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OKC Thunder are the top seed in the Western Conference with a 57-25 record this season. They were the second-worst team in the 2021 season and the 10th seed in the 2022 season and missed the playoffs. This campaign, the Thunder have made the playoffs after an almost half-decade absence.
The last time the OKC Thunder made it to the playoffs was during the 2019 season, a season after Russell Westbrook joined James Harden in Houston. Since the 2016-17 season, the Thunder have been unable to make it to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
This is perhaps the best that the Thunder have looked since Kevin Durant left to join the Golden State Warriors in 2016-17. After Durant left, the Thunder lost to the Rockets, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers, all in the first round of the playoffs.
The rise of Thunder under Mark Daigneault, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, has seen the creation of a defensive identity. They will be going against the winner of the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings in the first round of the playoffs.
Shannon Sharpe calls OKC Thunder the weakest No. 1 seed in the NBA
The OKC Thunder have come out as one of the biggest surprises this season beside Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers. Coach Mark Daigneault was able to put a balance into the teams which proved crucial in their rise this season. However, there are still questions about their reliability in the postseason.
The Thunder are tied with the Denver Nuggets for the best record in the West, however, they took the top spot in the tiebreaker. Unlike other top teams, the Thunder didn’t make the conventional noise that other top teams have made in the past.
Shannon Sharpe, an NFL Hall of Famer and NBA analyst, labeled the Thunder the “weakest No.1 seed” in the NBA.
“Do you actually think that the OKC Thunder is gonna make it all the way to the Western Conference? … This might be the weakest No. 1 seed in the NBA in a very long time,” Sharpe said on ESPN.
The Thunder is one of the youngest teams in the league with an average age of 24.1 years, so it will be interesting to see if inexperience plays a role here.
Most of the players on the team do not have much playoff experience on their resume. Depending on their age and experience, the Thunder have a very unlikely chance to go deep into playoffs.
However, it would be premature to ignore what the Thunder were able to achieve on both ends of the floor. They are No. 3 in the league in offense and No. 4 in defense, so writing them off could be a mistake.
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