The Oklahoma City Thunder can be seen as the current gold standard for building a championship team. This new era began when Billy Donovan left to coach the Chicago Bulls, and Mark Daigneault took over. The Thunder won 22 games in Daigneault’s first season in 2020 and have increased their win total over the past four years, culminating in an NBA-high 68 wins and the team’s first championship.
This was achieved by stockpiling draft picks, using those picks to select role players, and executing a franchise-changing trade to acquire Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the Los Angeles Clippers.
General manager Sam Presti, who won his first long-overdue Executive of the Year award last season, is making sure the championship core remains intact by signing league and Finals MVP Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren to long, big-money contract extensions, and barring injury and complacency, could sit atop the perch for the rest of the decade.
Oklahoma City is again the odds-on favorite to bring home another championship. Here are five teams that could throw a wrench in that coronation:
Cleveland seems best equipped to stop the Thunder from becoming the first team to repeat since the 2018 Golden State Warriors. Last year, the Cavaliers started with a 15-game winning streak and had the best record in the East, but their postseason run ended with a disappointing five-game drubbing to the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Semifinals. Although they had the defensive player of the year, Evan Mobley, their defense let them down in the playoffs, and they finished 9th in defensive rating during the regular season. First-team All-NBA selection Donovan Mitchell provides consistent scoring and stability, while the additions of Lonzo Ball and Larry Nance Jr. are expected to strengthen their bench, so Cleveland will likely remain one of the league’s top teams.
