ESPN analyst calls Thunder 'future dynasty'
10/09/2024 02:39 PM
Ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, NBA analysts are coming around on the Oklahoma City Thunder. You’d be hard-pressed to find any underestimating of the magnitude of their offseason moves coupled with their up-and-coming core. Led by 26-year-old superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who NBA GMs predict as MVP in 2025, the Thunder are coming off their first 55+ win regular season in 11 years, and with the league’s runner-up for Most Valuable Player, ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh is picking OKC as the team that will be the association’s next dynasty over the 2024 champion Boston Celtics.
On the debut episode of Yahoo! Sports’ The Kevin O’Connor Show, the Ringer’s former podcast host gave his guest, Haberstroh, the floor as he explained why Gilgeous-Alexander gives the Thunder the slight edge over Celtics star Jayson Tatum, 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Boston.
“Dynasty? You dropped the dynasty word,” Haberstroh said when O’Connor mentioned the likelihood of seeing the Celtics form the league’s next dynasty. “It is crazy because every dynasty has a top-ten player on that squad — every dynasty. We’ve looked at NBA history. You need to have one of those guys, and they’ve done it unconventionally by having Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown not being super heavy MVP candidates but still being on a 70-win pace, or at least their point-differential suggested they a 70-win team last year.
“Are they dynasty material? I think you’re crazy. “If I’m going to put stock in a dynasty or a future dynasty, it’s going to be OKC. It’s going to be on the team that has basically 25-and-under studs across the board,” Haberstroh concluded.
Haberstroh wants to see how this year’s Celtics fare against a healthy Philadelphia 76ers or Milwaukee Bucks team led by their respective perennial All-Stars.
“To me, I think it’s premature to say dynasty. Another thing I want to see I wanna see them go against Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. I wanna see them go against [Joel] Embiid. I want to see them go against the top of the top in the Eastern Conference before we start throwing around that D-word.”
Will Shai Gilgeous-Alexander win the 2025 MVP?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder have one of the league’s most promising 25-and-under cores in the NBA. While ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh understands that as the Boston Celtics’ All-Star tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown continues to grow in leading the Celtics to the best record in the Eastern Conference, it’s easy to predict Boston as the next team on the verge of a dynastic run.
Still, because of Gilgeous-Alexander’s ascension and his promising cast of teammates, he likes the Thunder’s chances of evolving into a dynasty before the Celtics.
“Given that the Eastern Conference has a tier by themselves, the Boston Celtics, I can understand why if the Celtics were playing in the West, it would be a whole lot harder to get to that Finals,” Haberstroh added. “But I think it’s premature. I think you need to have a top-10 guy.”
On Wednesday, the Thunder will host the Houston Rockets in their second preseason matchup.
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