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Analysis: How far can the young Oklahoma City Thunder team go in the Playoffs?
NBASunday, 24 March 2024 at 18:32
The Thunder currently sit at 49-20 and are the number one seed in the Western Conference. With just around 13 games left in the season, they are in great position to lock up a top three seed in the West. The Thunder are the second youngest team in the NBA just ahead of the San Antonio Spurs with an average age of 24.12.
Coming into the season people thought the Thunder could compete for that sixth spot to avoid the play-in-tournament games, however no one expected them to be this good this year. So, the question is how far can the second youngest team go in the playoffs that is led by a 25 year old in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a core that has no playoff experience besides Shai, Lu Dort, and Gordon Hayward in their main rotation.
To answer that question we will have to look at how other teams that were young did in the playoffs.
History of younger teams in the playoffs
The first team every one is going to think of is the 2012 Thunder team when they had Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook when they lost to the Heat in the NBA Finals. That team had an average age of 25.5 led by a 23 year old in Durant. However, that was not their first playoff appearance with that core. Their first playoff appearance was back in 2010 when they were an 8th seed and got bounced in the first round to the Los Angeles Lakers led by Kobe Bryant.
The Golden State Warriors with their own young core only made it to the second round loosing to the Spurs for their first appearance. Most recent was the Memphis Grizzlies led by Ja Morant who couldn't get pass the first round in their team's first appearance. The farthest a young team has gotten in the playoffs in the last 14 years were the Boston Celtics were they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The history shows that young teams struggle in their first playoff appearance and then the next year, or year after is when they go on deep playoff runs.
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The Thunder don't play like a young team
The history shows that young teams aren't suppose to do well in the playoffs, however this year the Thunder are not playing like a young team. When you think of young teams you think of teams that turnover the ball a lot, can't close out games in the fourth quarter, and they blow leads in the fourth quarter. This team is the exact opposite.
They commit the third fewest amount of turnovers in the NBA with 11.6 per game while forcing the second most turnovers per game with 8.4 steals per game. To go along with that, they are tops in the league with coming back from double digit deficits and they are one of the bests in maintaining leads in the fourth quarter. These are things young teams aren't suppose to do.
Also, they lead the NBA in three point percentage, free throw percentage, and block shots. The Thunder are second in points per game, second in field goal percentage, third in assist to turnover ratio, and to cap it all off they are 3rd in offense and 5th in defense. If you look at stats alone you would not think this Thunder team is as young as they are.
Finally, will they win the title this year, probably not. The history tells us they won't, but that is not a bad thing with them as they are still very young and have many more years to compete. However, I think loosing in the first round would kinda be a disappointment for them with how good they have been playing this year and want to at least get out of the first round for the first time since 2016. This team is a very fun team to watch, and the stats show they can compete with the top teams in the NBA. They are not a team you want to play in the playoffs, and will be a hard out for any team.
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