OKC Thunder: Opponent lessons to help structure next era of the franchise

In closing:

Diving into the above data offers some intriguing takeaways. Of the 30 teams, ten have never won a title and four more won a title but not in their current form.

To qualify, the St. Louis Hawks, Rochester Royals (Kings), Washington Bullets and ABA version of the Pacers were the teams who won their franchise’s titles. This could potentially increase to five if we consider the New Jersey Nets separate from the Brooklyn Nets like we do the Minneapolis Lakers versus the LA version.

Specifically, the10 teams without championships are the Hornets, Clippers, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Wolves, Magic, Suns, Jazz, Nuggets, and OKC Thunder. The first five bolded teams have also never played in a Finals series.

Of the 16 teams who’ve won a title that registers under their current franchise 11 have three or fewer. The Raptors, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Blazers, and Bucks have a single championship, while the Nets, Knicks, and Rockets have two. The trio of the 76ers, Heat, and Pistons have three titles.

That leaves only five clubs who have won five or more championships including the Spurs (5)  Warriors/Bulls (6) and the Lakers and Celtics with 17 but as noted earlier five of the Lakers titles were won by the Minneapolis Lakers. Also noteworthy are the Warriors (11), Celtics (21) and Lakers (32) are the only teams to have made double-digit appearances in an NBA Final.

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Perhaps the most important takeaway is the copious teams featuring superstars and All-Stars that have failed to reach the NBA Finals.

For example:

• James Harden – Rockets
• Damian Lillard – Blazers
• Giannis Antetokounmpo -Bucks
• John Wall/Bradley Beal – Wizards
• Joel Embiid/Ben Simmons – 76ers
• Anthony Davis Pelicans era
• The Lob City Clippers era
• The Grit and Grind Grizzlies era

That offers an explanation for why the current superstars tend to gravitate to playing with each other. On the other hand, there is an equally compelling argument to be made for creating a solid roster featuring players committed to the system over isolating specifically on superstars.

Case in point, the Pistons’ most recent title was the best example of team ball, but so too was the Spurs’ five titles. Sure, Timmy Duncan was a superstar but that team succeeded based more on the “team systems” than on one individual.

The same can be said for Dirk Nowtizki’s Mavericks and Kawhi Leonard’s Raptors. The latter point became apparent when both the Clippers and Raptors reached Game 7 of the semi-finals this season. Although neither team progressed, Toronto was closer than LA, proving how important their team dynamic was and again, punctuating the fact two superstars might push a club over the top but on their own, they can’t win a title.

Ditto for the Rockets who needed an uncharacteristic Harden block (and TERRIBLE final Billy Donovan play call) to get past the OKC Thunder in Game 7 of the first round.

The biggest hurdle will be following the examples of teams who didn’t take copious years to rebuild and were able to get to the NBA Finals shortly after restructuring.

In terms of the longest gap between playoff appearances, teams vary with the Spurs and Thunder being the only teams who’ve only missed one year between appearances. The average longest absence for 17 of the clubs is between five and seven years.

• 1 year: Spurs, Thunder
• 3 years: Heat, Pelicans
• 5 years: Pacers, Hornets, Nets, Raptors, Rockets (Houston/San Diego)
• 6 years: Bulls, Pistons, Magic, Celtics, Lakers, Blazers
• 7 years: Cavaliers, Bucks, Wizards, Knicks, 76ers
• 8 years: Hawks, Nuggets, Grizzlies (Vancouver/Memphis)
• 9 years: Jazz (Utah/New Orleans)
• 10 or more years: Mavericks (10), Suns (10), Warriors (12), Wolves (13), Clippers (15 including time with LA, San Diego, and Buffalo), Kings (14)

In summation, considering the Thunder have played in 10 of 12 postseasons and reached an NBA Finals they are already ahead of the curve.  What the above breakdown points out is just how difficult it is to reach the Finals and then translate that into a championship.

If Sam Presti and his front office executives are to eventually join the teams who own championships their goal should be to emulate the most successful franchises and to attempt to make their lottery run short but poignant in its rebuilding efforts.

As they embark on their new journey cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, defensive juggernaut Luguentz Dort and rising star Darius Bazley are ready for the challenge. The trio spent the past season learning the ropes from veterans like Chris Paul, Steven Adams, and Dennis Schroder. With the latter trio of vets gone the youngsters wil apply the lessons learned to the established OKC Thunder culture and identity.

Being competitive has always been an OKC Thunder goal. However, in these next few seasons, those expectations may need to be tempered while the front office uncovers hidden gems, takes risks and repositions for the next era. Thunder Nation will continue to support and cheer their efforts along and look forward to this next era gaining momentum and surpassing the first dozen seasons of existence.