Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Can Learn From the Dallas Mavericks NBA Finals Run

The Oklahoma City Thunder by all accounts enjoyed a successful 2023-24 campaign. The Thunder made another 15-plus win improvement en route to a 57-win season capturing the No. 1 seed representing the youngest team to ever accomplish such feat.

With the Thunder winning their first playoff series since 2016, they were eventually bounced by the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. The Mavericks went on to win the wild West and are a tick over 24-hours away from tipping off the NBA Finals.

This Mavericks season can be a learning experience for Oklahoma City in a copycat league. Dallas was ultra-aggressive dating back to last year - tanking the final two games of the regular season to ensure a top-10 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft which they parlayed into Dereck Lively II and moving off of Davis Bertans' pact.

That was not all Nico Harrison accomplished on draft night, dealing for Richaun Holmes and Olivier-Maxwell Prosper from Sacramento to give themselves Holmes' deal to eventually used to net Daniel Gafford at the NBA Trade Deadline.

The moves in the offseason were not done, Harrison sent the full-court press to ink Grant Williams even giving up a first-round pick to ensure his services.

While Dallas was nothing short of aggressive in the 2023 offseason to bolster their squad around their franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic and running mate Kyrie Irving, things did not go according to plan. After sputtering out of the gate and dealing with injuries, the Mavericks decided to pivot.

Less than half a season after investing in Williams, Dallas quickly pivoted sending him to Charlotte for P.J. Washington who has been a key cog in the Mavericks' playoff run.

Harrison and the Mavericks showed the value in consistently being aggressive while giving themselves to grace to pivot rather than being stubborn. No team can replicate that as effectively as Oklahoma City can.

The Thunder own top-five in the league cap space, four open roster spots and a mountain of future draft picks this offseason to build around their young core which includes one of the best players in the sport.

Oklahoma City can afford to push some chips in to improve their rotation without the fear of it crippling their future. The Thunder have near unlimited get-out-of-jail-free cards to play with just as the Mavericks were able to make a mid-season pivot and push their way to the Finals.

Of course, there is a touch of luck involved such as Derrick Jones Jr and Washington having career shooting series in the second round, but you earn that anomaly from being aggressive.

If anyone is in a position to duplicate the Mavericks' success in the toughest conference in the sport, it is the Thunder with their bevy of assets and foundational core.

Stiles Points

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