Oklahoma City Thunder In Denver For Season Opener Against Jokić-Led Nuggets

With the NBA preseason coming to a close, the Oklahoma City Thunder are in Denver for their season opener Thursday night against the Nuggets.

The Thunder and Nuggets played one another in the NBA preseason, with Oklahoma City coming out on top in a 124-94 win.

News 9 Thunder reporter Steve McGehee is in Denver with the latest on the Thunder's preparations for the 2024-25 season.

"It's a tough game to start, taking on the Denver Nuggets," McGehee said. "Denver, they won it all just two years ago, and somehow last year they couldn't get the job done. So they feel like they have a good enough team to win it all this year, but then again, so do the folks in Oklahoma City."

Over the offseason, the Thunder parted with guard Josh Giddey in a trade with the Chicago Bulls that netted them shooting guard Alex Caruso.

"30 years old, the oldest player on the team right now for the Oklahoma City Thunder," McGehee said. "But, Caruso brings three-point shooting and great defense. At the moment, he's just trying to fit in with this team, and so far so good."

"It's been really seamless, to be honest, to get to know these guys," Caruso said. "It's middle of October, late October now, so I've been here for, you know, a little over a month."

Another addition came with the signing of seven-foot-tall Isaiah Hartenstein, however, Hartenstein injured his hand in the Thunder's preseason game against the Nuggets on Oct. 15.

RELATED: Thunder Center Isaiah Hartenstein To Miss First 5-6 Weeks Of NBA Season After Hand Fracture

The Thunder won that game 124-94, but will now be without Hartenstein for over a month.

Despite the loss of Hartenstein, Oklahoma City's roster still features star players such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Jaylin Williams, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren.

With a roster now full of experienced players, McGehee said this may be the year the team hopes to go all the way.

The first year I [covered the Thunder], it was the last season for Durant, I felt like this was a team that could win it all," McGehee said. "Then when they picked up Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, I thought they had a chance to win it all that year. Of course, that didn't happen. Then they had to hit the reset button, so here we are again, this year and next year look really good."

Tipoff for Thursday night's game is set for 9 p.m.

News 9's Steve McGehee will bring a live report at 10 p.m. on News 9.