AROUND the NBA:

[michaeltex]

As much as we look at OKC and SA and predict a decade of championships, it almost never happens anymore. Great teams struggle to repeat, and suddenly find their window of time is maybe 2-3 years. Great teams get complacent. Other teams get hungry. We have time.

I keep thinking about how MIA put together their Big 3, but only won 2x rings after teasing they would get 4 or more. And that was before the current salary cap structure was in place. But it's hard to hold these things together for more than a couple of years. Both DEN and GSW are still playoff teams, but not the monsters of a few years ago. Boston won the ring a few years ago, but was facing a huge repeater tax penalty, enough that the owner sold the team almost as soon as he accepted the trophy.

OKC has some big economic decisions to make in the next few years, so this current team may not be together for that much longer. Whether the next iteration is as good will be interesting to watch. If you're interested here is the OKC Salary Table

SAS is in much better shape salary-wise as they have 6 contracts expiring after this season. Wemby is still on his rookie deal, but he will get a super Max extension that will kick in in 2027. Fox gets a nice raise starting next year, but they will have slots and cap space to sign players, including a FRP this year. Thing is, when I look at their roster, outside of Wemby and Fox, I don't see the talent level of OKC. Which tells me 2 things: Wemby is a gift from the basketball gods to one of the bottom 5 market size teams in the league and there are a lot of holes to fill in the coming offseason that may affect the team moving forward.

I know the new MBT will not have the team competing for a championship next year, but improving to the point they are not a night off on the opponents schedule will be a welcome change.