The NBA offseason is here! Starting now, teams are allowed to negotiate only with their players, while they need to wait until the new NBA season starts to talk to free agents outside of their team. The first two teams for the guides are the reigning champs and the team picking first in this year's draft.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Congratulations to the Oklahoma City Thunder, you are now NBA champions for the first time since the relocation to Oklahoma City from Seattle. A team that had a young trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden had dreams of winning the title and having the feeling of being competitive for championships for years, amounted to nothing but one finals loss in 5 games. However, through a wonderful rebuild of Sam Presti, drafting correct players, and developing the roster around a superstar, Oklahoma City has claimed its first championship. So, what now? The Thunder are set up perfectly for the future and present day, unlike any team in NBA history. They had a chance to get into the lottery with the 76ers draft pick; however, top 6 protections pushed the pick to 2026. However, they still have picks 15 and 24 to add to the roster from the upcoming draft. Cost control contracts are crucial for a team looking to be competitive for 3-5 years, like the Thunder are. The contracts, such as Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe, Isaiah Hartenstein, Aaron Wiggins, and Cason Wallace, offer the young team a chance at staying below the coveted apron system imploded by the new CBA this past season. The Thunder stayed well below the tax with a salary of $164 million this past season and are now required to extend regular season and finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander until the next offseason. He will be eligible for a supermax contract, which is 35% of the salary cap. People may think the Thunder will have to break the bank on Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, but that strategy is unlikely, as the Thunder will extend rookie extension contracts to them soon, but the cost-control contracts of the others on the roster will help.
From a on-court aspect, the Thunder are primed and should be the likely favorites to repeat for next season. They dealt with no major injuries to any of their star players in the playoffs and return their number 12 overall pick in Nikola Topic next season as he returns from an ACL tear he sustained in his team’s postseason last season prior to the NBA draft. The Thunder boosted some of the best defense this league has ever seen, leading in a variety of categories such as turnovers forced, defensive rating, and steals. As the Thunder prepare for the next season, they will face the basic improvement of players, but how will the roles play out? While depth is a good thing in the NBA and the Thunder are a team, no one cares to get the credit, but it becomes a numbers game. What do the roles of Jaylin Williams, Kenrich Williams, Ajay Mitchell, Ousmane Dieng, Nikola Topic, and Dillon Jones look like next season? With two more draft picks coming in this season, maybe the Thunder will explore ways to build the roster by trading some of the assets they have for another quality player who fits their team and system. I have the utmost confidence that Sam Presti and Mark Daigneault will find more than enough ways to make it work.
From the player improvement aspect, it was nice to see Jalen Williams become a wonderful number two player next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but I think a bigger step needs to be made for the player who should be the second-best, and that is Chet Holmgren. Holmgren had a bumpy postseason, but showed when needed he had a strong Western Conference finals series against the Timberwolves and a strong defensive performance in the NBA finals, however Holmgren shot below 30% from 3 in the postseason on 4 attempts a game, an area that teams raved about when e was coming out of the draft, his shot seems to have a hitch in it, and he doesn’t look as comfortable putting the ball on the floor as he once did early on and it’s clear this step could elevate and alleviate the tough offensive possessions Oklahoma City faced at times in the postseason. From the bottom down, it’s clear this team is primed and ready for another run, especially with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander entering his prime years. He was named NBA Finals MVP and the first player since 2000 to win the scoring title, regular season MVP, and finals MVP in the same season. The Thunder have formed a special culture, and I would expect most of the younger guys to be better, considering the track record of the franchise, but I am confident in how special this organization is with its general manager, head coach, and best player.
Dallas Mavericks
There isn’t an NBA team that endured more in the regular season than the Dallas Mavericks, who decided to make the biggest trade in NBA history, by sending then 25-year-old superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. Many questioned this move by Nice Harrison, who then went on a PR nightmare by trying to justify the trade. The trade itself wasn’t bad if you considered the Lakers throwing in multiple first-round picks and young pieces to add next to Kyrie Irving, but that didn’t happen either. In another move, Harrison traded away Quentin Grimes, which limited the depth of the backcourt in Dallas. Post-Luka trade, the injuries piled up for the Mavericks, which almost resulted in forfeiting games, but eventually the Mavericks made the play-in as the 10th seed before falling to the Grizzlies in the play-in for the 8th seed. However, the luck of the lottery has a weird way of playing out as the Mavericks won the lottery and the right to draft Cooper Flagg 1st overall in the draft on Wednesday. So, where do the Mavs go now?
To start, the health of Anthony Davis has to be ideal, as Kyrie Irving tore his ACL this past season and will likely miss a majority of the upcoming season. Reshaping the roster around Flagg should be objective number one, as the Mavericks do not have a ton of draft capital past this season. Nico Harrison said the team’s timeline to win a championship had accelerated with the addition of Anthony Davis, and he constantly reiterated the phrase “Defense wins championships” in his press conference and public appearances. Mavs fans met him with waves of chants that said “Fire Nico.” Kyrie Irving has a player option for next season for $43 million, and they still owe Davis $160 million+ over the next 3 years. Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington are playing on the last years of their contracts this upcoming season as the Mavericks are currently just below the first apron. The offseason signing of Naji Marshall was a good move this past season, and they added Max Christie in the Doncic trade as well. The Mavericks are in no position to pursue free agents, and regaining some draft capital along with financial flexibility would be the first moves I would make.
On the player development side of the ball the at the top of my list in Max Christie, Jaden Hardy, and Derek Lively. Christie showed a ton of promise after gaining the starting spot in the Lakers background and showed his ability to put the ball on the floor while with the Mavericks. He’s a terrific two-way player who can offer some offensive juice when given the opportunity. Jaden Hardy received a rookie extension this past offseason and had a season filled with some ups and downs. He didn’t quite get to display his talent as he played just 57 games and 15 minutes a game. His offensive upside should give the Mavericks some hope, but the defensive end of the ball has been messy. Lively showed this rookie season he was exactly what the Mavericks needed; however, post-Luka revealed a lot of problems offensively for Lively. He struggled creating on the low block, and he never developed his shot either. He dealt with a foot injury that got publicity due to the nature in how it was handled through the Dallas training staff. ESPN’s Tim McMahon reported there was a lot of frustration due to the lack foe experience and handling of Livley's injury. His number 1 priority needs to be gaining some back-to-the-basket skills and then continuing his shooting development.
The Mavericks will add one of the most exciting prospects in Cooper Flagg in this year’s draft, but what does the front office do to help him develop? A question for Nice Harrison, would be do you blow it up and try to recoup some of the draft capital previously lost on trades, or ride it out and wait until next season when Davis, Irving, and Flagg will be able to suit up alongside each other. Either way, Mavericks' fans will likely never want a repeat of this past season due to the trading of Luka Doncic and how one-sided it seemed, who wanted the trade to be done.
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