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The Oklahoma City Thunder have always preached patience. It’s a core tenet to how they’ve conducted this largely successful rebuild, and it’s a message general manager Sam Presti has done his best to sell an eager fanbase. “I’m not trying to dismiss everyone’s excitement, but we’re not a .500 team,” he told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon in November. “We have to finish our breakfast before we start acting like we’re on the cusp of something.”
It was an ironic turn of phrase considering the season ended with the Dallas Mavericks more or less stealing their lunch money. The newly minted Western Conference finalists dominated Oklahoma City physically, killing them on the boards and all but walling them out of the paint. The two centers that led the charge for the Mavericks, Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, both made it to Dallas with a bit of Presti’s help. The No. 12 pick that Dallas used on Lively originally belonged to the Thunder before they traded up to No. 10 and selected Cason Wallace. Dallas gave the Thunder a 2028 first-round pick swap in exchange for the first-round pick they needed to send Washington in exchange for Gafford.
These were by no means bad moves. Wallace had a sensational rookie season in his own right and played well in the playoffs. Oklahoma City has such a surplus of first-round picks that turning spares into swaps creates extra upside while also solving future roster-crunch issues. Pretty much every move Presti makes is defensible in the context of his long-term plan. This series was just a helpful reminder of the benefits of the occasional risk. The Mavericks drastically improved their roster at the deadline by acquiring Gafford and P.J. Washington. The Thunder were content to eat their breakfast before thinking about lunch, so the Mavericks swiped this series right out of their refrigerator.
The lessons of this series will ultimately be beneficial for the Thunder. They wanted to see how their young team would respond to the postseason pressure cooker. They learned that nobody is going to guard Josh Giddey. They now know…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/whats-next-for-the-thunder-okc-was-punished-for-patience-vs-mavericks-and-now-its-time-to-go-for-it/
Author : Sam Quinn
Publish date : 2024-05-19 03:09:50
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