Thunder Depth A Major Plus Heading Into NBA Season

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen their depth show up as a major plus heading into this NBA season according to Sam Presti.

Dec 11, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) and guard Cason Wallace (22) shake hands before the start of a game against the Utah Jazz at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The NBA is a star-driven league, the difference in winning a title typically rests on the shoulders of the players at the top of the rotation to go toss in clutch time buckets and heliocentric heroics late in games that snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

However, with that old adage comes an underrated aspect of roster construction: Depth. While the stars steal the headlines and you certainly can not win a title with a ragtag bunch of bench pieces, you are only as good as your complimentary pieces.

Even the brightest star in the game could not drag the worst team in the league to a date with the Larry O'Brien trophy - though LeBron James' 2007 run was one of the closest we have seen - especially in this current era of the NBA which inches closer to the parity the league has always dreamed of.

On top of the association, wide competitive depth comes the changes on the actual hardwood which includes getting back to a more physical style and more possessions than ever with teams flying up and down the court.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have one of the deepest teams in the NBA, routinely playing 10-13 players a night that isn't expected to change as the summer of additions makes the Thunder even more feisty from top to bottom of their roster.

On Wednesday, the Thunder held their annual preseason media availability with top executive Sam Presti where he highlighted the teams' depth.

"I think the depth of teams in the league and I think depth in general is really important. I think depth relative to the parity in the league that we see now is directly linked because the teams are so deep," Presti said.

"But I also think it's important for these reasons. Midway through the season last year, there was a change in the points of emphasis relative to the officiating, so we saw a much more physical game. We like that. We're for that. We're certainly not against that in any way. We think it's probably better to have a balanced game," Presti continued

Along with the heightened point of emphasis comes the scheduling issues that arise during the year with a jam-packed stretch post-NBA Cup for teams.

"But you're still introducing a level of physicality into the game every single night that's going to wear anybody down. Couple that with the fact that the second half of the season is more compressed with less days off and more games, more travel days than we've seen in 10 to 12 years, and you're going to see just the attrition of the league probably change a little bit more, but to get a better product, which is totally understandable. But I think depth matters there," Presti opined.

The Thunder's top executives also highlighted the simple fact of different athleticism the league sees now with explosiveness never before seen which clearly takes a toll in a different capacity than in eras past.

"The icing on the cake for all of that relative to the depth is the pace of the modern game is much different, so the days are the same. There are still 24 hours in the day. There was always physical basketball. But the amount of torque on the bodies and the way in which -- and how many possessions there are within a modern NBA game is just a different load. That's why I think the depth is important to all teams, not just to our team, and I think we're well-positioned for that," Presti explained.

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