The Oklahoma City Thunder have been around for so long that people forget how young they still are. In their first playoff appearance back in 2010, they lost to the last of Kobe Bryant’s championship teams with the Los Angeles Lakers. They have made the last five postseasons, losing to the eventual NBA champions in four of them. Yet, for all the experience they have gained, their best three players are just now entering the prime of their careers.

Durant won his first MVP award at the ripe old age of 25, cementing himself as one of the two best players in the world. He averaged 32 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists a game, just missing the shooter’s Holy Grail of 50/40/90. The crazy part is that he still has room to grow as a player - Durant can improve as a defender, a post scorer and a decision-maker. If he continues adding things to his game every summer, it is scary where he will be at 28-29.

After being sidelined with a knee injury for a good part of the season, Westbrook re-established himself as one of the best players in the NBA in the playoffs. He averaged 27 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals a game on 42% shooting, outplaying Mike Conley, Chris Paul and Tony Parker in consecutive rounds. At 26, Westbrook is the most athletic guard in the league - there isn’t a PG who can match up with him and he is indefensible in a 1-on-1 situation.

Ibaka doesn’t have the offensive game of his superstar teammates, but he is just as valuable to the Thunder. In the two games he missed in the Western Conference Finals, they looked like a different team, unable to protect the paint or space the floor. Ibaka is an elite shot-blocker who doubles as a high-level perimeter shooter - that combination of skills is so valuable it’s like he was grown in a basketball laboratory. At 25, he is the youngest of the three.

A lot has been made about the James Harden trade, but Ibaka was always the best fit for a Big Three in Oklahoma City. Their games fit together like a hand in a glove - Ibaka opens up the paint for Durant and Westbrook, who can feed him for spot-up jumpers. On the other side of the ball, all three guys can shrink the floor and match up with multiple positions. You can slide Westbrook between 1-2, Durant between 3-4 and Ibaka between 4-5.

They are like a younger version of the Big Three in Miami, who had an average age of 27 when they first came together. The difference is that the Thunder’s trio function better as a unit - Chris Bosh had to de-emphasize his offense to fit with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade while Ibaka can impact the game without having the ball in his hands. Imagine the Heat if Wade had been LeBron’s age and Bosh could block three shots a game.

This season, the biggest change for Oklahoma City’s stars could be off the court. Because of the youth of their Big Three, the Thunder have tried to surround them with veteran role players who can provide leadership and set an example in the locker room. However, as they get older, the team around them is getting younger. Derek Fisher, Caron Butler and Thabo Sefolosha are gone - Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka should be the loudest voices in the room. 

That could have a positive effect on the on-court product as well, as one of the biggest knocks on the Thunder in recent years was the lack of athleticism and offensive creativity in their supporting cast. Scott Brooks never lost confidence in guys like Fisher and Butler, even though they were at the very end of their rope. He played a 39-year-old Fisher 32 minutes in Game 6 of the WCF, a decision so mind-boggling it could be the subject of a 30-for-30.

Brooks’ supporters have claimed that Oklahoma City’s younger players weren’t ready for the big stage, even though he never really gave them a chance to find out. There was certainly nothing in the statistics that suggested Fisher and Butler should have been playing over guys like Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb. This season, instead of having a bunch of older and slower guys next to their Big Three, the Thunder will have younger and faster ones.

This is a team that they can go to another level, even after averaging 59.5 wins over the last two seasons. Butler had a 11.9 postseason PER and Fisher was at 7.9 - they were terrible and they played a ton of minutes. Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison could be the only rotation players in Oklahoma City above the age of 26 this season. The Thunder can field multiple all home-grown line-ups with two-way players and elite athletes at all five positions.

Jackson is the obvious candidate for internal improvement. He came into his own in his third season in the NBA, averaging 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists a game while filling in for Westbrook in the starting line-up. He’s ready to run his own team - if he comes off the bench, he should be one of the frontrunners for Sixth Man of the Year. Even if he’s not starting, he will close out games and give OKC another big-time offensive weapon.

Lamb has gotten a ton of grief for his role in the Harden trade, but he’s still a promising young SG who put up a 13.4 PER at the age of 21. If he can use his length (6’11 wingspan) to survive on the defensive end, he gives the Thunder a three-point shooter on the perimeter who can attack a close-out, finish at the rim and find the open man. That’s a skill-set that Fisher, Butler and Sefolosha could no longer provide at this stage in their careers.

Oklahoma City has two more intriguing young players at the forward positions in Perry Jones III and Mitch McGary. PJ3 has had a hard time getting minutes in his first two seasons in the league, but he’s only 23 and he has shown the ability to stretch the floor and defend all five positions. McGary, 22, could be the eventual replacement for Collison, as a heady big man who can score with his back to the basket and facilitate offense out of the high post.

The crown jewel of their youth movement is Steven Adams, a gargantuan center with a surprising amount of skill who moves very well for his size. As a 20-year old rookie, he exceeded even the most optimistic predictions, with per-36 minute averages of 8 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks a game. Perkins isn’t long for the starting line-up - Adams gives the Thunder a big body who can also move his feet, play above the rim and catch and finish.

If Jackson, Lamb, PJ3, McGary and Adams were on a lottery team, they would be considered one of the more promising young cores in the league. They will be role players in Oklahoma City. In 2015-2016, the Thunder could have an eight-man rotation with an average age of 25 which features shooting, playmaking, length and athleticism at all five positions on the floor. They won’t need Brooks to make any tough decisions - they have been made for him.

Oklahoma City has two of the top five players in the NBA as well as one of the league’s best defensive big men. They can align their stars in almost any configuration and put guys who can shoot and defend around them. They play elite offense and elite defense, they can go big, they can go small and they can match up with any team in the league. The Thunder aren’t just set up to win a championship this season - they are set up to win the next few.