7 teams the Washington Wizards can hope to emulate if they get 8th seed

3. 2009-10 Oklahoma City Thunder

Possibly the most fun young core on this list, the 2009-10 Oklahoma City Thunder featured 20-year-old Serge Ibaka, 20-year-old James Harden, 21-year-old Russell Westbrook, and 21-year-old Kevin Durant.

Now, I’m not saying the Washington Wizards have that kind of talent in Troy Brown Jr., Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant, Moritz Wagner, and many many more young bodies, but they have one important thing in common: Youth.

The 2009-10 OKC Thunder didn’t have any expectations, but the emergence of 6th man Harden and continued development of Westbrook and KD lead to a 50-32 record, a criminally low 8th seed, and playoff experience that began a run of the Thunder making the playoffs in 9 of the following 10 years.

There were also some finals appearances and while this isn’t exactly the same situation with the Wizards missing John Wall and him expected to come back next season, there is plenty of potential on this Washington roster and any one of these guys could take that fabled “next step,” just probably not to the same degree as Harden, Westbrook, or Durant.

If even one player does though, perhaps they can start a run like the Thunder did. Obviously, tanking into drafting Kevin Durant and Westbrook would go a long way in turning your team into a good one, but the difference is that we already have a proven talent in John Wall, so there’s some comparisons to draw here.

Record at all-star break: 30-21

2009-10 Final record & result : 50-32, Lost in 1st round

2010-11 season record & result: 55-27, Lost in Western Conference Finals