By the time the Oklahoma City Thunder arrived in Utah, it was evident this year’s summer league wouldn’t have the same pizzazz as previous offseasons.
The Thunder’s offense struggled and went 1-4 in Las Vegas. By the last handful of contests, OKC’s roster looked closer to the G League’s Blue than the actual Thunder.
Alas, such is the life of the youngest first-seed in league history.
Gone are the days when Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren participated in the event they were too good to play in. Instead, Thunder fans will have to quench their basketball thirst with a handful of contests from Ousmane Dieng and Dillon Jones.
This led to an uneventful multi-week extravaganza spread across Utah and Las Vegas. Among the 30 NBA teams, the Thunder ranked near the bottom of spectacularness.
That comes with the territory of being an NBA championship contender. The Thunder no longer possess the number of prized prospects they had in previous draft cycles.
But thanks to the number of possible future draft picks they own from other squads — particularly the LA Clippers and Houston Rockets — that might change soon.
Next summer league will garner more excitement with the debut of Nikola Topic, who will miss next season dealing with a torn ACL. But even with that as the headliner, it’s difficult to see the Thunder recapture the magic from the last couple of summer league events.
The Thunder will no longer be viewed as a main attraction by the NBA world during the July extravaganza. The interest level was notably down this year. That was clear when crowds in OKC SL games were roughly half the size of the last couple of years.
It also showed on social media. The closer the Thunder were to the end of summer league, the fewer reactions there were by fans online. It was a ghost town on X, formerly known as Twitter. OKC’s subreddit didn’t even have a game thread or postgame discussion for the latter half of the exhibitions.
But that is a worthy price to pay to enter a championship window. The Thunder won’t conjure a self-made lottery pick for the foreseeable future barring health.
Instead, expect several deep playoff runs manned by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Williams. All three were once major summer league attractions in the early stages of their careers. They now attend the event as spectators.
Such is the life cycle of an NBA franchise. The Thunder have graduated from a rebuilding squad with promising pieces. They are now one of the best teams in the league with massive expectations.
There’s no real downside to being in this portion of a franchise’s life cycle, but it makes an otherwise fun event feel forgettable for Thunder fans.
