Official NBA General Discussion 2025-26 V1.0

[sidsid]

the core of that team is simply way younger than many of the cores of other recent past champs and that's a big difference. And you figure that jdub/chet will simply improve while shai remains in his prime or they can easily be moved at some point if presti wants to change things up. and they have the draft assets to continually replenish their depth. As long as Shai remains one of the best in the world, they will be right there.

Shai could definitely add 2 or 3 more by the time he's done with his careeer.

You look at players who've won league mvp and finals mvp in the same season and it's all among the best to ever do it.

That's the key here for potential sustained dynasty success.

The Warriors were able to do it by luck of the CBA changes and the Curry contract. They were simply the most dominant team maybe the league has ever seen and were able to coast through seasons and large portions of the playoffs. The Celtics runway was entirely on the joints of Horford and Jrue in comparison.

OKC being the youngest team to ever do it is their ace in the hole. A very funny subplot for them this year was their "load management" of...Caruso, who is the old man on this team at 31...

Combined with the tax/cap advantages they currently have (they can dance around it for the next 2 years if they want to), you can see a 6 year runway for this team, ending with the end of SGAs prime. Assuming the injury luck gives them at least a year in there where they don't go deep and the rest to keep going in future years.

Then the picks are the wildcard, giving them the potential of a Spursian decade plus of contention with a shifting core, but that's still unlikely.

[YogurtProducer]

Patience is rewarded!

Sweet! All it took was a once in a lifetime trade not available in 99% of rebuilds!

[YogurtProducer]

But that's not to say that OKC won't be a big contending threat for at least the next 6-8 years at least.



the core of that team is simply way younger than many of the cores of other recent past champs and that's a big difference. And you figure that jdub/chet will simply improve while shai remains in his prime or they can easily be moved at some point if presti wants to change things up. and they have the draft assets to continually replenish their depth. As long as Shai remains one of the best in the world, they will be right there.

Shai could definitely add 2 or 3 more by the time he's done with his careeer.

You look at players who've won league mvp and finals mvp in the same season and it's all among the best to ever do it.

Yeah except the modern salary cap rules are gonna make this very tough for OKC compared to dynasties of the past

[YogurtProducer]

Combined with the tax/cap advantages they currently have (they can dance around it for the next 2 years if they want to), you can see a 6 year runway for this team, ending with the end of SGAs prime. Assuming the injury luck gives them at least a year in there where they don't go deep and the rest to keep going in future years.

They also could have as little of a 2 year runway. Jalen and Chet are both on the last year of their rookie deal next year, and all signs are pointing towards both of them getting maxed out.

SGA is also on the cheaper max right now, and within 3 years he will be on a supermax.

The only reason they can get Caruso / Hart right now is those cheap AF deals they got, and that is not going to be a thing for much longer.

IMO - OKC has 1 more year of being this level of a team. Once JDub and Chet get those crazy deals, they are going to have to cut costs somewhere and they will likely turn into SGA/JDub/Chet and a bunch of rookies.

OKC is far from a lock to be contenders for 6 years. Absolutely are the 2025/26 favorites - but anything after that gets murky.

[sidsid]

Siakam went out like a sucka. You don’t go out sad like that after seeing your best player go down.

Should have went down fighting.

The game pretty much got cracked open when Carlisle inexplicably benched him for 6 minutes in the 3rd. Ultimately Indy gassed out. Was Siakam supposed to take the ball out of Mathurin's hands?

Big no shows from Toppin (Robert Horry 2.0), Myles Turner and Aaron Nesmith.

I was trying to figure out where Toppin's career was heading and that's it. This run gets him some MLE money from pretty much any contender in his 30s as he bounces around the league until he's 38.

[Brinbe]

the core of that team is simply way younger than many of the cores of other recent past champs and that's a big difference. And you figure that jdub/chet will simply improve while shai remains in his prime or they can easily be moved at some point if presti wants to change things up. and they have the draft assets to continually replenish their depth. As long as Shai remains one of the best in the world, they will be right there.

Shai could definitely add 2 or 3 more by the time he's done with his careeer.

You look at players who've won league mvp and finals mvp in the same season and it's all among the best to ever do it.

That's the key here for potential sustained dynasty success.

The Warriors were able to do it by luck of the CBA changes and the Curry contract. They were simply the most dominant team maybe the league has ever seen and were able to coast through seasons and large portions of the playoffs. The Celtics runway was entirely on the joints of Horford and Jrue in comparison.

OKC being the youngest team to ever do it is their ace in the hole. A very funny subplot for them this year was their "load management" of...Caruso, who is the old man on this team at 31...

Combined with the tax/cap advantages they currently have (they can dance around it for the next 2 years if they want to), you can see a 6 year runway for this team, ending with the end of SGAs prime. Assuming the injury luck gives them at least a year in there where they don't go deep and the rest to keep going in future years.

Then the picks are the wildcard, giving them the potential of a Spursian decade plus of contention with a shifting core, but that's still unlikely.

Agreed. I thought exactly of the Duncan-led Spurs as a comparison point. They will be right there as a contender right through Shai's prime years and if they can draft another star ala Kawhi at some point in their later run they can definitely snag another as SGA's career winds down

[Brinbe]

Combined with the tax/cap advantages they currently have (they can dance around it for the next 2 years if they want to), you can see a 6 year runway for this team, ending with the end of SGAs prime. Assuming the injury luck gives them at least a year in there where they don't go deep and the rest to keep going in future years.

They also could have as little of a 2 year runway. Jalen and Chet are both on the last year of their rookie deal next year, and all signs are pointing towards both of them getting maxed out.

SGA is also on the cheaper max right now, and within 3 years he will be on a supermax.

The only reason they can get Caruso / Hart right now is those cheap AF deals they got, and that is not going to be a thing for much longer.

IMO - OKC has 1 more year of being this level of a team. Once JDub and Chet get those crazy deals, they are going to have to cut costs somewhere and they will likely turn into SGA/JDub/Chet and a bunch of rookies.

OKC is far from a lock to be contenders for 6 years. Absolutely are the 2025/26 favorites - but anything after that gets murky.

completely disagree. They can keep those three players around and mix/match if required. The whole reason teams like Boston/Denver are in trouble is that they're not paying 3 guys but 4/5 guys and some of them are getting old/banged up.

The main driving force for OKC is SGA and he's not going anywhere.

Again, no one is saying they're gonna rattle off 5 straight championships or anything, but they're gonna be in the mix in the West for a good while. As is, they're the 2nd youngest title winning team in history behind the Walton-led Trailblazers.

And salaries will grow, but so will the cap too

[sidsid]

Combined with the tax/cap advantages they currently have (they can dance around it for the next 2 years if they want to), you can see a 6 year runway for this team, ending with the end of SGAs prime. Assuming the injury luck gives them at least a year in there where they don't go deep and the rest to keep going in future years.

They also could have as little of a 2 year runway. Jalen and Chet are both on the last year of their rookie deal next year, and all signs are pointing towards both of them getting maxed out.

SGA is also on the cheaper max right now, and within 3 years he will be on a supermax.

The only reason they can get Caruso / Hart right now is those cheap AF deals they got, and that is not going to be a thing for much longer.

IMO - OKC has 1 more year of being this level of a team. Once JDub and Chet get those crazy deals, they are going to have to cut costs somewhere and they will likely turn into SGA/JDub/Chet and a bunch of rookies.

OKC is far from a lock to be contenders for 6 years. Absolutely are the 2025/26 favorites - but anything after that gets murky.

That's why I gave them 6, assuming the ownership will realize this time around that they can spend 3 years in the tax with this core and enough of the young vets.

This is how I'd map it if I were them, assuming you want to duck the tax implications for the 2 years remaining on SGAs deal.

2025 - don't have to do anything because everyone is locked up, but proactively move Wiggins/Joe and picks for an expiring upgrade (both for next year's cap, and up the ceiling for a team that's still very young, in many ways still too young, with Chet/JDub).

2026 - Chet/Jdub contracts (wonder if they can be convinced to not take incentives on top of contracts), decline IHarts deal and see if you can FVV him under the tax like the Rockets are. This year is where the cold blooded trades of Dort or Cason may happen as well if needed for cap and someone emerges from last year.

2027 and beyond - 3 years of tax. Caruso is likely a spent force at the end of his contract. Chet/Jdub entering their primes offsetting some depth losses and injection of cheap youth needing seasoning.

Then the hard decisions on core come around 2030 depending on what the drafting has yielded, since you'll need to go under the tax again, unless ownership goes full GSW and YOLOs it.

[YogurtProducer]

Combined with the tax/cap advantages they currently have (they can dance around it for the next 2 years if they want to), you can see a 6 year runway for this team, ending with the end of SGAs prime. Assuming the injury luck gives them at least a year in there where they don't go deep and the rest to keep going in future years.

They also could have as little of a 2 year runway. Jalen and Chet are both on the last year of their rookie deal next year, and all signs are pointing towards both of them getting maxed out.

SGA is also on the cheaper max right now, and within 3 years he will be on a supermax.

The only reason they can get Caruso / Hart right now is those cheap AF deals they got, and that is not going to be a thing for much longer.

IMO - OKC has 1 more year of being this level of a team. Once JDub and Chet get those crazy deals, they are going to have to cut costs somewhere and they will likely turn into SGA/JDub/Chet and a bunch of rookies.

OKC is far from a lock to be contenders for 6 years. Absolutely are the 2025/26 favorites - but anything after that gets murky.

completely disagree. They can keep those three players around and mix/match if required. The whole reason teams like Boston/Denver are in trouble is that they're not paying 3 guys but 4/5 guys and some of them are getting old/banged up.

The main driving force for OKC is SGA and he's not going anywhere.

Again, no one is saying they're gonna rattle off 5 straight championships or anything, but they're gonna be in the mix in the West for a good while. As is, they're the 2nd youngest title winning team in history behind the Walton-led Trailblazers.

And salaries will grow, but so will the cap too

BOS and DEN are a great comparison - and look what is happening to DEN. You pay your core 3 and then you suddenly cant afford anything else.

And lets just be completely honest with ourselves - JDub and Chet are not some overwhelmingly good #2/#3 players. They looked awesome this year with all that depth in OKC - but OKC simply cant afford all that depth going forward.

To have SIX YEARS of contention they will have to continue to hit on all their picks, as they have absolutely zero way to retain their depth pieces.

Like if they sign SGA/Jdub/Chet to maxes, that almost guarantees Caruso/Hart are gone in 2026/27. Then you gotta re-up Cason Wallace in 2027 (which with 3 maxed out guys, is nearly impossible). Not to mention Dort will need a big raise the same year SGA is expiring.

Like there is no doubt they are the best situation in the NBA - but salaries hit you fast. SGA/JDub/Chet + most depth in NBA = awesome. SGA/Jdub/Chet + minimal depth = ???

IMO they win next year health permitting, and then that cheap ownership forces them to trade off Caruso/Hart and then try to replace them with rookies / vet mins that never works out well.

[WaltFrazier]

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The vaunted depth didn't show up when really needed. Even Pascal only had 16.

Are they really going to pay Turner what's been predicted? He's pretty mid really

Turner (completely overrated on our forum) was absolute ass last night.

Overpaying a meh defender and soft rebounder to play your 5 is going to be a mistake IMO.

Even Pascal when he was traded there, said something about he wanted to play with Turner. In theory he's the stretch 5 and shotblocker a team needs, but he doesn't come up big when it counts. Even against NYK he didn't play that great. I wonder if he'll take less money than expected.

Also it's so different now making decisions knowing there's kind of a one year pause in the team's progress with Haliburton injury. Similar to Boston's situation

[WaltFrazier]

Combined with the tax/cap advantages they currently have (they can dance around it for the next 2 years if they want to), you can see a 6 year runway for this team, ending with the end of SGAs prime. Assuming the injury luck gives them at least a year in there where they don't go deep and the rest to keep going in future years.

They also could have as little of a 2 year runway. Jalen and Chet are both on the last year of their rookie deal next year, and all signs are pointing towards both of them getting maxed out.

SGA is also on the cheaper max right now, and within 3 years he will be on a supermax.

The only reason they can get Caruso / Hart right now is those cheap AF deals they got, and that is not going to be a thing for much longer.

IMO - OKC has 1 more year of being this level of a team. Once JDub and Chet get those crazy deals, they are going to have to cut costs somewhere and they will likely turn into SGA/JDub/Chet and a bunch of rookies.

OKC is far from a lock to be contenders for 6 years. Absolutely are the 2025/26 favorites - but anything after that gets murky.

completely disagree. They can keep those three players around and mix/match if required. The whole reason teams like Boston/Denver are in trouble is that they're not paying 3 guys but 4/5 guys and some of them are getting old/banged up.

The main driving force for OKC is SGA and he's not going anywhere.

Again, no one is saying they're gonna rattle off 5 straight championships or anything, but they're gonna be in the mix in the West for a good while. As is, they're the 2nd youngest title winning team in history behind the Walton-led Trailblazers.

And salaries will grow, but so will the cap too

Agree mostly. But the Walton Blazers only won the one chip in 77. They were the best team in 78 as well, 50-10 when Walton went down and were never the same again. Sonics and Bullets matched up in the next two Finals, then Magic and Bird entered the league in the 70-80 season. It's a good what-if, what if Walton had normal feet and stayed healthy. They would have won in 78 almost certainly. Hard to say if they could have held off the Showtime Lakers in the early 80s.

All of which to say, only an injury to SGA can derail OKC for a couple years at least

[AbC?]

Presti winning a ring has to sting for some here. They can no longer use the “ringz ernuh!” argument to downplay his success.

[HumbleRen]

Siakam went out like a sucka. You don’t go out sad like that after seeing your best player go down.

Should have went down fighting.

The game pretty much got cracked open when Carlisle inexplicably benched him for 6 minutes in the 3rd. Ultimately Indy gassed out. Was Siakam supposed to take the ball out of Mathurin's hands?

Big no shows from Toppin (Robert Horry 2.0), Myles Turner and Aaron Nesmith.

You can feed me whatever excuses you want.

13 FGA’s in a game 7 is sad. My man soaked up nothing from Kawhi.

How you average less points at your peak in the finals vs what you did in your third year in the finals lol.

[djsunyc]

the players agreeing to this cba was stupid. there is a clear class divide amongst players earnings that makes it really tough to field a good deep team without paying tax. a bunch of the middle class are getting burned.

[HumbleRen]

the players agreeing to this cba was stupid. there is a clear class divide amongst players earnings that makes it really tough to field a good deep team without paying tax. a bunch of the middle class are getting burned.

Owners and players are both stupid. How do you not alter how the supermax works. Why should teams with homegrown stars be penalized the most for doing it the right way.

[MiamiSPX]

the players agreeing to this cba was stupid. there is a clear class divide amongst players earnings that makes it really tough to field a good deep team without paying tax. a bunch of the middle class are getting burned.

Owners and players are both stupid. How do you not alter how the supermax works. Why should teams with homegrown stars be penalized the most for doing it the right way.

This is what I have been saying. Celtics drafted and developed 2 All-Star and All-NBA level players and are basically being punished for it. I mean, as a Raptor fan, I love seeing the Cs broken up, but it still doesn't sit well with me.

[Brinbe]

They also could have as little of a 2 year runway. Jalen and Chet are both on the last year of their rookie deal next year, and all signs are pointing towards both of them getting maxed out.

SGA is also on the cheaper max right now, and within 3 years he will be on a supermax.

The only reason they can get Caruso / Hart right now is those cheap AF deals they got, and that is not going to be a thing for much longer.

IMO - OKC has 1 more year of being this level of a team. Once JDub and Chet get those crazy deals, they are going to have to cut costs somewhere and they will likely turn into SGA/JDub/Chet and a bunch of rookies.

OKC is far from a lock to be contenders for 6 years. Absolutely are the 2025/26 favorites - but anything after that gets murky.

completely disagree. They can keep those three players around and mix/match if required. The whole reason teams like Boston/Denver are in trouble is that they're not paying 3 guys but 4/5 guys and some of them are getting old/banged up.

The main driving force for OKC is SGA and he's not going anywhere.

Again, no one is saying they're gonna rattle off 5 straight championships or anything, but they're gonna be in the mix in the West for a good while. As is, they're the 2nd youngest title winning team in history behind the Walton-led Trailblazers.

And salaries will grow, but so will the cap too

Agree mostly. But the Walton Blazers only won the one chip in 77. They were the best team in 78 as well, 50-10 when Walton went down and were never the same again. Sonics and Bullets matched up in the next two Finals, then Magic and Bird entered the league in the 70-80 season. It's a good what-if, what if Walton had normal feet and stayed healthy. They would have won in 78 almost certainly. Hard to say if they could have held off the Showtime Lakers in the early 80s.

All of which to say, only an injury to SGA can derail OKC for a couple years at least

Oh for sure 100%. And Walton is a good example of how injuries have played a part in how the league direction has proceeded stretching back even that far. And that sort of injury luck is even more pronounced now with how the game is played.

That's why I'm not saying that OKC are for sure gonna win a bunch of titles in a row. Even if they remain healthy, they'll have teams like the Rockets, Spurs, Mavs, Blazers and others emerging in the West as fierce competition in the future. But winning 1-3 more in this era would be a big accomplishment and I don't think that's out of the realm of possibility with that team based on their age and how historically good that defense has been.

[720]

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[Anticon]

Patience is rewarded!

Now do Philly

They didn't trust the process plus Hinkie was only good at stockpiling picks.

[sidsid]

Patience is rewarded!

Now do Philly

They didn't trust the process plus Hinkie was only good at stockpiling picks.

The league literary orchestrated a coup against him to stop the process. In that time he still drafted an MVP and another all star that was then traded for another MVP in Harden. The Colangelo era pissed most of that away, but a pretty good outcome all things considered from the trailblazer that Presti and Ainge took their styles from.