Five biggest threats to dethrone NBA champs

The Oklahoma City Thunder can be seen as the current gold standard for building a championship team. This new era began when Billy Donovan left to coach the Chicago Bulls, and Mark Daigneault took over. The Thunder won 22 games in Daigneault’s first season in 2020 and have increased their win total over the past four years, culminating in an NBA-high 68 wins and the team’s first championship. 

This was achieved by stockpiling draft picks, using those picks to select role players, and executing a franchise-changing trade to acquire Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the Los Angeles Clippers.

General manager Sam Presti, who won his first long-overdue Executive of the Year award last season, is making sure the championship core remains intact by signing league and Finals MVP Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren to long, big-money contract extensions, and barring injury and complacency, could sit atop the perch for the rest of the decade.

Oklahoma City is again the odds-on favorite to bring home another championship. Here are five teams that could throw a wrench in that coronation:

Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland seems best equipped to stop the Thunder from becoming the first team to repeat since the 2018 Golden State Warriors. Last year, the Cavaliers started with a 15-game winning streak and had the best record in the East, but their postseason run ended with a disappointing five-game drubbing to the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Semifinals. Although they had the defensive player of the year, Evan Mobley, their defense let them down in the playoffs, and they finished 9th in defensive rating during the regular season. First-team All-NBA selection Donovan Mitchell provides consistent scoring and stability, while the additions of Lonzo Ball and Larry Nance Jr. are expected to strengthen their bench, so Cleveland will likely remain one of the league’s top teams. 

Denver Nuggets

Any team with the league’s dominant force is a contender every season. Nikola Jokic, a three-time MVP, averaged a triple-double last year, and with new head coach David Adelman, don’t expect that production to decline. What has changed is that Michael Porter, Jr. is now in Brooklyn, and to compensate for his absence, Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray, along with new additions Cameron Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jonas Valančiūnas, and Bruce Brown, should provide enough support for Jokic so Denver can improve on its No. 4 seed and the seven-game conference semifinals loss to the Thunder. Keep an eye on guard Christian Braun, a 15-point-a-game scorer and recipient of a new five-year, $125 million extension, who may be in the running for Most Improved Player.

New York Knicks

Is it now or never for the five-decade championship-starved Knicks after making their first conference finals appearance in 25 years? That loss to the Pacers led to Tom Thibodeau being fired and replaced by Mike Brown, who has promised a different style of basketball with a more up-tempo pace and almost a reliance on the three-point shot. That could lead to a heavy burden being lifted off Clutch Player of the Year Jalen Brunson. Brunson could be planted out on the perimeter instead of being ball-dominant and distributing, even though he had a career-high in assists last season. With the Pacers and Boston Celtics having superstars nursing Achilles injuries, New York’s path to the Finals figures to be less complicated.

Houston Rockets

The conversation with the Rockets begins and ends with 37-year-old Kevin Durant, who is on his third team this decade. Durant, with his new two-year, $90 million extension, is expected to lift the Rockets into immediate championship contention, even without guard Fred VanVleet, who was lost for the year with a knee injury. Durant is expected to be scoring option 1, 2, and 3, something Houston lacked last year. The Rockets’ young core, especially All-Defensive First Team selection Amen Thompson, will be crucial in advancing past the first round, where their season ended. But this team’s identity should be on the defensive end, with four starters listed at 6-foot-10 or taller. And despite Durant being expected to wear a cape on most nights, any realistic title aspirations have to start with lockdown defense.

Minnesota Timberwolves

There is no other way to put it: the Timberwolves are loaded, and anything less than another appearance at least to the Western Conference finals would be a massive disappointment. Anthony Edwards is a bona fide superstar and should be in the MVP conversation. His teammates, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, and Julius Randle, provide more than enough punch to where they should waltz deep into the playoffs. One concern may be at the point guard position. Mike Conley is 38 years old, so if second-year player Rob Dillingham can take over those reins, the Timberwolves, who were rated in the top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency, can turn their balanced roster into champions.