Jalen Williams And Josh Giddey Emerge As Stabilizing Duo For Thunder

Just when the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season was trending towards the lottery with five-straight losses shortly after the break, the youngest team in the history of the NBA has turned things back around. Oklahoma City has now won five of its last six contests and is firmly back in the play-in picture.

The primary reason for this positive shift is due to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander coming back into the lineup, but even then the team has been forced to play without him in certain situations. Due to working his way back from an abdominal injury, part of his injury management program the rest of the season is not playing in both games of a back-to-back. Over the past week, the Thunder played in a pair of back-to-backs, meaning Gilgeous-Alexander had to miss two contests. OKC was able to split those two games, with the one loss being the only one for the Thunder since early March.

Unless something changes, it’s likely this injury management protocol remains in place the rest of the way, which means Gilgeous-Alexander will miss at least two of Oklahoma City’s final 14 games since there’s two back-to-backs left this season.

When a team’s best player is in and out of the lineup, it’s hard to build consistency and continuity within the roster. With that in mind, Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey have been able to stabilize the young Thunder during this recent stretch of success.

Over the past six games in which OKC has gone 5-1, Giddey has averaged 17.2 points, 8.8 assists and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 47.1% from deep. He’s the ultimate facilitator that can play a variety of roles on any given night depending on who he’s playing alongside. Meanwhile, Williams has produced 22.5 points, 5.5 boards, 5.3 assists and 2.3 steals while shooting 60.7% from the floor, including 54.5% from beyond the arc. Doing it on both ends, the rookie has emerged as one of the best players in his class.

These two will be huge for the Thunder moving forward as the team continues to push for the play-in. Whether it’s being complimentary pieces when Gilgeous-Alexander is on the floor, or primary playmakers when he’s not, they’re both versatile and able to make things happen.

With 14 games remaining, Oklahoma City is 33-35 which is tied for the ninth-best record in the Western Conference. One thing to monitor the rest of the way is the home and road performance. Given they’re a young team, the Thunder have struggled on the road this season, going 13-20. Meanwhile, they’re 20-15 at Paycom Center thus far. Eight of their last 14 contests will be away from Oklahoma City, including a four-game road trip on the West Coast.

There’s really only two directions this season could go for the Thunder. On one hand, they could continue to shock the league and have much more success than expected and make the play-in. On the flip side, OKC could struggle down the stretch and earn top 10 lottery odds. In either scenario, this young team will have the chance to take the league by storm next season with the position the Thunder are in.