​The calendar has flipped to August. Which means we’re in the annual drought in the NBA’s year-round calendar. Don’t expect much to happen over the next couple of months. Teams across the league are in vacation mode and just waiting for the 2026-27 season to start.The Oklahoma City Thunder fell short of a second NBA championship, but remain in the meat of the title conversation. Bringing back mostly the same crew, expect them to be one of the league’s top teams for a fourth straight year.To prepare for the 2026-27 regular season, Thunder Wire will lay out three goals for all 17 players on the roster. OKC has 14 standard players and three two-way players. Let’s look at Alex Caruso and what he could accomplish this upcoming year:Stay in bubble wrapThe Thunder have had a plan with Caruso in his first two seasons. Stay completely bubble-wrapped in the regular season so he’s good to go in the NBA playoffs. He’s averaged just 19.3 minutes and 18.2 minutes in his first two years. His brutal playstyle requires OKC to save him. So far, the plan has worked. He’s had fresh legs every postseason and has been one of their top players. Don’t fix what isn’t broken. Expect another year where he seldom plays in the regular season.The two-time All-Defense member is one of the best defenders of his era. Sure, his trophy case might be lacking. But that has more to do with the Thunder holding him back in the regular season. Caruso seems fine with it, though. Heck, he has an NBA championship to show it’s paid dividends. He’s too important a piece. They must remain cognizant of his workload in the regular-season marathon.Improve outside shotAs awesome as he’s been in the NBA playoffs, Caruso has been equally pedestrian in the regular season. Specifically, on offense. He shot just 29.3% from 3 on 3.2 attempts. Opposing teams basically dared him to light the gym. With OKC saying goodbye to a handful of role players, it’ll need a smidge more regular-season production from across the board to make up the difference. In his case, just shoot a better percentage from deep.Caruso shot 35.3% from 3 on 3.1 attempts in his first season in OKC. He needs to return to that baseline. In the NBA playoffs, he shot a ridiculous 44.6% from 3 on 4.9 attempts. We know he can show out when the lights are the brightest. Now, it’s about hitting timely jumpers during the mundaneness of the regular season. The mechanics remained the same. Felt like he just had bad shooting luck.Add to NBA playoff loreIn two NBA trips, Caruso has become an OKC fan favorite. He averaged 9.2 points in their 2025 NBA championship run. And last year, he averaged 11 points as the Thunder fell short in the Western Conference Finals. He shot a sizzling 44.6% from 3. As Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell struggled to stay healthy, he stepped up as a scorer. He scored 31 points in a Game 1 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. By the end of their epic series, they had to respect his jumper and close out.Let’s see if Caruso can p