Nuggets’ Championship A Reminder That OKC Thunder Are On The Right Track
First of all, congratulations to the Denver Nuggets on winning their first ever NBA championship. Not only is it well-deserved, but it’s been a long-time coming. And kudos to the Miami Heat for stringing together an amazing underdog story as they worked their way up from the eighth seed to the big stage.
But what can the Oklahoma City Thunder learn from this year’s champions? Well, continuity and chemistry matters.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, the obvious twin-engine that powers the Nuggets, just didn’t appear out of nowhere this season and surprise everyone. Nope. The Nuggets drafted both of them and before hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy, that duo had been building chemistry in Denver for seven years and have played in almost 400 games together.
In that time, Denver’s front office has shuffled the deck to surround their stars with the talent necessary to succeed, bringing in guys like Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown, Christian Braun, etc.
For comparison, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey have only played 105 games together in the two years they have been teammates. And the newcomers — Jalen Williams, Isaiah Joe, Chet Holmgren, etc. — just stepped foot into Oklahoma City for the first time by comparison. It might take a few seasons, or more, before the Thunder figure out everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, roles, etc. and hone the synchronicity required to make a run at the big trophy.
Heck, the Thunder aren’t even sure who might power the offense alongside Gilgeous-Alexander yet. It could be Giddey or Williams, or it could be Holmgren; or it could be by committee. Whatever the case, championship squads like the Nuggets, the Warriors, and the Spurs prove that even with premium talent, it can take quite a bit of time to build chemistry, and make the right tweaks before a team can reach the Finals.
And what about Michael Malone? He’s been there since 2015, making him the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the NBA. The three longest tenured coaches above him consist of Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, and Erik Spoelstra who all don multiple championship rings, something the Thunder’s front office should take into account when Mark Daigneault’s contract is finally up.
To put a bow on it, the Thunder’s head honcho, Sam Presti, has publicly spoken about wanting to build a sustainably successful team — one that doesn’t just make the Playoffs, but one that actually makes big noise. If he wants to achieve that goal, it seems that the best way to do that is to keep a group of guys together for a while and allow them to grow together, which is what Presti appears to be already doing.
And the Thunder already have one piece of the puzzle: Gilgeous-Alexander. Now the search for a second star begins. And maybe a third star. After that, it’s about making sure the pieces fit together.
But for now, the franchise appears to be on track to become contenders in the not-so-distant future. It just takes time.
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