The Oklahoma City Thunder are still basking in the glow of winning the NBA title, and deservedly so. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took home his first MVP award, joining an elite club by also adding the scoring title and Finals MVP to his trophy case. OKC’s defense was historically good, and despite a valiant effort from the Indiana Pacers, the Thunder stood alone on the NBA mountaintop. Having SGA and a relentless turnover machine of defense is enough to make OKC elite, but there was much more to love about the way this team was put together.
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Mark Daigneault is an outstanding coach, and Jalen Williams emerged as the Scottie Pippen to SGA’s Michael Jordan. Not to be overlooked is general manager Sam Presti, who managed to build a young, deep roster while still retaining the deepest war chest of future picks in the league. Two of Presti’s moves this past offseason were especially key: the trade for Alex Caruso, and the signing of Isaiah Hartenstein.
Hartenstein is often overlooked next to Chet Holmgren, but he was integral to OKC’s success, especially on the offensive end. On the most recent episode of Mind the Game, LeBron James, Steve Nash and guest Kevin Durant elaborated why.
“Having a five that can play from the three-point line all the way into the paint, and he don’t need to shoot threes, he knows his game,” LeBron said. “You give it to me in the pinch post, you give it to me on delay action, y’all trust me to make the right play.”
Nash expanded on LeBron’s point by saying, “[Hartenstein] is the fulcrum for their randomness. Shai is so elite at it, he’s gonna attack, but he’s kind of the fulcrum to like, now they got two on Shai, now he’s gonna go make a play on the inside.”
SGA is arguably the best in the game at creating his own points, whether it’s by driving to the basket, getting space in the mid-range for his deadly jumper or getting to the free throw line.
Because of how complex NBA defenses are, though, it takes much more than ‘give it to Shai and get out of the way’ to be an elite offense. That’s why Hartenstein’s ability to switch things up is so important.
“It’s organized chaos,” Durant said, with his gears visibly turning as he sermonized on why that’s so important. “I love that the league is trending towards that, though. That’s just more hoopin’. Structure is good, don’t get me wrong, but I think you maximize your players when you just let them play.”
KD is a guy who’s thrived no matter what kind of playing style his teams have employed. He’s been an elite scorer at every stage of his career, whether it was as a young gun on the Thunder in his first few years in the league, fitting into and evolving the Warriors system when he went to Golden State in 2016 or playing under Nash in Brooklyn.
Now he’s on the Rockets after the landmark seven-team deal that was consummated two days ago. As the new piece of a team that was the West’s No. 2 seed this past season, he’ll attempt to take down the defending champion Thunder, as will LeBron with the Lakers after opting into the final year of his deal.
OKC was so young this season that they might be even better next year, which is a scary thought even for all-time greats like KD and LeBron. The season can’t get here fast enough so that we can find out if they’re up to the task.
