The Oklahoma City Thunder have had a productive offseason after becoming the youngest first seed in league history. With over $30 million in cap space, OKC strengthened its roster.
The two big acquisitions for the Thunder were Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein. They are perfect fits into OKC’s rotation and are low-maintenance rotation players who can start or come off the bench,
ESPN’s Zach Lowe has been a huge fan of the Thunder’s offseason. He recently stated they are better positioned than any other team in the league to win right now and in the long-term future due to the amount of assets they own.
On “NBA Today,” he further planted his flag on the Thunder by opinionating they improved the most this offseason.
“It won’t get reflected in their win total because they’ve already won a lot of games, but I think the (Thunder) are indisputably the biggest winner of the offseason,” Lowe said. “Again, they won a ton of games, they were the No. 1 seed last year, I’ll bet they’re going to be the favorites to be the No. 1 seed again.”
Lowe mentioned the additions of Caruso and Hartestein as underrated moves. They complement Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams extremely well.
“Their versatility in the playoffs went up a level by swapping out Josh Giddey and bringing in Alex Caruso — who shot 41% on threes last year and is an All-Defense player,” Lowe said. “And Isaiah Hartenstein just brings a completely new dimension to their team.
“Helps them on the glass, he can play next to Chet Holmgren, he’s a great passer and that fits with Chet. It just gives them different looks, different styles they didn’t have last year.”
"The Thunder are here now to try to win the whole damn thing." 😳 @ZachLowe_NBA says the OKC Thunder have had the best offseason of any team so far 👀 pic.twitter.com/gDyHxJMv3W
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 9, 2024
Lowe even boldly proclaimed that the Thunder are an immediate championship favorite. They might not have captured sexy headlines, but OKC quietly fixed its holes from last season.
“I think their ceiling got higher, their playoff ceiling got higher,” Lowe said. “The Thunder are here now to try and win the whole damn thing.”
