How Will the OKC Thunder Handle 'New Pieces' on the Roster?

After earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference last year, Oklahoma City made two big-time additions over the offseason.

Apr 5, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso (6) and New York Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) go for the ball during the second half at United Center / David Banks-Imagn Images

Despite the Oklahoma City Thunder's flaws in 2023-24, Mark Daigneault's team was one of the best in the NBA.

Despite having a young roster without much traditional size at the center position, OKC won 57 games and became the youngest team in league history to win a playoff series.

In the second round of the postseason, however, the team deficiencies were much more glaring, as the Dallas Mavericks' experience and size led to the Thunder losing in six games to Luka Doncic and company.

The Thunder addressed two of their biggest weaknesses from last year over the offseason by trading Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso and signing Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency, which should make the team even more complete heading into the 2024-25 campaign.

Some NBA media members, however, are skeptical that there may be too many cooks in the kitchen in the Modern Frontier.

"The first team that I am excited to watch this season is Oklahoma City," Sam Vecenie said. "They have a lot of new pieces. ... With a top three player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and having added two of the top, frankly, 15 defenders in the NBA last season in Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. A team that was already quite successful, defensively, with Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren. ... With all of these great pieces, you have Jalen Williams coming in and continuing to take steps forward and forward and forward, incredibly hard worker. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks like he's going to continue to be a top three player in the league. Chet Holmgren looks like he is the next star center. ... It's a lot of random stuff coming together here that we need to figure out."

So far, the amount of talent Sam Presti has assembled hasn't been an issue for the team, but with heightened expectations, new contracts to players like Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins as well as the addition of pricey free agents like Hartenstein, the team's chemistry may not be as strong to start the year.

Still, Hartenstein and Caruso have both proven to be unselfish players in their previous stops and should be well-acclimated to their roles.

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