Great players make teams good, good players make teams great.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been nearly impossible to beat whenever Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren contribute in any meaningful way to supplement Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP season. In Game 5, Williams continued his incremental rise in these Finals with a true all-time performance. Williams was all over the floor and attacking the basket in transitions and off cuts, but also he showcased his full bag, particularly in the fourth quarter as the Indiana Pacers were trying to setup a repeat of Game 1 with an improbable comeback. 

Indiana cut an 18-point lead down to two with 8:30 left in the fourth quarter with Pascal Siakam’s three-pointer. Williams missed a runner out of an iso, but the Thunder had a pair of offensive rebounds before they found Williams spotting up for a wide open three-pointer. Cason Wallace’s steal and breakaway dunk on the Pacers’ next possession gave the Thunder some breathing room with a 100-93 lead.

Williams’ impeccable footwork on the fadeaway on the left elbow with 3:40 remaining gave the Thunder a 118-104 lead, sealed the win, and gave him 40 points for the game.

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The superstar is the toughest thing for an NBA franchise to acquire. Both the Thunder and Pacers acquired their superstar via trade when they were either in or entering their age-21 season. Gilgeous-Alexander is an order of magnitude bigger star than Haliburton. Both can be understated in play and personality. You'll look up and Gilgeous-Alexander will have 30+ points. You'll look up and Haliburton will have a game-winner and he'll be strutting all over the court.

Haliburton didn’t make a field goal in Game 5 as he dealt both with the continuing suffocating defense of the Thunder, as well as an obvious lower leg injury. 

The supplementary cast will sustain the success of the Thunder and Pacers over a longer period of time. Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton are each invested in the success of their teammates. Oklahoma City’s postgame group interview tradition with “Don’t Stop Me Now” blaring in the background is representative of a genuine collective buy-in. 

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It has been bizarrely understated that Durant is on the verge of joining his fourth team since leaving the Thunder in 2016 all while the team that drafted him is in the Finals for the first time since 2012. The Thunder were viewed then as limitless and inevitable until it all quickly went away. James Harden was traded that fall wanting his own team. Russell Westbrook’s torn meniscus derailed their chances in 2013. The Thunder lost to the eventual champion Spurs in six games in the West Finals in 2014. Durant missed half the season in 2015 due to his foot surgery. The Thunder blew a 3-1 lead to the Warriors in the West Finals in 2016. And that was it.

Durant was immediately successful in winning a pair of titles and Finals MVPs with the Warriors upon leaving the Thunder in 2016, but his journey has been winding and seemingly unfulfilling. He came close in 2021 with an imperfect and now almost mythical Nets’ team that was injured at the wrong time. Durant’s three seasons with the Suns have been even more ill-fated. Durant could have one final chapter of success depending on where he is traded, which he is attempting to control but may not be able to ultimately. 

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The Thunder are now protected by their ability to extend Gilgeous-Alexander that was unavailable to them for Durant in the buildup to his 2016 free agency. Williams and Holmgren will almost certainly each extend this offseason as well. The Thunder were trying to pay Durant, Westbrook, Harden and Serge Ibaka each max or near max contracts. The cap is rising at a rate where they should make it work more easily this time. The cap spike of 2016 was too far off in 2012 to even really predict let alone take advantage of to make it work. The personalities and skill-sets of Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren are more compatible than the big 3 that would each win a single MVP. This Thunder core represents everything the franchise learned from the Durant era’s collapse. 

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During Oklahoma City’s grueling second round series against the Nuggets as Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP award sat on ice, there were questions of whether Williams was ready for his playoff moments. Williams wasn’t able to generate offense in the previous year’s second round series against the Mavericks. Williams hit a go-ahead three-pointer with almost one minute remaining in Game 5 against the Nuggets that marked his arrival as a clutch player.

Williams was not only clutch in this Game 5 of the Finals, but played like a superstar who might even be capable of challenging Gilgeous-Alexander for an MVP if we ever begin to consistently see this version of him.