ESPN Analyst Calls the OKC Thunder ‘Indisputable Biggest Winner’ of Offseason

Oklahoma City had one of the NBA’s most impressive offseason, and anybody that watches the game could tell you that. The Thunder added Alex Caruso via trade and signed one of the best available big men in Isaiah Hartenstein in the team’s offseason haul. It was a much needed boost to an already stellar lineup.

Sure, other teams acquired bigger names or went after Hollywood stars. But the most impressive part about the Thunder’s summer is that the team added two players that fit perfectly with the core and fill the main holes on the roster. Caruso is a perfect connective player and Hartenstein shores up the Thunder’s rebounding issues. These are the types of moves that contending teams make, and Oklahoma City is clearly in contention next season.

The Thunder appear to be the odds on favorite to win the Western Conference and have top of the line NBA title odds, too.

ESPN analyst Zach Lowe was live on television today, and he raved about the Thunder’s picture perfect offseason.

“It won’t get reflected in their win total because they’ve already won a lot of games, but I think the Oklahoma City Thunder are indisputably the biggest winner of the offseason,” Lowe said. “Again, they won a ton of games, they were the No. 1 seed last year, I’ll bet they’re going to be the favorites to be the No. 1 seed again.

“But their versatility in the playoffs went up a level swapping out Josh Giddey and bringing in Alex Caruso who shot 41% on threes last year and is an All-Defense player. And Isaiah Hartenstein just brings a completely new dimension to their team. Helps them on the glass, he can play next to Chet Holmgren, he’s a great passer and that fits with Chet. It just gives them different looks, different styles they didn’t have last year.”

Oklahoma City didn't really need to do much this offseason, and yet they knocked it out of the park. Not many teams shored up their weaknesses like the Thunder did, and it'll show on the court. Like Lowe mentioned, it'll be hard to top last season's record considering the team was already the second best regular season team. But the ceiling for this new-look squad is exponentially higher.

It'll be an exciting time for this young core, and both offseason additions add to Oklahoma City's team strength.

"I think their ceiling got higher, their playoff ceiling got higher," Lowe said. "The Thunder are here now to try and win the whole damn thing.”

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