The Oklahoma City Thunder can still make a pretty convincing case that they’re the deepest team in the NBA, even after trading Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams sit at the center of a roster loaded with starting-caliber options, the kind of group that can keep the Thunder rolling through the regular season.
That’s the easy part, though. The harder truth is that depth only gets you so far in a 5-on-5 league, and Oklahoma City’s biggest playoff questions still live with Holmgren and Williams.
Williams’ case starts with availability. He played only 49 regular season games and five postseason contests in an injury-ravaged 2025-26 season, and the Thunder felt that absence. He’s one of their most complete players - an elite defender who can guard multiple positions, a high-level wing playmaker, an efficient shooter, and a productive shot creator who serves as the No. 2 scoring option behind Gilgeous-Alexander when he’s right.
What makes Williams so valuable is that he touches every part of the game. The Thunder can patch together pieces that resemble parts of his skill set, but they don’t have another player who can do all of it at once. And when the level rises in the playoffs, replacing that kind of two-way wing becomes a brutal ask.
The Thunder already had trouble overcoming the San Antonio Spurs without him in 2025-26, and there’s no overnight fix for losing a do-it-all player with a 7'2.25" wingspan. If Williams can’t stay on the floor again, Oklahoma City will be forced to survive without one of its most unique pieces.
Holmgren’s issue looks different, but it’s just as important. He just finished a season in which he averaged a career-best 17.1 points per game, and his 14.0 field goal attempts per 36 minutes matched his 2024-25 mark and sat only 0.2 below his 2023-24 number. That means the jump was really about efficiency more than aggression.
There is value in that growth, but the Conference Finals exposed the other side of the equation. Holmgren went quiet on offense when it mattered most, including the entire 2026 Western Conference Finals. Oklahoma City won both games in which he took at least nine shots, but he never reached that number in the other five.
Game 7 was the starkest example. Holmgren attempted just two field goals and four free throws in 33 minutes. That’s not the kind of imprint a team expects from one of its best players.
His playing time also dipped. After clearing 30 minutes in every game of the second round, he reached that mark only three times in the seven-game Conference Finals.
Maybe that was a Victor Wembanyama problem, and maybe it was just a bad matchup. But if Holmgren sees Wembanyama again in 2027, the Thunder will need a much more assertive version of him. Even if that matchup doesn’t come back around, Oklahoma City still needs one of the NBA’s most dynamic scoring threats - a 7'1" player who can score at all three levels is still a unicorn - to punish defenses when they load up on Gilgeous-Alexander.
If Holmgren doesn’t do that, his $47,838,690 average annual salary will start becoming an offseason conversation. And if Williams can’t stay healthy while Holmgren stays passive on offense, the Thunder’s depth won’t be enough to carry them where they want to go.
In Other News...
Sam Presti Just Avoided The Roster Drama Another Contender Faces
Restricted free agency can turn into a long summer headache in a hurry, and the Pistons are living through it with Jalen Duren. Detroit has put a hefty offer on the table, reportedly north of $35 million a year, but the sides still have not locked anything in as the calendar keeps moving toward the season.
For Oklahoma City, the contrast is a pretty comfortable one. Sam Presti already has extensions in place for Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the two 2022 draft picks who helped power the Thunder to the 2025 championship, which means one of the league's more important young cores is secured while another contender is still waiting for clarity. [Read more 🡒]
Aday Mara Enters Thunder Camp With One Immediate Problem
Aday Mara arrives at Thunder camp in a much better place physically than some recent Oklahoma City rookies, having gotten through both the NBA Summer League and FIBA World Cup Qualifiers healthy. That alone gives the No. 12 overall pick in the 2026 draft a cleaner runway than plenty of young players who have had their first year interrupted by injuries or buried by a deep roster.
Still, health may be the easy part of the equation. Maras summer drew mixed reviews, and there is already a sense that his first season could be more about learning and waiting than immediate production, a familiar pattern for Thunder first-year players trying to break through in Mark Daigneaults system. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder May Soon Face A Tough Jared McCain Decision
After making trades designed to stay clear of luxury tax penalties, the Thunder are now staring at a familiar kind of roster problem: too many promising young guards and not enough easy answers. Cason Wallace, Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain are all expected to matter in Oklahoma Citys next phase, giving the team real depth and long-term upside in the backcourt.
The tricky part is that not every piece can be treated the same when extension season arrives. McCain is still a valuable player, but the Thunder are likely to view Wallace and Mitchell as the bigger financial priorities, which puts the front office in a familiar balancing act between talent and cost. Keeping all three around as they develop may force some tougher planning down the road. [Read more 🡒]