this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2023
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Of all the young cores, OKC is the only one I’m confident is on a championship trajectory. They check off all the boxes - franchise player, young two-way supporting cast, good coach, ample draft capital.
Pacers and Hawks have defensive issues, Orlando has spacing issues, pelicans have health issues. Spurs have their superstar but they’ll need a few years to grow.
Cavs, kings, wolves, grizzlies - not confident that they have a championship ceiling with their current cores. Dallas is trending upwards but has work to do. These teams are all exciting but the unfortunate reality is that most of them will top out as decent playoff teams.
Ample draft capital is an understatement. The Thunder are the surefire answer here because they have 2 excellent young players and the ability to go get 2 more. No team has ever been in this position before. Right now, this team probably tops out at a western final appearance. I don’t think that have the elite elite talent to go beyond that. Usually, a team has to live with that reality and just try try try to get over the hump (hello 76ers, Harden Rockets, Dame Blazers). But the Thunder have a nitro button in the form of an insane cache of draft picks they can hit anytime to juice the team and put them over the top. To me, that, plus the depth and the excellent talent fit of existing players, makes them arguably more dangerous than the KD-Russ team.