One team that the Dallas Mavericks will have a hard time competing against for many years down the road is the Oklahoma City Thunder. After winning the 2025 NBA Finals, the Thunder already look like the 2026 title favorite with the NBA’s best record this season at 21-1. On the other hand, the Mavericks are a team stuck in the middle between tanking and trying to win as many games as possible.

NBA teams are concerned about the Thunder’s excellence extending long into the future, and the Mavericks should be one of those teams. Two bottom-feeding teams in the Western Conference will determine how good the Thunder can be in the future, and this is an awful place to be in for other teams around the league.

Even with having the NBA’s best record, it’s also possible the Thunder could have two first-round draft picks in the Top 10 thanks to some trades they’ve made over the years to acquire additional draft capital. The Thunder own the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz’s first-round draft picks for 2026, and both teams are in the bottom half of the Western Conference.

The Thunder’s long-term dominance could crush Dallas’ future

This is not a good sign for a team like the Mavericks because the Thunder are one of their biggest rivals, and they’re poised to become unstoppable if they strike gold in the draft lottery. The Thunder could turn into one of the NBA’s best dynasties of all-time, in comparison to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, the Stephen Curry-led Golden State Warriors, and the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics.

They are already one of the better teams we’ve seen in some time, and the fact that they own two potential high-lottery picks in next year’s draft should have the rest of the league shaking in their boots.

Oklahoma City’s draft capital, with a real possibility of having two first-round draft picks in the top 10 for the 2026 NBA Draft, is already better than the Mavericks’ draft capital for the next four years. This is an awful spot to be in as they’re trying to build a contender around Cooper Flagg.

2026 is the only year the Mavericks have their first-round draft pick until 2031. In a twist, the Thunder have the right to swap picks with the Mavericks in 2028. If 2028 is a disaster year for the Mavericks, the Thunder can own that draft pick to land another solid player to play with last year’s MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the rest of their young core.

With that being said, 2026 is the only year the Mavericks could realistically tank in hopes of securing another young stud.

Flagg is obviously going to be the Mavericks’ franchise player. However, not having good draft capital will make it difficult for Dallas to land a solid player to play next to Flagg. If the Mavericks get in the Play-In Tournament hunt, their first-round draft pick next summer won’t have much value.

The good thing for the Mavericks is that players like Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford will have good value if the team wants to trade one or both players. Both players have been rumored to be traded due to the disastrous start the Mavericks have had almost two months into the season, but their recent resurgence could cause Dallas to push for a playoff spot and stand pat with the roster they have now.

In the meantime, the Mavericks will have to suffer with how well-constructed the Thunder are now, and moving forward. The Thunder have the ability to not only create the best dynasty in NBA history, but also in sports history. Being in the same conference won’t help the Mavericks either, and Dallas will be praying that Utah and the Clippers can turn their seasons around in hopes that the Thunder don’t have some wild lottery luck go their way.