NEWS: Josh Giddey and the Bulls have agreed to a four-year, $100 million contract, a source tells The Athletic's @jxlorenzi.bsky.social & @samamick.bsky.social. The deal comes after a prolonged standoff between the team and the restricted free agent forward. Read: www.nytimes.com/athletic/653...

For my debut story at @theathletic.com, I pulled up to watch Derrick Rose play chess. He’s seemingly found fulfillment in his new obsession. Now he’s out here hoping to grow the game: www.nytimes.com/athletic/649...

For those who are unfamiliar with me or my recent move…here’s my introduction to The Athletic: www.nytimes.com/athletic/650...

I’m like Danny Green on this list, but def a Pop-type tree

News: This was my last week at The Oklahoman. I’m moving back home to cover the Bulls for The Athletic. Thankful that @jeffapatt.bsky.social and the crew embraced me. They gave me the shot I always wanted. Appreciative of Glenn Yoder and this staff for their belief in me and my path.

We would never say Basketball Players can’t dance. #ThunderUp 🎥 : @jxlorenzi.bsky.social

Listen to Aaron Wiggins’ defiance. Feel Jaylin Williams’ conviction. See the way SGA marched the streets. His streets, with his people. At the heart of this celebration was a sentiment shared by a city: on this day, Oklahoma City couldn’t be denied. www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Tuesday’s cover of The Oklahoman sports section 🏆

They weren’t too young after all. Their experiences were enough. In fact, this youthfulness carried the Thunder. Empowered them. From all-along training camp contender to learning about Moet on the last night of the season: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

History, fans, critics — they all say the prophecy requires champions to suffer before climbing the mountaintop. Years of defeat. Chet Holmgren scoffs at the idea that this path was easy. How OKC views its adversity, why it think it’s enough to win now: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

The idea of this zero-and-zero thing was to work toward tomorrow, not June. But *today* is June, a Game 6 that could secure the Thunder’s first title. On the mental space OKC has lived in for months, and how it’s staying there for at least another night: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Jalen Williams will give himself at least another win before he sinks his teeth into Monday's Game 5. His moment. His response to all his offseason questions. Maybe, in a few days, he'll realize he's become exactly who OKC needed him to be: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

The exhale was audible. OKC’s sins through three quarters were wiped away. Game 4, and the Thunder’s storied season, came down to the fourth quarter. The Thunder picked some time to regain control: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

SGA has elevated with each series. The lists he’s joining are only getting shorter, with this two-game Finals debut putting him in rare air. This is what the greats look like: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Alex Caruso was not gifted these credentials on his 30th birthday. Or when he won the 2020 title. Caruso honed this leadership, this reliability for a Finals team. On a trustworthy voice forged by collages, the D League and the art of learning teammates: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Chet Holmgren seethed, nearing a record for how long humans can clench their jaw. That OKC felt this before didn’t matter. The Pacers pulled off another playoff heist. The realization that the Thunder could be another one of those victims was bitter: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

SGA doesn’t care to talk about legacy. Not yet. But a win in these Finals would spark some uncomfortable conversations. On what’s up for grabs for a star on an all-time run: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

One last reminder that if Joel isn't narrating this Thunder run for you, you are doing it wrong.

OKC is back in the Finals. Among those who circled around the Thunder’s trophies last night, only Sam Presti truly knew what it took. On his vision, those who brought it to life, and how they gave new meaning to a once-bitter day in franchise history: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

The meltdowns, the expectations, the trials. They forged greatness, even in their NBA youth. Game 4 of the WCF was a product of that. This is what a Big Three looks like: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

On the early signs that Saturday could be a disaster, the urgency OKC failed to match, the ways the Wolves bullied the Thunder. OKC scurried out of Target Center. It left behind a performance that was unrecognizable: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Jalen Williams is named to the All-NBA Third Team just a day removed from being named to Second Team All-Defense. Incredible All-Star, two-way season for him. Williams got four 2nd place votes and 61 third place votes,

Not news, but NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is officially an All-NBA First Teamer, his third consecutive such honor. That ties legends like Allen Iverson, Kawhi Leonard and Steve Nash. That surpasses others, like Dwyane Wade and Russell Westbrook. SGA’s selection was unanimous.

Before he hoists the trophy tonight, some reading from SGA's MVP acceptance last night, a reflection with emotion unlike what most have seen from him. You have to understand who he was accepting it for: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

With SGA officially named MVP, here’s how voting played out. He won in a landslide, with 71 first-place votes:

The MVP is back in Oklahoma City: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

“Bad mother—,” he mouthed, reading another Joel Lorenzi Thunder article.

How convenient. The Thunder picked Game 7 to look most like itself: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Alex Caruso warned about giving the Nuggets hope Friday. Then it happened. “It’s not up to us. They have (a) championship mindset. They were always going to come out and throw punches.” On all the ways Denver found hope and belief, unlocking a Game 7: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Caruso on OKC’s mentality in Game 6: “Finish the job. You don’t wanna give a team fighting for their life any hope or belief. Probably the most dangerous thing you can do. “We’re a win away from the conference finals… It’s not about ‘we got two chances to do it.’”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander smiled during his Game 3 exit. He knew what we didn’t: that he’d have his chance at his moment, and that it’d include the shot that had been cruel to him. OKC clutched up one of its biggest wins in history. SGA met the moment: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

In Game 1, David Adelman looked down the sideline at OKC’s subs. His reaction portended his team’s Game 4 demise. The Thunder is deep: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

OKC found itself in a similar spot in Game 4, in dire need of surviving crunch time. On the Closer & the Closettes, who helped the Thunder outlast Denver in a grotesque game to even the series: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

SGA knew that he didn’t show when the game called for him. The 4th quarter slipped through his hands, a moment he’s relished time after time. Yet he was the only one who walked away from the rubble smiling. “Nothing's written. The series is not over.” www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

When Jaylin Williams wasn’t having it, no one was. OKC didn’t budge in Game 2. It shoved and threw licks like a team that reeked of desperation. In the end, Denver considered themselves “punked.” “We knew what was at stake tonight. We came out desperate.” www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Thunder pushes back with a 149-106 win. One of the best games of SGA’s career, nevermind the postseason. Early punch from OKC’s front court headlined by Jaylin Williams’ spot defense of Jokic, who fouled out in the third. OKC has led by at least 49 in two games these playoffs.

Length vs strength. Finesse and force. Fouls galore. So much is going into OKC’s — and more specifically Chet Holmgren’s — bout with Nikola Jokic: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

OKC’s Game 1 fate changed in seconds. Really, it changed minutes earlier. On late game blunders, winning plays and accountability. “We worked too hard as a collective, and we're too far along in this thing for situations like that to happen.” www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Gilgeous-Alexander. Jokic. The subplot their other worldly talents created, and one we’re lucky enough to watch unfold. SGA was bound to take this path sooner or later: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Was encouraged by the Rockets brand but figured the FVV shotmaking *probably* couldn’t trickle over to a Game 7. Still like the defense and think they’ll be rewarded with some series wins these next few years with the right changes.

Times/dates/TV for OKC’s second round series vs LAC/Denver. Game 1 is Monday, 8:30 pm tip on TNT

Gregg Popovich ‘literally changed’ the Spurs and NBA forever, including OKC Thunder: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

We talk so often about how Jokic’s prime is being “wasted” with the teams he’s been surrounded by, but Giannis is one of the greatest players ever and has certainly deserved better fortune/more ammo since the chip year. The crash out is understandable.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was asked questions this week that he often hadn’t heard this season. With his Game 4 and the dagger, he erased those questions. He ran toward the moment, which he credits himself for: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams entered this postseason under a microscope. And so far, they’ve been worth watching closely. On a dominant Holmgren sequence in Game 2, and the ways the pair has wrapped their arms around the Thunder offense: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

“Watch the games.” Those are the three words Jalen Williams uttered when he grew tired of explaining what’s happening in OKC. What the phrase means to this Thunder team, and why it’ll remain relevant in these playoffs and the foreseeable future: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...

Paycom Center getting dressed on Game 2 Eve.

Caruso: “I was really excited to get back to the postseason because I think we have that hunger and desire, especially defensively, that we had in the first 2, 3 months of the season.” OKC is thirsty. And the results left Caruso smiling mid-play Sunday: www.oklahoman.com/story/sports...