How big of a threat is OKC, now and in the future?

[Vermont Green]

OKC gets spanked by the Bucks in the NBA cup championship game.. Not a threat.

Losing the cup means absolutely nothing. We haven?t even made the nba cup championship game yet, does that mean we aren?t a threat?
They?re also missing one of there best players. If that was us that?s all we would hear about. Also the bucks are rounding into form and will be a serious threat.

You?re missing the point. That was a high pressure game. Both teams were giving 100% and the Bucks beat the Thunder handily. If OKC can?t go toe to toe with Milwaukee, they don?t have a chance against Boston.

Thunder were missing Holmgren, but the Bucks were missing Middleton as well.

Agreed. It obviously doesn't mean their season is over or anything like that, but for a team that is historically young with major critiques regarding the reliability of their offense, lack of experience, and presence in big games, struggling in a big game like this doesn't exactly promote confidence that they can overcome these weaknesses deep in the playoffs.

In some respects that sounds like the Celtics in '22 or '23.  Before they won. Even last year there was doubt about their ability to finish, until they actually won. The question of talent I think is answered. OKC is talented enough to win a championship.  Full strength Milwaukee is too. OKCs lack of experience may keep them from winning this year, but just as it wouldn't have shocked me for the Cs to beat GSW in '22, it wouldn't shock me if they're able to put it together.

I find it odd how often you hear statements like "I won't believe they can win a title until I see them win a title".  I remember hearing it a lot before Denver won, definitely heard it about the Celtics before they won.  It really is not that much of an analysis to only believe a team is good enough to win a title, after they have won a title.

In the case of OKC, I have my doubts.  Teams tend to need to have a run in the playoffs and lose before they come back and finally win a title.  It would not shock me if OKC made the finals.  I guess you would have to say they are the favorite right now but that is more because of how most of the other teams have seemed to drop back some.  The path out of the West does not appear to be all that hard right now.

There might be 3 or 4 teams in the East that would probably be favored over OKC if a 7 game series were to start right now.  BOS for sure, MIL, CLE, and maybe even NYK.  Teams like ORL and MEM might be in the mix of all this also.  So yes, OKC is definitely a contender, but still in the group behind BOS.  Here is my off the cuff Power Ranking.  The order after BOS could be anything and could change every day.

BOS
MIL
CLE
OKC
ORL
NYK
MEM
DAL

[wdleehi]

One game just doesn't change my opinion on OKC.   They are still the biggest threat to the Celtics.   

And one game doesn't change my opinion of the Bucks.   They are not a playoff threat to the Celtics unless they find some wing defenders and a better way to protect Lillard on defense.   Boston is a terrible matchup for them.   

[Phantom255x]

SGA had a poor shooting night but the biggest thing is that Chet wasn't playing. That team is gonna have to rely a ton of Hartenstein and Chet BOTH being healthy and playing these games, because their frontcourt depth is bad. They didn't have Hartenstein last year and it felt like the teams with elite big men (or young, athletic ones) gave them trouble especially on the boards like Anthony Davis, Jokic, etc. Even Dallas with Lively and Gafford gave them trouble because Chet can't do it all alone, and their backup options aren't great.

Holmgren didn?t play, but neither did Middleton. Both teams were missing their 3rd option.

Sure, but my point still stands. For OKC to be successful they need both bigs available. Last year they only had Chet on the roster really. Hartenstein was a great add and good insurance, but when they play teams with elite PF/C like Giannis, AD, Jokic, Porzingis, etc. they'll need them.

Giannis was honestly toying with OKC for a good chunk of the night and it reminded me of some Thunder-Lakers games in recent years where even when the Lakers weren't that great, AD looked like a dad just abusing OKC's players inside the paint no matter what they threw at him.

[Goldstar88]

OKC gets spanked by the Bucks in the NBA cup championship game.. Not a threat.

Losing the cup means absolutely nothing. We haven?t even made the nba cup championship game yet, does that mean we aren?t a threat?
They?re also missing one of there best players. If that was us that?s all we would hear about. Also the bucks are rounding into form and will be a serious threat.

You?re missing the point. That was a high pressure game. Both teams were giving 100% and the Bucks beat the Thunder handily. If OKC can?t go toe to toe with Milwaukee, they don?t have a chance against Boston.

Thunder were missing Holmgren, but the Bucks were missing Middleton as well.

Agreed. It obviously doesn't mean their season is over or anything like that, but for a team that is historically young with major critiques regarding the reliability of their offense, lack of experience, and presence in big games, struggling in a big game like this doesn't exactly promote confidence that they can overcome these weaknesses deep in the playoffs.

In some respects that sounds like the Celtics in ?22 or ?23.  Before they won. Even last year there was doubt about their ability to finish, until they actually won. The question of talent I think is answered. OKC is talented enough to win a championship.  Full strength Milwaukee is too. OKCs lack of experience may keep them from winning this year, but just as it wouldn?t have shocked me for the Cs to beat GSW in ?22, it wouldn?t shock me if they?re able to put it together.

The Celtics were making it to the conference finals year after year before they won. OKC hasn?t done anything.