3 Teams we'd love to see Thunder play on opening night of 2024-25 NBA Season

Memphis Grizzlies

Before Oklahoma City established itself as the up-and-coming young team taking the league by storm, the Grizzlies were the ones who were being seen in such a light.

With a rising superstar point guard in Ja Morant, an established All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year in Jaren Jackson Jr., and rising stud Desmond Bane leading the charge while all being of the age of 25 or younger, after claiming two straight second-seeds and winning 107 games between 2021-22 and 2022-23 it seemed that Memphis was on their way toward top-dog status out west.

Of course, injuries and off-court issues derailed their upward trajectory in 2023-24, leading to a historic number of different lineups used by coach Taylor Jenkins and, ultimately, being surpassed by the surging Thunder as a result.

Now, with the bulk of their core slated to come into 2024-25 at full strength, it could be extremely fun to see these two highly similar teams duke it out to kick off a season that, for Memphis, is presumed to be all about redemption and, for the Thunder, is all about ascension.

Considering this coupled with narratives of the star guard matchups of SGA and Ja, the stud big showdown between Chet and Jackson, and the budding star face-off between J-Dub and Bane that would come with such an opener, this would be nothing short of can't miss television.