Oklahoma City Thunder stars Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander participate in a joint interview after Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. (Jesse Johnson/Imagn Images)
MINNEAPOLIS — Getting a young star trio in the NBA to reach its full potential is a precarious and delicate business, part Jenga tower and part ship in the bottle.
With only one basketball, someone must sacrifice. With nine-figure contracts and endorsement deals at stake, those sacrifices carry major consequences. With rival teams capable of offering more shots and more visibility to talented sidekicks, the sacrifices become a tougher sell as the years pass. After all, second fiddles and third wheels grow up dreaming of being first, and they tend not to let go of that dream once they’ve tasted success.
The Oklahoma City Thunder knows well the perils of young trios: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden reached the 2012 NBA Finals in their third season together, but the three future MVPs went their separate ways before they could win a championship. Harden wanted to be “The Man” rather than the “Next Manu Ginobili,” and his stunning trade to the Houston Rockets transformed the precocious Thunder into an all-time “What could have been?” hypothetical.
All these years later, the Thunder finds itself back on the doorstep of the Finals thanks to another star trio. While Oklahoma City’s defense and depth were crucial advantages that powered a 68-win regular season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren have collectively raised their games during their first trip to the Western Conference finals.
In their most impressive performance to date, Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren combined to score 95 points in a dramatic 128-126 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 at Target Center on Monday. The Thunder, which now holds a commanding 3-1 series lead, will host Game 5 on Wednesday with a chance to reach the Finals for the first time since the good old days of 2012.
“We still have so much more room to grow, which is the scary part,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’m 26, which seems old compared to the other two. They haven’t even hit close to their prime yet. They’re both out there playing off feel and talent.”
Durant, Westbrook and Harden all rank among the top 20 scorers in NBA history, so any comparison to them on the basis of firepower or star power is bound to be unflattering. Even so, Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren share their predecessors’ fearlessness at a young age, and they benefit from being more natural complements.
Consider these limitations for the original Thunder trio. One: Westbrook and Harden both needed the ball. Two: Durant was Oklahoma City’s most talented player but not always its most assertive personality. Three: Westbrook’s scattershot decision-making and Harden’s unfocused defense presented real challenges to winning at the highest level. In the 2012 Finals loss to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat, Westbrook’s spotty shooting was difficult to overcome and Harden disappeared entirely for multiple games.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams (age 24) and Holmgren (age 23) have the Thunder back on the verge of the Finals after running a mesmerizing three-man weave to stave off the Timberwolves in Game 4. After a dreadful 42-point loss in Game 3, Oklahoma City responded with complete poise thanks to its three top guns, who combined to score 34 of the Thunder’s 38 points in the fourth quarter to seal the tense win.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 40 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, shaking off loud boos and chants of “Free Throw Merchant!” while outplaying Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. The newly minted MVP drilled several crucial jumpers in the fourth quarter, and he scored Oklahoma City’s final five points from the free throw line to preserve its narrow lead. The beauty in the Thunder’s win, though, came from Gilgeous-Alexander’s willingness to trust his co-stars despite the hostile environment and the mounting playoff pressure.
With Oklahoma City leading by four points with less than four minutes to play, Gilgeous-Alexander slipped to the court and somehow found Williams with a kickout pass. Williams, who scored 34 points and had five assists, calmly drilled one of his postseason-career-high six three-pointers. Then, with the Thunder up four and less than two minutes left, Gilgeous-Alexander beat Minnesota’s defense again by finding Williams for another three from the left wing.
Not to be outdone, Holmgren made plays all over the court in the final period: He crashed the offensive glass for a putback dunk, drilled a jumper from the top of the key that was set up by Gilgeous-Alexander, slipped free for another dunk and found guard Alex Caruso under the hoop with a pass for an easy bucket. In the game’s final minute, the 7-foot-1 Holmgren reached high above the rim for a perfectly timed block of a slashing layup attempt by Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels.
That defensive stand helped position Oklahoma City to strategically run out the clock with its “foul up three” strategy. Afterward, Edwards singled out Holmgren, who posted 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, as Monday’s “game changer.”
“[Holmgren] is a hell of a player on both ends of the floor,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s crazy because he’s out there just running around right now. We rarely call plays for him. He rarely gets anything set for him. He’s just out there playing off feel and affecting the game at a high level, whether it’s making open shots, blocking shots, offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding. He’s just a winning player.”
Indeed, Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren thrive because they occupy clearly defined and differentiated roles: Gilgeous-Alexander is the floor general and alpha scorer, Williams is the two-way wing in charge of secondary playmaking, and Holmgren is the long-armed shot-blocker who can score efficiently without needing the ball. While Williams and Holmgren could theoretically develop into franchise players in their own right, their current sacrifices don’t feel like sacrifices. The youngsters fit seamlessly around Gilgeous-Alexander, and they know they need the Canadian guard to handle the heavy lifting.
Unlike Durant, Westbrook and Harden, who were all top-four picks between 2007 and 2010, Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren took roundabout paths before jelling as a trio over the past two seasons.
Gilgeous-Alexander came off the bench for much of his one-and-done freshman season at Kentucky before being selected late in the 2018 lottery. After his rookie season, he was traded by the Los Angeles Clippers to the Thunder, where he endured several rebuilding campaigns. Williams spent three years at Santa Clara University — not exactly a collegiate blue blood — and faced questions about his upside when the Thunder selected him late in the 2022 lottery. Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in 2022, occupied a secondary offensive role during his freshman season at Gonzaga despite being a highly coveted high school prospect. Once in Oklahoma City, he missed his entire rookie season with a foot injury and more than half of this season with a hip injury.
Those trials have no doubt shaped their interpersonal dynamics. Gilgeous-Alexander views himself on the same plane as his teammates, and he doesn’t insist on taking every big shot. Williams is ready when it’s his turn, but he doesn’t fight Gilgeous-Alexander for control of the offense. Holmgren doesn’t mope if a quarter passes by and he is never the priority. Off the court, the three share a love of fashion and have appeared together in a national advertising campaign for AT&T.
“We’re all really cool with each other,” Williams said. “Our off-the-court chemistry seeps into on the court. We’ve grown up together. Shai’s a little bit older than us, but we’ve been through a lot of experiences in a short amount of time that force you to trust each other or grow apart. We’ve grown closer to each other. That’s how we play: Live and die by trusting each other.”
Oklahoma City’s trio possesses a potent blend of versatility, intelligence, shot-making and unselfish passing, plus a deep commitment to defense. Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has expertly constructed a cast of on-ball defenders and three-point shooters around them, and he added center Isaiah Hartenstein to provide some beef alongside the lithe Holmgren. With Williams and Holmgren still on team-friendly rookie contracts, Oklahoma City should be able to retain its trio for several years to come.
“I think we’re going to be as good as we put the work in to be,” Holmgren said. “I’m not going to sit here and make some big statement [about our potential]. We’re very confident in each other’s abilities. We all want to see each other succeed. That’s a good recipe for success.”
That Durant, Westbrook and Harden were broken up before they brought home a championship is one of the great shames in recent NBA history. It took more than a decade, but Oklahoma City’s second chance at a “Big Three” has officially arrived.