Stephen A. Smith is widely regarded as being a hot take savant, and, as soon as the 2025 NBA Draft kicked off, he quickly began churning out rhetoric of this ilk, with one claim, in particular, coming at the expense of the OKC Thunder.
Soon after the Mavericks selected Duke phenom Cooper Flagg with the number one pick in Wednesday's round one, the crew at ESPN discussed the type of impact his addition could ultimately have on the club.
Though already considered a generational talent and the current odds-on favorite to be crowned NBA Rookie of the Year in 2025-26, with his arrival in the Lone Star State, the polarizing media personality went as far as to say that Dallas is not only set up for a bright future with him in tow, but should now be considered the "number one threat" to the Thunder.
Cooper Flagg addition believed to make Mavericks top Thunder threat
Citing his "all-world" abilities and historic accomplishments throughout his one-and-done season with the Blue Devils, Stephen A. believes that Flagg has the potential to thrust Dallas right back into the serious contender conversation as soon as year one.
"When you consider the way that Dallas has fared against Oklahoma City in recent memory -- with or without Luka Doncic, with a Kyrie Irving on the floor --, considering that you've got Anthony Davis, assuming he's healthy, with a Lively, with a Gafford, with a Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, this is a very formidable team... In my mind, clearly Dallas is the number one threat to OKC if everybody's healthy with Cooper Flagg on the floor," Smith said.
As Smith alluded to, the Mavericks have had a surprising amount of success when squaring off against the Thunder over these last several seasons, as they personally eliminated them from the 2024 NBA Playoffs in the conference semifinals and were one of just five teams to beat OKC multiple times this past season, even leading the charge with the best record against them at 3-1.
Of course, it's important to recognize that these triumphs were largely experienced with a much different core than the one Dallas will be rolling out in 2025-26.
No longer will they have guys like Luka Doncic (traded to Lakers at February 6 deadline) or Kyrie Irving (likely out all of next season with a torn ACL) leading the charge, both of whom seemingly raised their levels of play when playing the Thunder.
On top of this, Smith also made it clear that his projection is highly contingent on whether their remaining talents can stay healthy, which, admittedly, is "the big question," as they're spearheaded by well documented injury-prone players like Anthony Davis (has played in over 56 games just twice over the last seven years) and Klay Thompson (has missed two full seasons over the last six).
Fresh off a historic 2024-25 campaign that culminated with an NBA Championship, it's safe to assume that the Thunder are seen as the most likely team to run the 2026 postseason gamut and come home with their second-straight Larry O'Brien Trophy.
However, the road to a repeat will be far from smooth, and, at least in the eyes of Stephen A. Smith, the Mavericks with Cooper Flagg now aboard just may be their biggest obstacle to accomplishing such a feat.