NBA: 3 Championship pretenders most likely to get upset early on in the playoffs

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder have caught most people by surprise this year with their regular-season success. With just a few weeks remaining in the season, the Thunder are currently the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. But as one of the youngest and most inexperienced "contenders," there's no question they should be on upset alert.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is putting together an MVP-caliber season and is surrounded by bright young stars such as Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. Despite their success so far this season, there are still questions about how they will perform in the playoffs. There are still concerns about their size which could be a deciding factor in a bad matchup. With how deep the West is, any first-round matchup is going to be far from a guarantee for Oklahoma City.

While Holmgren has been a good rim protector so far in his first season, he does tend to get overpowered by bigger centers. Youth and inexperience in the postseason could be reasons for an early exit for the Thunder.