The Oklahoma City Thunder are made great by their role players. Having the MVP is a luxury that shouldn't be taken for granted, of course, and having two All-NBA caliber co-stars is just egregious spoils, but I would still venture to say that it's the infinite pool of elite role players who truly make the Thunder what they are today. And in 2024-25, the Thunder were missing their two most important role players for big chunks of the season; remember, Alex Caruso played just 54 games and Isaiah Hartenstein played just 57. And Nikola Topic, the team's lottery pick last year, played zero.
Thunder have crystal clear path to improving on historic title season
