The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the 2023-24 season as one of the heavy favorites to make the next leap.
After a surprise 40-win campaign last season, the Thunder will look to build off of their unexpected success by establishing themselves in the league with one of the youngest cores.
The return of Chet Holmgren — who missed all of last season with a foot injury — will be a shot in the arm for the Thunder. The 2022 No. 2 pick will help improve notable OKC weaknesses by being a rim-protecting center.
Holmgren isn’t the only Thunder player fans are excited to see though. The entire roster is littered with recent lottery picks. The list of young and promising players on the Thunder is so long, that Holmgren had trouble narrowing it down to one person.
In his appearance on the “All The Smoke” podcast, Holgrem told hosts and former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson he expects the entire team to break out next season.
“We just got so much talent on our team. It’s going to be like a new guy every single game,” Holmgren said. “The ball is gonna bounce this dude’s way this game; this dude’s gonna hit shots this game, you know what I’m saying? We got dudes who didn’t get the most opportunity last year or just got with the team or whatever that when you watch them some games, you’re just gonna see that this dude can hoop. From Cason (Wallace) to (Ousmane Dieng) to Tre (Mann) — all the way down the roster. We got dudes.”
It’s an extremely exciting time for the Thunder. With one of the best young cores in the league to go along with their high volume of draft assets, the sky is the limit in OKC.
