The Thunder’s dynasty potential can break the NBA’s parity era

Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder on the Fourth of July, Russell Westbrook posted a picture of a plate of cupcakes the next day, and the future of the Oklahoma City Thunder hung in the balance. Sam Presti had drafted three future NBA MVPs to start his tenure in OKC, and now two of them were gone. The Thunder had made one NBA Finals appearance and four conference finals appearances with the best young core in basketball, but they couldn’t breakthrough. With Durant unfathomably now wearing a Golden State Warriors jersey, it felt unlikely they ever would.

The Thunder gave the ball to Russell Westbrook the next year, and he posted the highest usage rate in NBA history at 41.65 percent. It resulted in the star guard becoming the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double, which was enough to win him a narrative MVP. The Thunder still only won 47 games and got smoked in the first-round by the Houston Rockets. Presti had to get bold if he wanted another chance at winning, and he delivered.

The day NBA free agency opened, the Thunder swung a shocking deal for disgruntled Pacers star Paul George, sending Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis to Indiana to get him. Later that summer, the Thunder took another big swing and traded for Carmelo Anthony, pushing a small market team deep into the luxury tax. Anthony struggled, the fit between George and Westbrook was a work in progress, and the Thunder again were eliminated in the first-round.

George morphed into a top-3 MVP finisher the next year, looking nearly as great as Durant was. It still wasn’t enough to get OKC out of the first-round as Damian Lillard waved bye-bye with a playoff walk-off for the ages.

Three years, three straight first-round exits. Westbrook was putting up incredible numbers, but was he having a positive impact on winning? George was a superstar in his prime who just signed a contract extension, but where was it headed? The Thunder were good, but they also felt stuck, and watching Durant win back-to-back Finals MVPs with the Warriors probably didn’t help. A lesser GM may have dug his heels in looking for moves around the margins to get the Thunder a little closer. Presti was presented with another route that would require some lean years but had the potential to give his franchise everything it dreamed of.

Kawhi Leonard signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in the middle of the night during 2019 free agency, but his commitment was pending LA landing his hand-picked co-star, Paul George. The Thunder asked for everything the Clippers had in the chamber in return. Oklahoma City received five future first-round picks (four of them unprotected), a pick swap, and the Clippers’ promising rookie guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the deal. Westbrook was traded a few weeks later, to long-time rival Houston, in return for Chris Paul.

The Thunder actually made the playoffs the next season as Covid pushed the league into the bubble. CP3 finished 7th in MVP voting and looked like he still had a few great years left. Presti never wavered from his plan, and realized all of this was worthless if his team didn’t have a championship ceiling. Paul was traded to Phoenix when the season ended, and promptly got them to the NBA Finals. The Thunder were cool with losing for two years.

Fast-forward five years and Presti’s wildest dreams played out in unison. Gilgeous-Alexander developed into another league MVP almost out of nowhere. The Clippers trade provided a draft pick that turned into another star when the Thunder selected Jalen Williams out of Santa Clara with the No. 12 pick in 2022. All that losing following the CP3 trade? That resulted in the Thunder getting the No. 2 pick in 2022, which resulted in drafting Chet Holmgren.

The Thunder are now NBA champions, realizing a dream that started with Durant, Westbrook, and James Harden all those years ago. This championship is the culmination of Presti’s life work making bold decisions on stars while nailing the margins. One of the smallest markets in American pro sports has an NBA championship. The scariest thing for the rest of the NBA is that this feels like just the start.

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant /NBAE via Getty Images

NBA history has been defined by dynasties. There was George Mikan’s Minneapolis Lakers in the ‘50s, Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics in the ‘60s, the reign of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the ‘80s giving way to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the ‘90s. The ‘00s had Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers followed by Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs, followed by four championships won by LeBron James with the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Lakers. The Golden State Warriors won four championships in there, too.

But ever since Durant tore his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals, the NBA dynasty has been dead. In the seven years since, there have been seven new champions. The Raptors got one with Kawhi, the Lakers won in the bubble with LeBron, Giannis and Nikola Jokic got one in Milwaukee and Denver, Steph Curry won his fourth, and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown finally got their first.

Add the Thunder to the mix now. By the numbers, this OKC team is one of the greatest in NBA history despite being the second youngest team to ever reach the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City won 68 games during the regular season, tied for fifth-most in NBA history. It finished the year with the second-best net-rating ever behind the mighty 72-10 Chicago Bulls of 1996. Its playoff run was dominant until the Pacers pushed them to the brink. The Thunder’s championship was not always pretty: it needed to survive two seven-game series, and it benefitted from horribly unfortunate injury timing to opponents in Aaron Gordon and Tyrese Haliburton.

There are no style points for championships, only banners that hang forever. The Thunder finally got one, and now they’re poised to potentially capture some more.

Gilgeous-Alexander is 26 years old and firmly in his prime. He’s the best guard in the league, and he’s doing stuff that hasn’t been seen since MJ. His game is built for the playoffs with spindly rim finishing, knockdown mid-range shooting, and that 7-foot wingspan coming in handy defensively. Like the foul grifting or not, SGA is on his way to being an all-time great.

It’s hard to think of better co-stars than Williams and Holmgren. Williams is 24 years old and already has a 40-point NBA Finals game on his resume. He has an elite combination of length (7’2 wingspan) and strength for a pro wing, and he has a sweet shooting stroke with range to boot. He’s one of the best wing defenders in the NBA, and he’ll probably average more than 20 points per game on above-average scoring efficiency for the next 10 years. He’s really good.

Holmgren was on his way to All-NBA season before he broke his pelvis. His scoring didn’t look nearly as good when he returned, but his rim protection proved to be as great as ever. He knocked down 38 percent of his threes in the regular season, giving OKC a rare five-out look that doesn’t sacrifice shot-blocking. Holmgren is 23 years old, he just had 18 points and five blocks in a Game 7 win, and if he can stay healthy, he’s going to be an elite player for years to come. Don’t focus too much on his offensive struggles in these Finals; he’s one of the best building blocks in basketball.

Presti nailed every move around the margins. He signed Lu Dort as an undrafted free agent. He struck gold by ripping off the Bulls for Alex Caruso, and signing Isaiah Hartenstein away from the Knicks. He found Aaron Wiggins with one of the last picks in the second round, and he signed Isaiah Joe off the streets. Cason Wallace might be a star on another team; on this one he’s an overqualified defensive stopper with scoring punch. Presti used his G-League team to develop several key contributors over the years, and that includes his now championship-winning coach Mark Daigneault.

The Thunder built this roster while still having 11 first-round picks at their disposal through 2030. Maybe they will use those picks to replenish their depth as Holmgren and Williams start max contracts. Maybe they will trade them for another superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo one day. Maybe smaller trades and more smart picks are on the horizon. By the way, the Thunder also have a lottery pick in Nikola Topic joining the rotation last year, and we ranked him as the top overall prospect in the 2024 NBA Draft.

The Thunder have a true embarrassment of riches. Their championship ceiling isn’t just theoretical anymore. Winning your first NBA ring is said to be the hardest one. If that’s true, the Thunder should only get better from here.

Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images

It’s so hard just to win one NBA championship. The Thunder know that better than any franchise having seen a Durant-Westbrook-Harden core fizzle away. OKC was the best team by far all year this season, and they still needed to get enormously lucky to win the championship with Gordon and Haliburton’s untimely injuries.

There are plenty of reasons the Thunder could fail in ensuring years. They’re about to get really expensive in the second-apron era. Caruso, such a key piece on this title run, is 31 years old and risks his body on every possession. Would anyone be shocked if he fell off fast? The role players may want bigger roles for more money on other teams. Those future draft picks could turn out closer to Ousmane Dieng than Jalen Williams.

No one should give the Thunder more rings until they actually win them. There’s no doubt they will start next season as the favorites to repeat, though. The Eastern Conference is depleted with Jayson Tatum, Haliburton, and Damian Lillard potentially all missing the entirety of next season with Achilles injuries suffered during these playoffs. The West’s biggest challenger (Denver) doesn’t have much wiggle room to improve. Victor Wembanyama’s Spurs will likely be their toughest test in the future, but they are still years away from competing for championships. The Rockets could be awesome with Durant, but let’s see them win a playoff series first.

The Thunder have a championship ring, and they have a team that will compete for championships well into the future. If any team can break the NBA’s parity era, it’s OKC. Whatever comes next, OKC validated itself forever on Sunday night. Their future isn’t assured, but it looks damn good.