I think the closest comp for OKC will end up being the Spurs dynasty.

[namlede]

I rate this team extremely high but they haven’t faced adversity yet. I like their mindset and toughness, but I need to see them down in a series 1-2 or 2-3 and see what they are made of before I am all in.

[SelfishPlayer]

OKC will repeat their prior "dynasty" which included three MVPs that were ripped apart because ownership did not want to pay them all. That is OKCs future.

[scrabbarista]

If SGA is one of the top five players of all time, then yes.

So, no.

[scrabbarista]

Not to mention Ginobili was arguably a Top 50 talent, even if his career was merely Top 75.

Maybe OKC can be the poor man's version.

[One_and_Done]

Harden didn't leave to ring chase. He left because the OKC cheap ass owner wouldn't cough up another $1.1M a year to extend him.

The Thunder offered Harden $55.5 million over four years -- $4.5 million less than the max deal Harden coveted and will get from the Rockets, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/8562868/oklahoma-city-thunder-trade-james-harden-houston-rockets


Expect history to repeat itself.

In fairness I think it's now clear that:
1) Westbrook and Harden wouldn't have worked together, and
2) Harden would have forced his way out sooner or later (likely sooner).

1) westbrook and harden worked together really well for three different franchises now, so I doubt they wouldn't work together in the best part of their development curves and physical primes
2) maybe

and 3) thunder was better in 2013 than it was in 2012

I don't agree they worked well together. In OKC sure, cos Harden came off the bench. Hou was a disaster and they had to play Westbrick in the 5 role offensively just to make the team viable. On LAC Westbrook is a bench defender. These 2 were never going to mesh as starters in the backcourt, and were very suboptimal.

Point 3) is why the concept of trading 1 made some sense. The Thunder didn't lose a step without him, and arguably got better, they just had poor injury luck and faced better teams.

[Dadouv47]

Is that possible? sure. Likely? No. Hell, I would be fine with one championship. We have no clue what will happen with our team and how other teams will improve.

[AleksandarN]

I think the better comp would be Nuggets and the Spurs.

[ChipotleWest]

Op makes these prediction threads so he can bump them in a few years and say "see I'm a genius" if they happen the way he predicted. But if say OKC doesn't win a championship in the next 3 years you will not see any bumps for this thread, not from OP at least.

[Catchall]

Can we slow down a bit? OKC could still get taken out in the 2nd round.

[Bornstellar]

22 consecutive playoff appearances, 19 50-win seasons, 6 Finals appearances and 5 championships is an incredibly high bar to set and considering how infrequently that has been done I'm gonna comfortably say OKC coming anywhere close to that is probably not gonna happen

[HMFFL]

Presti does come from the Spurs braintrust but a lot of the Spurs success was related to drafting a generational talent like Duncan. I don't think either SGA or Chet are Duncan level talents.

yet back in 2012 i thought they had it with durant being the duncan, westbrook being elite as parker never was and harden very ginobili-like

harden bolted/traded. westbrook and durant had season damaging injuries. there was a revenue spike that allowed some teams a huge financial window while the thunder was bound to huge contracts. and then durant bolted,

window closed.

being good leaves you at the door. once you get there it's more luck than anything.

It was well known that James Harden was staying out all the time and partying. Some friends and I wanted to put money on OKC to win it all but James Harden was our deciding factor.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Johnny Bball]

What have you just done.... oh no.

[Capn'O]

The biggest obstacle to them forming a Spurs like dynasty will be... the Spurs.

[Johnny Bball]

22 consecutive playoff appearances, 19 50-win seasons, 6 Finals appearances and 5 championships is an incredibly high bar to set and considering how infrequently that has been done I'm gonna comfortably say OKC coming anywhere close to that is probably not gonna happen

I think the closest team to becoming successful like the Duncan Spurs is probably... going to be the Spurs again.

[Dacost]

This is so embarrassing crowning yourself a dynasty with one playoff win is shameful.

Some fans need to be humble earn it first and then talk even if the future looks bright the work needs to be done.

I for one don't care much about OKC but now because of OP I will be rooting against them.

[Patches Perry]

The biggest obstacle to them forming a Spurs like dynasty will be... the Spurs.

Unfortunately true. There is no better accelerator for a dynasty than drafting a generational talent. Without that as your foundation, everything can fall apart quickly. Spurs are incredibly lucky, and to have Robinson, Duncan, Wemby back to back to back is an embarrassment of riches.

[Dez]

The closest comparison is the Spurs dynasty? This is how you know someone isn't a real OKC fan because they of all fanbases know that nothing is guaranteed no matter how perfectly you think the team is set up.

Their comparison is the Durant/Harden/Westbrook OKC team until they win a title, then you can talk potential dynasty.

[nbafan38]

I think we are getting ahead of ourselves. I am impressed they got their playoff nerves out in game 1 it seems and are dominating a team they should but lets see how they are when they face real playoff level competition.

[zero rings]

5 titles is unlikely of course, but I don't think this is a bad comparison. The Spurs won all those titles by staying in the championship hunt for a very, very long time. OKC is well positioned to do something similar. The core of Shai/Chet/WIlliams is good for 55+ wins every season, and if Presti uses their assets wisely they could be even better than that.

[rapstarter]

Tim Duncan was a HOF lock by the time he was SGA's age now. I think that's where the comparison falls short.