OKC Thunder: Escaping the Small Market Black Hole
In this story:
Every offseason, some of the league’s top players are rumored to be on the move. In most cases, these conversations center around big market organizations.
Teams like the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat are able to swindle players away from their small market competition due to greater exposure and ideal location. No-trade clauses have only added to the small market struggle, allowing the requester to deny any destination that he doesn’t view favorably.
Free agency is where the divide between small and large markets widens. Big market cities dominate the free agent market, leaving the small market teams to pick through the leftovers.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a prime example of this phenomenon. From 2011 to 2020, the Thunder missed the playoffs only one time, made a finals appearance, led the 73-9 Warriors 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals and had two players win MVP. Despite their success, the Thunder could never land a big name free agent.
OKC’s biggest free agent victory to date was signing Nerlens Noel away from the Dallas Mavericks in the summer of 2018.
Oklahoma City is not the only franchise having difficulty reeling in stars. Other than extensions, a small market team hasn’t added a player coming off of an all-star appearance through free agency since 2016, when the San Antonio Spurs plucked Pau Gasol from the Chicago Bulls.
Big market teams also have an upper hand financially. Last summer, Crypto.com spent $700 million dollars acquiring naming rights to what was formerly the Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. Paycom purchased naming rights to what was then Chesapeake Arena for less than $100 million dollars.
After signing LeBron James and trading for Anthony Davis, the Lakers were instantly championship contenders. Small market teams can’t make splash signings, and are forced to build through the draft.
Oklahoma City drafted three MVPs, helped them reach their full potential and managed to keep them in the building past one contract. The Thunder never landed a major free agent signing, but made their way to the finals organically behind their success in the draft.
Almost a decade later, the Milwaukee Bucks repeated this model. The Bucks' climb to success started by grabbing MVP Giannis Antetokoumpko in the 2013 draft. Developing the Greek Freak alongside Khris Middleton, who joined Giannis in Milwaukee after a rookie season in which Middleton earned zero starts.
The Bucks, however, completed the cycle by winning the 2021 NBA Championship. Milwaukee’s victory proved that, with the right circumstances, small market teams can compete for titles in the modern NBA.
Now, the Thunder are entering the second edition of their trek back to the top of the leaderboards. Building blocks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey and Chet Holmgren give Oklahoma City a runway to future success in the western conference. Like in its previous iteration, none of OKC’s key players were veteran free agent signings, and will have to be developed internally to help the team reach its ceiling in the future.
Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
