Thunder Balance Increased Expectations, Look to Expand on Last Season

The Oklahoma City Thunder are now expected to be a championship contender — a far different position than its been used to.

Jan 29, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) celebrate after a play against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder's Media Day looked just a little bit different than it did a year ago.

Gone from a hopeful playoff contender to a bonafide championship contender, the Thunder has rapidly shot up the Western Conference ladder to the No. 1 seed faster than anyone could've predicted. Behind the trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams — plus new additions in the offseason — its set to compete right where it was last season.

Oklahoma City may not have garnered high expectations before, but after a 57-win campaign, it certainly is now.

The Thunder hasn't been pinned heading into a new season as a top seed and championship contender since the days of Russell Westbrook, so it'll be a new challenge facing an overwhelmingly young roster. The expectations are higher than ever, and if it falls short of them, that's when the scrutiny in the NBA social media landscape comes into play.

High expectations also brings high pressure, and for the Thunder, its priority is to keep those from entering the team mindset.

"You have to be careful with expectations put on outcomes," Holmgren said. "Around here we really emphasize putting expectations on processes, how we show up every day, how we got about our work, what we do and the attention of detail that we do it to. That's what we're really focused on."

If Oklahoma City puts high expectations on itself and falls short of it, that decreases morale. If it puts low expectations on itself and surpasses it, then it might just settle for that result. There has to be a balance, or it puts them in a self-made corner.

It's easy for players to place award or championship aspirations on themselves as goals they want to accomplish during a season, but more times than not, that creates a worse situation for their team. Oklahoma City has to focus on itself and how good it can be, not on outside expectations for where it needs to be.

"I think as long as we stay on course and we do what got us here, we'll be just fine," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I think we're more worried about that than the expectations of what we're supposed to be or not supposed to be. Just making sure we stay true to who we are in this process."

The Thunder isn't looking to try and replicate the 2023-24 season — it wants to expand on it. The increased expectations aren't going to be the result of that, it'll be Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and the rest of the roster's own doing instead.

The goalposts in Oklahoma City haven't changed just because of one successful run. It will let its talent take it as far as it can go once again, while everyone else just has to sit back and watch to see what it can accomplish.

"When we started off with this version of the team four years ago, we tried to put things in place that could transcend any team, any season, any external noise or expectation.

"I think we've done that well," head coach Mark Daigneault said.

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