Mavericks called biggest threat to Thunder's title defense

The Oklahoma City Thunder have captured their first title in franchise history, not counting their championship as the Seattle Supersonics in the 1970s, after defeating the Indiana Pacers in seven games. That capped off a dominant season where they finished with the largest point differential in NBA history, won 68 games, and saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander win MVP.

OKC is in a unique position to stay dominant for a long time. Alex Caruso is their only key player over the age of 26, and he's 30. They're loaded with draft picks and talented young players who can keep getting better. It isn't unrealistic to think they could challenge Golden State's NBA-best 73-9 record in the near future.

Jan 23, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) drives around Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The NBA has seen seven different winners of the championship in seven consecutive years. The Thunder are a real threat to break that streak. However, Stephen A. Smith thinks the Dallas Mavericks could threaten their run.

"Obviously, health predicates everything, I understand that, a healthy Dallas Mavericks would be my answer to this question, because when I watch OKC over the last two years, I watched the Dallas Mavericks take them out in six games last year, and then I watched the Dallas Mavericks without Luka [Doncic] one game beat the Oklahoma City Thunder this year. They were rolling against everybody else, they were derailed by the Dallas Mavericks.

"I'm looking at a Dallas Mavericks squad, we talk about Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, well what you gonna do against AD, Anthony Davis, with [Dereck] Lively, with [Daniel] Gafford? What you gonna do if you got to deal with Kyrie [Irving], if you're Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] and Jalen Williams and [Lu] Dort? Let's not forget Dort and [Alex] Caruso. I understand how electric they are defensively, a healthy Kyrie Irving with the ball in his hands, I'd like to see that."

.@stephenasmith believes a healthy Mavs team would be the biggest threat to the Thunder repeating as NBA champions 👀

"A healthy Kyrie Irving with a ball in his hands? I'd like to see that." pic.twitter.com/TK04lUCNqU
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 24, 2025

Dallas beat the OKC Thunder three times in four tries last year, all three wins coming without Doncic as he was out with injury in those. But we still don't know how the team will come together. We haven't seen the team fully healthy with Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, etc., plus they're adding Cooper Flagg to the mix. It looks good on paper, and they have had OKC's number, but this team needs time to gel, something they can't get until Irving returns from his ACL injury.

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