OKC Thunder: The Three Most Impactful Players for 2023-24

Oklahoma City’s roster is chock full of talent. But which three players are set to have the greatest impact on winning next season?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are being flagged by many as a potential breakout team to watch in the 2023-24 regular season.

With a bevy of young up-and-coming stars, as well as that looming cache of draft picks, they’re one of the more exciting franchises in the league.

Here are the three players that should have the most impact on the team’s overall record:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

No surprise here. The 25-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander is the epicenter of this Thunder project, and his All-NBA first-team selection last season showcases that.

If he can manage to replicate his 2022-23 production, he’ll continue to rival even the league’s best in terms of impact. But even with a slight drop-off, he’ll still top this list.

Josh Giddey

Some have already written Giddey off as a finished product. But just last season he took tremendous strides in nearly every facet of his game, most importantly his scoring percentages.

Giddey might not take another monumental leap, but if he can, that would likely fire Oklahoma City into another stratosphere. And that makes him list-worthy here.

Chet Holmgren

The not-so-newbie is set to see his first real NBA action this upcoming season, but has now spent a year with the club learning the ins-and-outs of the league.

Holmgren fills exactly what the team needs in a variety of areas: a lengthy interior scoring threat, elite rim protection, floor-spacing and more.

His talents so perfectly matching up with the team’s flaws makes him highly impactful. But he won’t have to do too much in order to help the team win games. He said it best himself: “We’re winning games by four points, we’re losing games by four points — I just have to figure out how to help make this team five points better and then keep building from there.”

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