'Wildest lineup' construction shows major advantage Thunder have over rest of NBA

The OKC Thunder are one of the youngest clubs in the NBA heading into 2024-25. Simultaneously, they're one of, and quite possibly the deepest.

From boasting established superstars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and budding studs in Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren to their slew of high-end contributors such as Luguentz Dort, Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Hartenstein, headman Mark Daigneault has the luxury of rolling out rotations that regularly see double-digit players be featured.

Such a well-assembled arsenal allows for creative liberties to be taken when it relates to lineup construction, and, considering just how versatile the majority of Oklahoma City's collection of ballers is, there seems to be an infinite number of combinations this coaching staff could realistically experiment with.

One recently assembled assortment only seems to strengthen this notion even more, as Dan Favale of Bleacher Report crafted what he believes to be the "wildest lineup" the Thunder could end up running with this coming year and, upon close examination, it still could prove to be one of the best five-man units the league may have to offer.

'Wildest' Thunder lineup shows OKC has insane number of combinations

The seasoned writer went about and compiled a list of one odd-ball, albeit realistic lineup that each team in the NBA could find themselves utilizing during this upcoming season, and, when it came to OKC, in an "attempt to blend the ambitious and wild with the somewhat plausible" he believes seeing the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Chet Holmgren sharing the floor together "seems fairly reasonable."

Being coach Daigneault has guys like SGA, Chet, and J-Dub all on the same roster, it's hard to believe that he'd opt to go with a prominent lineup consisting of neither of the three.

Because of this, Favale suggests going with the former two is the best course of action for this exercise, as they'd be slotted in on polar opposite sides of the lineup, serving as proverbial book ends for the three accompanying role players.

Interestingly enough, as pointed out in the piece, last season the Thunder already showed themselves as being willing to use units featuring Shai, Holmgren, Wallace, and Joe, and, based on the advanced metrics, they proved to be highly efficient on both ends of the court.

Of course, said lineups were all without Caruso, who was acquired this past June via the Josh Giddey trade to the Chicago Bulls, and, instead, involved far less established and reliable two-way options likes Kenrich Williams, Vasilije Micic, and Giddey himself.

Now with the elite 3-and-D abilities the veteran provides, this already impressive lineup has the capacity to get even more lethal this coming year.

That said, be it this assortment of players or, frankly, any other, it's quite evident that the Thunder have arguably the deepest bag of rotational combinations in the entire association.