OKC Thunder: Opponent lessons to help structure next era of the franchise
Southwest Division:
The middling performance group of the West is the Southwest Division. Demonstrating how quickly momentum shifts occur, in 2014-15 the entire division made the postseason. That’s right – all five teams made the cut meaning only three teams outside the SW earned playoff berths.
This past season, only the Mavericks and Rockets reached the postseason. In present-day four of the five teams are young (Mavericks, Grizzlies, Pelicans) or in rebuilding mode (Spurs), and if James Harden has his way that could shift to the entire division shifting their focus to youth and rebuilding.
Dallas Mavericks: 40 seasons – 1 title
The Mavericks won their lone title in 2011 and with eight playoff appearances are among the more successful franchises during this 12-year OKC Thunder existence. However, six of those trips ended in the first round. They returned this season after a three-year hiatus.
The Mavericks longest absence from the postseason occurred during the decade of the 90s – no doubt a decade Mavs fans would like to forget. Overall the Mavs played in two finals winning once.
Houston Rockets: 53 seasons (49 as “Houston”) – 2 titles
The Rockets are among the most successful teams during the past dozen seasons reaching the playoffs in nine of those years. They got to the conference finals twice, semi-finals four times, and were ousted in the first round on three occasions.
Houston is one of the more successful franchises when it comes to making the postseason and quickly rebuilding between those stints. Since renaming to the Rockets the club has experienced three rebuilding phases in 49 seasons and none lasted longer than four years. The club reached the finals on four occasions winning half but not returning since the back-to-back championships.
With the current turmoil in Houston and with the draft picks in hand via the trades the Thunder will hope the Rockets are about to go into a rebuilding phase so they get quality picks.
Memphis Grizzlies: 25 years – no titles
Like the Raptors in the East, the Grizzlies are a quarter-century old. However, the team which spent its first six seasons in Vancouver, Canada moved to Memphis in 2001 where they’ve remained for the past 19 years.
A run of seven consecutive appearances for the Grizzlies occurred starting in the spring of 2011 with one conference finals appearance, two semi-finals, and four first-round ousts. They’ve missed the playoffs the past three seasons. In their 10 postseason appearances, they’ve never been to the NBA Finals.
New Orleans Pelicans: 18 seasons – no titles
Like most teams in the NBA, the Pelicans is the name of the franchise now but it wasn’t the first name of the team. For 11 seasons the club was the New Orleans Hornets and played two of those seasons in Oklahoma City due to Hurricane Katrina.
While the OKC Thunder are the shortest tenured franchise in the association the Pelicans are second with 18 seasons in the tank. Unlike the Thunder, however, the Pelicans have not experienced the same success in reaching the postseason.
While the Thunder can point to 10 trips in 12 years the Pelicans have made just seven postseason trips in the lifetime of the franchise. During this timeframe the Pelicans made four playoff trips reaching the semi-finals once and losing in the first round on the other occasions. In fact, the Pelicans’ best run was the semis which they’ve reached twice in franchise history.
San Antonio Spurs: 53 seasons (first six as Chaparrals) – 5 titles
It’s not just the five rings obtained in 16 seasons or the 22 consecutive postseason appearances that make the San Antonio Spurs the prime template to follow. Rather, the most remarkable achievement of the Spurs is they’ve never missed consecutive seasons going to the playoffs.
That statistic runs all the way back to the ABA days when the club was called the Dallas Chaparrals. In 53 seasons the Spurs missed the postseason an amoebic six times, including this past year.
In their 11 trips to the playoffs during the Thunder 12-year existence, the Spurs won the title once, lost in the Finals to the Heat, got to the conference finals twice, semis twice, and lost in the first round five times.
Their success is unprecedented particularly for a small market team and it’s not surprising why every team in the association looks to emulate their example. Of their six trips to the NBA Finals, they lost only once (in the highly contentious series versus the Heat).