The Greatest Rebuild In NBA History

The Greatest Rebuild In NBA History

In 2012, the Oklahoma City Thunder had the second youngest team ever to make the NBA Finals and were expected to become a dynasty, but they failed. Harden left that off season. They didn’t want to give Harden the Mac. KD was gone in 2016. The weakest move I’ve ever seen from a superstar. And in 2019, Russell Westbrook was traded as well. I feel like if Russ left, the team would just die. The NBA talking heads believe that the Thunder blew their golden opportunity and that it would take decades for the team from the third smallest market to make the NBA finals again. But as we know now, it didn’t take nearly that long. In 2025, OKC’s roster was even younger than in 2012, becoming the second youngest team that ever won an NBA championship. And not only did they win the chip, they became one of the most dominant teams of all time with 84 wins across the entire season, which is the third best result ever. This version of the Thunder is here to stay, and they have all the ingredients to become a dynasty. But what’s even more impressive is that they’re doing it in an era where dynasties are almost impossible due to increasingly strict salary cap restrictions. And it’s all thanks to one man, who is without any doubt the best general manager in the NBA today, Sam Prey. Thanks to Preyy’s vision and smart draft choices, the Thunder became champions with the sixth cheapest roster in the NBA. And not only that, they still own the deepest bag of draft picks in NBA history with 13 first round picks and 17 second round picks over the next six years. But how did Prey achieve this? How was he able to build a championship roster without overspending and going deep into the luxury tax while still keeping all those draft picks? This is the story about one of the most humble, hardworking, and most disciplined teams ever, led by one of the most underrated MVPs of all time. And it all started on July 25th, 2019. 9 days earlier on July 16th, the Thunder traded their beloved son, Russell Westbrook, to Houston, which marked the end of an era that started in 2007 when they drafted Kevin Durant. I was heartbroken. I mean, I’ve grown up watching him play um and really fell in love with the Thunder. Just yesterday morning, Russ was on OKC, [Music] but just now he’s traded for CP3. With KD, Westbrook, Harden, and later Paul George, OKC had some of the best talent in the NBA. But they could never get over the hump, only making one NBA Finals. And after they traded Russ and ended the dynasty that never was, Prey knew that he had to do things differently. Russell Westbrook is a force of nature. he um has helped, you know, establish the standards that we work by as have uh Kevin and and the other players that have come before us. Um but um you know, this is a different situation and I know that Russell will adjust and adapt to that. So on that fateful July 25th, he wrote a letter to the Thunder fans published in the Oklahoma which is now known as the letter. It was a heartfelt message to all the fans, part vision board, part manifesto that explained the future path of the franchise where prey stressed the value of patience and discipline, the need to avoid quick fixes and instant gratification, and the challenges of building a contender in a small market. The next great thunder team is out there somewhere, but it’ll take time to seize and discipline to ultimately sustain. No one knew it then, but the groundwork had already been laid for a spectacular rebirth. 6 days before the Westbrook deal, Prey had traded all-star Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for an unprecedented hall of players and picks. Four first round picks, four unprotected future first round picks, a protected future first round pick, two pick swaps, Danilo Galinari, including a 6’6 wiry secondyear point guard from Canada named Shay Gilis Alexander. SGA averaged just 10.8 8 points and 3.3 assists in his rookie season for the Clippers. And even though he showed great potential, nobody could have predicted that he’d become a league MVP. For a small market team, superstars are hard to come by. And Prey knew that the Thunder needed to be bad before they started to be good again. However, things didn’t go according to plan initially, and it was all because of one man, Chris Paul. CP3 came to OKC in a Russell Westbrook trade and at the time he was 34 years old with the worst contract in the NBA. But CP once again proved why Charles Barkley always called him the best leader in the NBA. Despite his age, the Hall of Fame point guard played at an MVP level, finishing seventh in MVP voting, making the AllNBA second team and leading OKC to fifth place in the West, which was better than what the Thunder accomplished the year before with Russ in PG-13 when they finished sixth. The Thunder almost won the first round playoff series against Harden and Westbrooks Rockets, losing 104 to 102 in game 7. But even though CP seemingly postponed the Thunder’s plans of tanking and acquiring more draft picks, his arrival was invaluable for two reasons. The first one was that he was a perfect mentor for Sheay, who soaked in advice from the best pure point guard of this millennium and saw his numbers increase to a teamleading 19 points per game. The second reason was that Paul tremendously improved his trade value and pressed he could get another dose of young talent in exchange. In the following offseason, the Thunder traded Chris Paul to Phoenix for Ty Jerome, Jaylen Lechu, Kelly Ubé Jr., Ricky Rubio, and a 2022 firstround draft pick. Out of those four players, only Ty Jerome ever suited up for the Thunder, as Prey traded the rest for more draft picks, firmly believing that stacking draft capital was the only way forward. And he wasn’t done wheeling and dealing there. In the next few weeks, Preyie traded the talented two-way point guard Dennis Schroeder to the Lakers and shipped the beloved center Steven Adams to New Orleans. Prey also accepted the bloated contract of Al Horford for some more picks and then traded him mid-season for another first round pick that became Alpin Shenon. The Thunder locker room became like a revolving door with players coming and going seemingly by the hour as 22 different players played minutes for OKC that season. However, in all that chaos, some players remained constant as the building blocks for the future. Apart from SGA, there was also Lugans Dort, a 6’4 shooting guard who went undrafted in 2019 and was later signed by the Thunder. Dort wasn’t a great shooter, but he was built like a tank and played defense like his life depended on it, because in all fairness, he kind of did. The league had already made a shift to pace and space basketball, and Prey knew that having multiple agile and strong defenders who can switch was the future of NBA defense. And Dort fit that description perfectly. Other than the two Canadians, there was also Kenri Williams, another player who was undized for his position as a 6’6 power forward. But just like Dort, Williams was quick and strong with defense as his main calling card, suggested by his nickname, Kenny Hustle. Now, apart from all the players that came in, the Thunder also made a coaching change for the 2021 season. The old school win now coach Billy Donovan was replaced by the virtually unknown Mark Dagnel, who spent 5 years in the G-League coaching the Oklahoma City Blue. With respect to uh the next head coach of the Thunder, uh it gives me tremendous pleasure and excitement to introduce Mark Dagnol. Dagnold was a bluecollar coach who impressed with his ability to make adjustments, preach defensive basketball, and connect with the players. since he was only 35 years old when he got the head coaching job making him the second youngest NBA coach ever. Dagnold fit in perfectly with Sam Preyy’s vision and in the 202021 season the Thunder achieved their goals apart from the development of their young players namely SGA who averaged careerh highs in scoring assists and efficiency they won just 22 games and had the second best odds of getting the number one pick. But the luck of the lottery balls wasn’t on their side and they slipped to the number six spot in the draft. The Oklahoma City Thunder select Josh Giddy from Melbourne, Australia. They also drafted Alpin Shenun and Trey Man in the first round. But even though he was one of the few GMs who realized Shenun’s potential, Crusty wanted to stack more picks. So he traded the talented Turkish big man to Houston for two more firsts. Prey also found Aaron Wiggins deep in the second round. But once again, this was a testing season with 26 different players receiving minutes as the Thunder still didn’t have any intention to win games. They finished the 2022 season with 24 wins and the second worst offensive rating in the NBA despite further improvement from SGA, who had all the freedom to make mistakes and test out his talent, averaging 24 points and six assists per game. However, this time the lottery gods worked in their favor. Despite having the fourth best odds, OKC moved up in the draft and were rewarded the second overall pick. They used it on Chad Homegrren, a talented 7 foot2 center from Gonzaga. With the 12th pick, which was the result of the Paul George trade, the Thunder selected a player who was considered a pretty big reach at the time. The Oklahoma City Thunder select Jaylen Williams from Santa Clara University. Another versatile defender standing at 6’6 with an enormous 7’2 wingspan. And with the last pick of the first round, Prey found Pton Watson, whom he immediately traded to Denver for a first round pick in 2027. With the 34th pick, the Thunder selected, you guessed it, was another strong and versatile defender with a long wingspan. See, Prey Dagonal and the Thunder management believe that you can teach great defenders to shoot rather than trying to draft great shooters who don’t have the size and wingspan to defend. But before even the 2023 season started, the Thunder got some horrible news. After a strong summer league performance, their second pick in the draft, Chad Homegrren, hurt his foot during a ProAm pickup game in Seattle trying to contest a LeBron layup in transition before he had played a single minute of NBA basketball. Chad’s season was over. The question about him from open and tap was whether how frail he would be because he’s so skinny. But even in his absence, there were still plenty of positives for OKC. SGA turned into a superstar, averaging 31.4 points per game, making his first All-Star and AllNBA first team, and finishing fifth in the MVP voting. Jaylen Williams showed plenty of promise, averaging 14 points per game with phenomenal defense and strong shooting percentages, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Paulo Beno. Other role players like Josh Giddy, Lou Dort, Isaiah Joe, Jaylen, and Kendrick Williams also had strong seasons and the Thunder finished the year with a 40 and 42 record making the playin. OKC beat the Pelicans in the 9-10 game, then lost to the Wolves with a chance to make the playoffs. But even without the postseason, the 2023 season was a great success and proved that the Thunder was on the right track. [Applause] In the 2023 draft, Prey selected Derek Lively with the 12th pick, once again showing that he was one of the best talent evaluators in the league. However, Lively would never play for the Thunder, who traded him to Dallas for Davis Bertton and Kasein Wallace, with the latter fitting into the Thunder’s MO of strong, versatile defenders. When the season started, Cet made his debut, providing the rim protection that the Thunder were desperately lacking with 2.3 blocks per game along with 16 points and eight rebounds. Omgrren finished second in rookie of the year voting behind Victor Webbbyama and Jaylen Williams averaged 194 and four showing signs of becoming an all-star. But the biggest story of the season was Sheay. SGA was scoring at will with his patented change of pace and throwing defenders off balance, thriving in the mid-range and getting to the rim. Sheay scored 30 plus points in 51 games of the season, which was a feat only achieved by 11 other players. And for the season, SGA averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 two assists and two steals per game. Throughout the season, he was neck andneck with Nicolic for the MVP award, which ultimately went to the Serbian big man, but was strongly disputed by some NBA analysts. I thought the SGA should have been the MVP. That’s no disrespect to you. And just five seasons after they traded Westbrook and were heading for a rebuild, the Thunder won 57 games and had the best record in the Western Conference, something that even their most delusional fan couldn’t have predicted. In the playoffs, the Thunder swept the Pelicans in the first round and the youngest one seed in NBA history is moving on to the second round. But against Dallas in the second round, it was clear that they were still very young with some holes in their roster. The Mavericks defeated OKC in six games, namely because the Thunder couldn’t rebound the ball or defend the three-point line. So for the next season, Prey decided to patch up those holes by signing center Isaiah Hartinstein with the biggest contract that OKC ever gave anybody in free agency. Furthermore, they traded Josh Giddy to Chicago for Alex Caruso to bolster their perimeter defense and add championship experience. The Oklahoma City Thunder get Caruso in exchange for Giddy. And everyone on the internet wanted to know, wait, straight up, Prey’s done it again. No picks involved. and they also drafted a promising Serbian guard, Nicola Topic, despite knowing that he’d missed the entire season with a torn ACL. Now, the rebuild was complete and the Thunder had a deep roster with no weaknesses filled with strong, lanky, and quick defenders. So, when the 2025 season started, OKC looked unbeatable with seven straight wins to start and just seven losses after the first 41 games. Up until the last two weeks of the regular season, it looked like the Thunder could join the 2016 Warriors and the 1996 Bulls as the only teams to win 70 games in a season. But with the number one seed secured nearly a month before the season ended, they let their foot off the gas, finishing the year with 68 wins and just 14 losses, which was still good enough for the fifth best regular season result of all time. They had the best defensive rating in the NBA. A cohesive unit filled with plug-and-play swingmen who closed out the perimeter better than anyone we’ve ever seen in the era of pace and space basketball. It was a direct result of Prey’s draft choices who insisted on long switchable defenders perfectly suited to defend modern NBA scorers. This is a great team from top to bottom. This is again one of the best defensive teams I’ve ever seen. The Thunder had chaos creators, and we’ve rarely seen so many good defensive players on one team. They destabilized opposing offenses with an insane average of 21.7 points per game after turnovers. Meanwhile, OKC allowed the fewest points after turnovers because it was difficult to even start a fast break against him and score in the paint where they also dominated the rest of the league. Also, in the last 5 years, no team has allowed fewer points from the main basketball action, the pick and roll. And in many other defensive aspects, we’d find Mark Dagnal’s team at the top. Their success was even more impressive if you consider the fact that their big men, Isaiah Hartenstein and Chedgrren, missed a combined 75 games. Thanks to their stifling defense and the third best offense, the Thunder finished the year with a 12.87 margin of victory, which was the largest point differential in NBA history, along with the largest number of double-digit wins in a season. But even though the Thunder had one of the deepest teams in the league with many players contributing to their success, the head of the Snake, the guy that started everything was Sheay. Playing the most complete basketball of his career, SGA averaged a league leading 32.4 points per game, shooting nearly 50 40 90 for the season. On top of his scoring, he played excellent team defense with 1.7 steals and one block per game, a career-high 6.4 assists and five rebounds. Even though the Joker had another historic season, averaging a triple double, SGA deservingly won the MVP award. For you, it’s always been team first, but you led this team to the best record in the NBA, the most wins in franchise history. Congratulations. You are the NBA Kia MVP. The Thunder had six other players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Jaylen Williams and his 21.6 points per game. JDub was one of only 12 players who averaged 215 and five for the season, which earned him a selection to the AllNBA third team. But all of this don’t mean a thing if you don’t win the ring. And when the playoffs started, the Thunder opened with a bang. In game one against the Grizzlies, OKC won by 51 points, which was the sixth biggest win in NBA playoff history. Game two was another blowout, but the Grizzlies finally showed up in game three, leading by 29 points in the middle of the second quarter. But then John Morant got hurt and without their best player, Memphis fell apart. OKC won that game, which was the second largest comeback in playoff history. One of the biggest comebacks in NBA playoff history just went down in Memphis where the Grizzlies had a 29point lead only to have Oklahoma City come back and beat them 114 to 108. And then game four was just a formality as the Thunder closed out the series and swept the Grizzlies. But in the second round, a much tougher opponent awaited the Denver Nuggets and Sha’s only opponent in the MVP race, Nicolic. And it didn’t start well for OKC after Aaron Gordon’s crazy last second dunk sealed game one for Denver. OKC crushed the Nuggets in game two, winning by 43. But when the series went to Colorado, the Nuggets took the lead again, winning in overtime. Game four was the most pivotal game in the series. And if Denver won that game, they’d take a 3-1 lead, which would be almost impossible to come back from. The tension was palpable, and in the first quarter, both teams scored just 25 points combined. Tied for the lowest combined first quarter in playoff history. What do you attribute the lowscoring affair to? The Nuggets got out of the funk better. And after three quarters, they led by six. And OKC needed their superstars to step up and save the season. But the Thunder wasn’t built on star power. They were built on team defense and unselfishness. Yes, SGA led all players in scoring in the fourth quarter. But it was OKC’s suffocating defense, big threes off the bench from Kase Wallace, and a steady contribution from all players that ultimately made a comeback and won game four for the Thunder. After that, both teams won their home games, which meant the series was going to game seven. I picked OKC to win this series in seven games before it started. I’m sticking with that pick. In the deciding game in Oklahoma with Aaron Gordon playing on one leg, Gordon is grabbing his left hamstring and Alex Caruso displaying a defensive masterclass in bothering Nicolic and denying him the ball for the entire game. The Nuggets didn’t stand a chance. OKC crushed them 125 to 93, advancing to their first conference finals since KD’s final season with the team in 2016. You know what it is? The MVP. The NBA playoffs. It’s down to four teams remaining as we welcome you to Oklahoma City. Against the Timberwolves, the Thunder started off strong, winning both games by double digits. But in game three, a slap in the face as the Wolves destroyed OKC, winning by 42 points. Turnovers early. They were more physical earlier and they made shots and we miss shots. It’s humbling. It’s good. Basketball is humbling. Game four was once again the most important game and the hardest one for the Thunder to win. But in what was maybe their most mature performance in the playoffs, the young OKC players never waited. Winning a close game 128 to 126, led by 40 points from Sheay and 34 from JDub. And when they returned home in front of their loud fans, the Thunder finished off the Wolves like they did the Nuggets with a big blow up, advancing to the franchise’s first NBA finals since 2012. But in the championship round, they played against a team eerily similar to theirs. The Indiana Pacers were scrappy and unselfish, playing with a deep bench at a frenetic pace and with enough shooting that could really torch the Thunder. The Pacers were a serious threat and OKC realized it straight away as the Pacers completed another crazy comeback in game one with a gamewinner from Hallebertton after trailing the entire game. Hallebertton looking, Hallebertton driving, pulls off, jump shot. It’s good. It’s gone with OKC won game two, but in their first home game, Indie won game three. And OKC was on the ropes once again. However, in another crucial game four, they stuck to the same formula. 2 plus one, two superstars in SGA and JDub, plus a big contribution from one bench player equals victory. Jay scored 35, Williams had 27, and the guy off the bench that got hot was Alex Caruso, who made seven out of nine shots for 20 points, and the Thunder tied the series, man. And even though everybody played their part, game five of the series will forever be known as the JDub game. Jaylen Williams played the best game of his career, scoring 40 points on 14 for 25 shooting, hitting every big shot to clinch the victory for OKC. Well, Indiana lost two games in a row in the playoffs for the first time. In fact, they hadn’t lost two games in a row since March 10th, which shows how good they’ve been. Yeah, I mean, we’ve had our backs against the wall many times uh over the last two years. Um had to figure out different ways to win and so everybody’s got to be prepared and um starts with me and uh you know, we all got to be better. In both games four and five, Jaylen Williams had been the best player on the Thunder on both ends of the floor and that’s when he truly transformed into a superstar. But the series wasn’t over yet because in game six in Indiana, the Pacers turned everything back to square one, winning the game in a blowout. A lot of people favored OKC, myself included, but I expected a thriller. I expected a series and Indiana answered the call. And in game seven, Indiana looked like they could go all the way, jumping out to an early lead with nine points from Hallebertton in the first six minutes. Puts it in. Backto back threes for Tyrese Hallebertton. But then the Pacers point guard fell to the floor, grabbed his lower leg, and we all knew what happened. Oh, you get in a situation like this, you’re just sick to your stomach for the young man. Playing with a calf injury is always risky. And when you fall to the floor without anybody touching you, it can only mean one thing, a torn Achilles. Without their best player, the Pacers were fighting valiantly, but they couldn’t overcome the deficit of losing Hallebert. In the third quarter, OKC’s suffocating defense did its thing for the last time that season like an anaconda that slowly taking the oxygen out of its praise lungs. The Thunder won the game 103 to 91 and finally became NBA champions. With the second youngest roster to ever win the title with 30.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game. Jay Gilis Alexander was deservedly named the Finals MVP. The same player won the regular season MVP, the scoring title, and now he’s your finals MVP, Shaylas Alexander. Thus becoming only the fourth player ever to win the scoring title, the MVP, and the finals MVP in the same season after Kareem, Jordan, and Shaq. Sheay wasn’t always perfect. In certain games, he was forcing his shot, especially in games four and six. But for the majority of the time, SGA managed to use his relentless aggression and ability to penetrate to create a series of easy shots for his teammates. He wasn’t as efficient as he usually is, but he did everything else at an exceptional level. And even though the haters will say that Sheay is a foul-baiting free throw merchant, there’s one caveat. There is a narrative about our guy, our potential MVP, that he might be a bit of a flopper. The truth is that Sheay attempted 27 free throws in 23 playoff games, which doesn’t even rank in the top 10 of all time. For example, DWade attempted 250 freebies in 23 games of his 2006 championship run, and Jordan attempted 229 in 1989 without even making it to the finals. Some other haters will say that OKC got lucky with injuries to star players, namely Hallebertton in the finals, Aaron Gordon in the Nuggets series, and John Morant in the first round. While it’s true that those injuries helped them, luck is part of the sport, and you can’t blame OKC for staying healthy, they played the best, most consistent basketball all season. Their two best players delivered when it mattered most, and the bench, which they utilized the whole season, provided a push when needed. We have to compliment coach Dagnalt as well who made timely adjustments and kept the spirits high despite facing series deficits against the Nuggets and the Pacers. Get it in a manageable spot. We got a lot of game left, right? But we got to ramp up our stuff. All right. Dagnol is a rare coach who can not only develop players, but can also get them to play hard, play together, and put their opponents in a straight jacket on defense. And that’s especially hard to do with a young roster, no matter the talent they have. But the biggest praise of all has to go to Sam Prey. the architect of this team and the mastermind whose personnel decisions almost always prove to be right. Not only were the Thunder the 24th cheapest team in the NBA, which makes them the cheapest team that ever won an NBA championship, but they are also in the best position to win in the future thanks to the plethora of draft picks they still possess. The average weighted age of a championship team across league history is roughly 28 years old. The Thunder’s age throughout their championship run was 24.6, six, which makes them the youngest champion ever. Heck, some of their players are so young that the first alcoholic drink of their lives, I actually just had my first drink, so I’m like working on that, was champagne after winning the championship. We’ve had seven different NBA champions in the last 7 years. And in the age of the hard salary cap and the daunting second apron restrictions, every dollar and every draft pick matters. But because they have cap space and plenty of picks, they’re not in like under the same stress as some of these other teams are where they have to break up the team because they’re facing second apron pressure. Um, and not only that, but the Thunder have 15 first round draft picks over the next seven years, including two. They have two tomorrow night, including the 15th pick. The Thunder could become a dynasty if they stay healthy and keep making smart decisions. And knowing Sam Prey, they probably will, which spells trouble for the rest of the NBA. Thank you for watching. And if you like this one, we have another video for you right here.

After losing every piece of their Big 3, it seemed like the Thunder blew a once in a lifetime chance to create a dynasty. But just 6 years after trading Russell Westbrook, they became champions and assembled the best team in their franchise’s history. This is how they did it.

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