Perseverance and resiliency. These are the two words that best describe this OKC Thunder team in 2024-25.
Throughout this year's campaign, Oklahoma City has been plagued by widespread injuries and key player absences, which has largely impacted their frontcourt lineup.
Already, three of the club's main big-man options in Isaiah Hartenstein, Jaylin Williams, and Chet Holmgren have missed 20 or more games this season, with the latter having missed 41 so far and was only just reinstated back to the rotation last week.
For a five-game stretch back in November, things got so bad that the Thunder found themselves playing without all of these aforementioned ballers, leaving coach Mark Daigneault with no other choice than to roll out 6-foot-6 wing Jalen Williams (literally their tallest regular rotation option at the time) as the team's primary pivot
Against all odds -- especially when considering they played multiple teams with serious size advantages --, OKC managed to weather the storm by going 3-2 during this period and maintain their status as top dogs in the Western Conference standings.
Now, while the Thunder may no longer be forced to run with such a vertically challenged lineup, their approach to these frontcourt hardships has created the approach for other ball clubs in similar situations.
Recently, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd made his intentions to follow this blueprint quite clear.
Jason Kidd looking to mimic approach Thunder took when center-less
Dallas' rotation has taken quite a bit of a hit over the last few weeks.
On top of the fact that they lost their franchise cornerstone, Luka Doncic, ahead of the February 6 trade deadline via a blockbuster with the Los Angeles Lakers, the primary player they got back in return for his services, Anthony Davis, quickly went down with an adductor strain and is slated to miss "significant" time.
What makes the All-Star's injury all the more devastating for the Mavs is the fact that they've already been playing without Dereck Lively II since January 14 with an ankle fracture and, just recently, saw Daniel Gafford go down with a sprained knee.
To say the ball club's big-man rotation is in disarray would be an understatement, and coach Kidd knows it.
As transcribed by Underdog NBA, when discussing the state of Dallas' center position the seasoned headman said: "Everyone is going to play center."
This was the exact approach the Thunder took when trying to overcome their pivot-less roster during the early stages of the season, with guard Alex Caruso describing the game plan as "one of those things where we do it by committee."
From constant switches and double teams to swarming the interior with properly timed jumps from help defenders to contest low-post attempts, the hustle Oklahoma City put forth was on full display during these times of hardship.
Now, though the idea may sound simple in principle, putting it into practice is where things can and likely will become tricky for Dallas.
Is this approach easily replicable? Did the Thunder simply luck out with their specific assortment of talent?
The Mavericks will find out for themselves over these next few weeks.