However, when looking at the advanced metrics, while the Thunder may have registered the best shooting clip from beyond the arc they did so while hoisting up just the 16-most attempts per game on the year (34.2).

To put this into perspective, the Boston Celtics (i.e. the runner-up in this statistical category) shot a mere .1 percent worse though, attempted 8.3 more shots per game on average. The seventh-place Golden State Warriors recorded a 38.0 shooting percentage (less than one percentage point of separation) on 4.7 more attempts a night.

Heck, even the 11-ranked Milwaukee Bucks at 37.3 percent (1.6 percent worse) attempted roughly four more shots from deep than the Thunder did.

Oklahoma City saw the second-most "wide open" long-range attempts (six or more feet of separation) last season, which, though quite impressive, is also telling about how their three-point game operated, as their successes appear to have had more to do with play calling and screens than actually having elite and lethal shooters in tow.

2. Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein can't coexist in the starting lineup

The Thunder didn't make many moves this summer. Considering they just were to best team out in the Western Conference from a record perspective and went to six games against the eventual conference champion Dallas Mavericks, who can blame them for keeping things largely the same?

However, the club did manage to make a few smaller-scale, yet potentially large in impact moves, with arguably the most noteworthy being their decision to sign 26-year-old big, Isaiah Hartenstein on the second day of free agency.

The arrival of Hartenstein shouldn't come as all that much of a shock to OKC fans, as the team desperately needed someone of his ilk (7-foot, 259-pound frame with a game that's predicated on rebounding and shot swatting) to help improve their lacking size and physicality down in the frontcourt.

Of course, there will always be those who tend to point out the "worst-case scenario" hypotheticals before anything, and one of the most prominent concerns regarding the veteran's addition to the roster is how he'll wind up fitting alongside Chet Holmgren in the rotation.

Hartenstein is coming off a career-best campaign with the New York Knicks where he ended the year serving as their primary option at the pivot. Now, he finds himself heading to the Thunder who found an obscene amount of success while rolling out a main rotation with Holmgren at center.

With this already established and tried and true format of having the reigning rookie phenom man the middle, some are now concerned over what coach Daigneault will end up doing with the likes of Hartenstein, who, due to his rather lacking athleticism and limited floor-spacing abilities, isn't being pegged as a possible starting power forward option.

Some have even gone as far as to question whether their splashy signing will end up playing a reserve role for OKC in 2024-25.

News flash, folks: They paid him $82 million this summer, he's not going to be coming off the bench.

Frankly, the fears surrounding the duo's ability to coexist in the starting five are quite perplexing.

Hartenstein has already proven capable of excelling in a lineup alongside a prominent and athletic big in Julius Randle during his tenure in New York while Holmgren has been quite vocal about his interest in playing alongside another traditional big in the rotation, saying that it "opens different things" up for him on both ends of the floor and that "it definitely helps me as well.”

Considering just how athletic and versatile Chet is one both ends of the floor, there should be little doubt that he'll be more than capable of finding a way to mesh with Hartenstein this coming year.

1. Thunder are clear favorites to win the Western Conference crown

Heading into the 2024-25 season, expectations are high for this Thunder squad.

Considering the fact that they kept the vast majority of their top-seeded core intact, while also managing to address several weaknesses within their rotation from last season, particularly with the additions of Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso, there's good reason for the type of hype they've been receiving.

As a result, the odds-makers view Oklahoma City as one of the most likely teams to come away with the Larry O'Brien Trophy come year's end. FanDuel Sportsbook even has the club heading into the upcoming campaign with the second-best odds of winning it all at +700, trailing only the reigning champion Boston Celtics at +300 and soundly ahead of the Denver Nuggets at +900.

What these suggest is that the Thunder are being seen as the most likely team out West to represent the conference in the 2025 NBA Finals, and, based on how last season went along with the alterations they made this summer, it's easy to see why this is.

However, OKC winning the conference crown is by no means a guarentee.

Sure, they managed to improve since last season, but so have the vast majority of playoff and playoff-hopeful squads in the West. From the Phoenix Suns' signing of a much-needed true point guard talent in Tyus Jones to the Dallas Mavericks' addition of perennial All-Star Klay Thompson, several direct threats have upped their stock since last season.

On top of this, injury-ravaged contenders like the LA Clippers and, more noteworthy, the Memphis Grizzlies are all heading into the coming season with their core players all presumably at full strength.

Add all of these narrative to the fact that the Nuggets and rising Minnesota Timberwolves are both well without the margin of era in the odds-department, and there's little reason to believe that the Thunder are the far and away favorites to represent the West in the Finals.

Is there a realistic shot? Of course, but, with how the rest of the conference is shaping out, it's far less of a sure thing than, say, the C's winning the Eastern Conference title for a second-straight year.