What is Considered a Success For OKC Thunder Post Trade Deadline?
Can the Oklahoma City Thunder navigate the Western Conference’s post-trade landscape? With the NBA trade deadline shaking up team dynamics, the Thunder’s path to playoff success is under scrutiny. This episode unpacks the Los Angeles Lakers’ bold move to acquire Luka Doncic and its implications for the Thunder’s playoff aspirations. Host Rylan Stiles and guest Nick Crain dissect the Mavericks’ challenges following the trade, spotlighting key players like Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. They also explore potential threats from the Denver Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokic, and other Western Conference contenders.
Join the conversation as we analyze the Thunder’s playoff expectations and strategic questions. Don’t miss this chance to gain insider perspectives on the evolving NBA landscape.
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26 Comments
I think nick being held hostsage under the american airlines center after nico Harrison slander
So cool to have Nick on the pod
West finals, par, nba finals 1 under, championship hole in 1. Anything less would be dissapointing.
Day 3 of asking for teddy bear pt 3
Championship or bust it’s no question. No trades made, go time with what we got cuz the front office has given the fully blessing.
Lakers vs OKC?…… Thunder in 4 😂
Lakers and mavericks fans ARE LEGIT DELUSIONAL… Id honestly be shocked if either team was able to take, OKC to six games.. They have ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE TO BEAT US IF WERE HEALTHY. I repeat they have ZERO PERCENT CHANCE OF BEATING OKC IF THE THUNDER ARE HEALTHY…. And seems like ALOT of people have forgotten that okc was the number one shooting three point team IN THE RNTIRE NBA LAST YEAR yes we started slowly this year shooting the three ball but since the start of the new year weve been STROKING THE THREE…And with that three ball falling no team stands a chance in beating us in the playoffs… And weve only seem it for two reg season games but our two big lineup is unstoppable legit TWIN TOWERS. Then we have Jwill coming off the bench and JWILLS PER36 RIGHT NOW is 12pts 12rebounds 1.5 blocks 1 steal and 4-5 assists a game and thats our what 8th 9th man? Wiggins is looking like he could win numerous 6th man of the years for us but in reality hes a starter and would start and majority of every nba team… Cason Wallace is a jrue holiday clone but may even be better, Isiaah joe is a top 5-7 3pt shooter, Caruso is still one of the best defenders in the entire NBA and his shotbis falling now and he shot what 40% from three last year well thats falling like water now, Kenny hustle HAS LOOKED AMAZING THIS YEAR and so has his shot. And then we got ajay mitchell if and when he comes back…
BUT THINK ABOUT THIS
Ajayy Mitchell hasnt SCRATCHED HIT POTENTIAL
nikola topic will be a rookie with a great shot to win rookie of the yesr and his potential is SKY HIGH
JWILL is still getting alot better and its shown this year and he still has ALOT OF ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT.
JDUB is no where near his ceiling JDUB will 100% be an ALL-NBA player and will make a few all defense teams. HES AVG LIKE 20-21 This year next year he will avg 25pts 6-7 rebounds 6-7 assists and he stilm wint be at his ceiling.
Chet is still on like the 2nd floor of his skyscraper of potential.
Cason wallace another player thats no where near his potential and has ALL-STAR aNd ALL-DEFENSE UPSIDE.
Wiggins is showing this year how high his potential truly is and hes shown recently that hes prob gonna hit that high ceiling.
As amazing as SHAI AND DORT are both of them are stilm getting bettwe and not at there ceiling.
Dieng ceiling is sky high like the empire state building but idm if he will ever get there.
Isiaah joe has improves alot and still gettinf better.
And were gonna have the 7th or 8th pick in a loaded draft to add another young star… not even being sarcastic AT ALL but this team as a group is at like 60-65% of there potential, if they can hit 90-100% of thefe potential they will EASILY BE THE BEST TEAM IN NBA HISTORY AND WILL WIN NUMEROUS NBA TITLES ATLEAST 3 OF THEM but i think more like 5 if they hit there potential
WCF would be a success. Anything better than that is a major bonus. It took Denver & Boston years with their cores before they won a championship & this team is still very young. While I still think we're the best in the NBA, it would not be a failure to not win a championship. The only failure to me is getting upset in the 1st Round.
Lakers already shoot the most free throws every single year. With Luka, it could get super ugly with how many they'll get to shoot. That's where the only threat is IMO when it comes to OKC Vs Lakers. . Them getting guys like Lu & Cason in foul trouble. But OKC can now dominate LA in the paint, so that's a big plus & I would still assume OKC wins it, but the NBA would want to drag the series on FOR SURE. Especially if this is LeBron's last run.
I think realistically I would consider going into the playoffs fully healthy and staying that way the first success I’m hoping for. Then in term of playoffs I think finals appearance should be the goal. However I wouldn’t be upset with a WCF appearance either but I just know how good this team can be when healthy.
OKC is currently the best team ever statistically. anything less than the Larry O’Brien trophy would be an unsuccessful season
The Thunder have an 8-game lead with 30 games remaining in the regular season. Now that Chet is back I would love seeing the team work on more options for attacking zone defenses. The defense is championship-ready, now is the time to build up those half-court offensive chops.
You guys are tripping for thinking the Mavs aren't a legit threat to OKC and Denver is. We are a bad match up for Denver, we can and would destroy them. The Mavs on the other hand play amazing against us, PJ Washington obviously always kills us, but Kyrie, Gafford both play well too, and AD is naturally a tough match up for us. We should be significantly more concerned with a Mavs 1st round series than getting passed then and seeing Denver in the 2nd round.
If Godforbid the Thunder lose b4 the Finals my take will be: "Presti built this team through the Draft. Chet & Topic are the only players who were considered Top 3 talents in their Drafts. We got half a season between our two building blocks.
🦬🌩️🥶🔶🌩️🔶🥶🌩️🦬
THUNDER 🆙
It’s silly after what we’ve seen from the Thunder this year to not expect a finals appearance. The west may be deep, but this is not a great year for the west as far as top contenders go. The Thunder are miles ahead of every team because the west is full of teams that are aging or not even ready to actually make a run. If the Thunder don’t make a finals run this year it’s legitimately concerning.
Lakers nuggets have a slight chance I don’t know who you guys are thinking are beating us? These fans need to start believing in this team we are godlike highest net rating in nba history
We blew a 17 point lead that should have went to game 7 and we could of won and who knows what happens after that, u guys can’t be living in the past we will come back to this when we win it all.
If the damn Lakers beat the thunder in the playoffs everyone should be surprised.
Nothing has changed, overperform reg season, underperform postseason
I wouldn't worry about the Lakers EVER! Never do that again….
I think how the phrase “championship or bust” is defined is varying quite a bit which leads to some confusion. For me, it is specific to how we view the success of this season. So I would say champ or bust because anything less than winning the championship will be incredibly disappointing after having such a dominant regular season. I’m sorry, but they have been so good that to use any excuses about being young or inexperienced would be insulting. They have been one of the best regular season teams ever, so that is the standard they should be held to. Every other team that has been as good as them in the regular season has made or won the finals. But, if you define championship or bust as, if they don’t win the title, blow the team up cause it’s clear they’ll never win, of course this is not championship or bust. There is still a long run way, but if NBA history tells you anything, it’s that much more often than not, the window is much shorter than you think, and there are a hundred factors that could throw a wrench in the long term plan. Of course we all hope differently, but this year could legitimately be the only chance this team has to win a title, they have to treat it as such.
Only teams that we struggle with is a team with a defense. Being the youngest team, I don’t have presuppositions, I expect them to learn from every experience and it’s just a matter of time until we hold the trophy.
Oh, so Nick had time to grab a chair for Locked On Thunder, but he stood the entire time for The Uncontested Podcast?
Okc has the best net rating in NBA history…it’s nba finals or bust
One thing the Thunder got, that most teams lack is true friendship. When your somewhere and you got all of your brothers and cousins with you, you're not afraid of shitttttt!!!?