Last week, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith made the rather bold claim that, following the selection of Cooper Flagg at number one overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks are now the "number one" threat to the OKC Thunder heading into the 2025-26 season.
However, after recent events, it's painfully obvious that another, far more menacing ball club has established itself as such a foe.
During Monday's free agency opener, the Denver Nuggets managed to make one of the splashiest moves of the festivities. However, it was executed via trade.
As reported by NBA insider Shams Charania, Denver agreed to ship Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for sixth-year pro Cameron Johnson.
This past postseason, the Nuggets managed to go the distance against the Oklahoma City in their highly competitive Western Conference Semifinals, ultimately losing in a hard-fought Game 7.
Had they had any semblance of a reliable tertiary scoring weapon running alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray throughout their playoff run (team shot just 25.0 percent when both were off the floor), there's a realistic chance they would have been the ones advancing to the conference finals instead of the Thunder and, quite possibly, go on to win their second title in three years.
While it's obviously too late now, coming into the offseason, the belief was that the franchise would be looking to add such a contributor to their arsenal for what they hope will be another title run next year.
Without question, Cam Johnson fits the mold for the kind of player Denver was sorely missing to a tee.
Nuggets now top Thunder threat after Cameron Johnson trade
A player who consistently teeters on entering the storied 50/40/90 club, Johnson has established himself as one of the premier frontcourt shooters in the game today.
Over the last three seasons, the forward has posted highly efficient averages of 15.9 points on 46.4 percent shooting from the floor and 39.4 percent shooting from distance. This past year, he averaged a career-high 18.8 points on 47.5 percent shooting from the floor and 39.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Outside of his counting stats and rotational flexibility, what makes Johnson such an ideal addition for the Nuggets is his ability to thrive off the ball, particularly in the catch-and-shoot department, where, over the last two seasons, he's boasted an elite effective field goal percentage of 62.5 and 60.0, respectively.
Complimenting a guy like Jokic and his historic passing skills with someone of his ilk is a match made in heaven for the Nuggets and, sadly, an absolute nightmare of a pairing for direct opponents like the Thunder to square off against.
Of course, what makes this transaction all the more frightening for OKC is the fact that Denver also saved a whopping $17.3 million in salary as a result, meaning they'll have the opportunity to add even more complimentary improvements this offseason by way of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14.1 million).
Last year, Denver was literally just a few missed shots away from eliminating the Thunder from the playoffs.
With the addition of Cameron Johnson and the possibility of bringing on even more reinforcements with their newly created cap room, it goes without saying that, as of this writing, the biggest threat to Oklahoma City's repeat dream is not the Mavericks, but rather the Nuggets.