There are plenty of fanbases that feel like they may have it worst but when looking at the recent NBA Finals’ history, it’s tough to argue that anyone has had it worse off the Sacramento Kings fans when it comes to seeing former talent at the NBA Finals.
2026 – Former head coach Mike Brown will face off against former star De’Aaron Fox
2025 – Former player Tyrese Haliburton is the best player on a Finals team
2024 – Luka Doncic leads Dallas to Finals, Kings drafted Marvin Bagley III instead
2023 – Former head coach Michael Malone leads the Denver Nuggets to a title
I’m just saying, if you know a Kings fan please give them a hug to let them know that they’re not alone in this.
All through the Western Conference Finals, the Spurs’ depth has been able to favorably matchup against Oklahoma City’s bevvy of talent and on Saturday, they were able to come through one more time to send San Antonio to the Finals for the first time since 2014.
With seven Spurs in double figures including Victor Wembanyama (22pts/7r), Julian Champagnie (20pts/6r), and De’Aaron Fox (15pts/5a), it was too much for the Thunder to go shot for shot with, especially with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell missing the game due to injury.
San Antonio’s defense had tremendous defense against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35pts/9a/4r) most of the series but in Game 7, he came through in a big way for the Thunder as he tried to lead the team back to the Finals for the second-straight season.
But in the end, he couldn’t quite do it. Especially with Alex Caruso (12pts, 3-14 FG) and Jared McCain (12pts, 5-12 FG) struggling to provide any boost off the bench.
I will get to OKC a bit more in the next section (IE: Chet Holmgren) but what should be highlighted here is what this win means for the Spurs. This is a team ahead of schedule that we haven’t really seen since arguably the 2012 Thunder team that seemingly announced their arrival reaching the Finals before losing to Heat in five.
Maybe San Antonio is destined to suffer a similar fate but with Victor Wembanyama at the helm of the team, I’m inclined to believe that anything is possible.
For the eighth-straight season, we will have a new NBA champion. A testament to the level of talent in the league of course but also a reminder that it’s extremely hard to have multiple consecutive years of success. Oklahoma City now finds themselves in an interesting crossroads that has struck multiple recent champions.
The Nuggets and Celtics each looked poised to dominate the championship scene for years to come before various issues (trades, contracts, injuries, etc…) impacted both and opened the door for the Thunder to step in place as the latest team to be coronated as the next young dynasty in the making.
While coming within a game of making the Finals for a second-straight year is impressive, especially including the injuries OKC was dealing with, the NBA arms race is simply too tight for them to rest and enjoy the success of their last two seasons.
Chet Holmgren is the name you’re going to see in trade rumors everywhere this off-season, I’m betting it’ll be in a lot of “Giannis to Oklahoma” fake trades across all sorts of broadcasts and outlets. And for good reason, against the Spurs and Wemby, Chet looked positively pedestrian. He had timid games all throughout the series, capped off with a 4pt/4r performance in Game 7 that saw him go 1-2 from the field and not attempt a single shot for the final three quarters of the game. Hardly what you want from a player about to start a $240M supermax extension and will be making $41.2M next season.
So, with his value down and his contract set to balloon, I really don’t think OKC is going to be inclined to move him at this point. Sam Presti doesn’t strike me as a sell-low type of GM given his past moves and with the Thunder’s war chest of draft picks (they have 12 picks across the next three drafts), there are plenty of opportunities for them to look to move up in the draft (another popular rumor) and try to continue the cycle of hitting on draft picks and taking advantage of rookie contracts.
Which means more realistic than a splashy trade for someone like Giannis, we could be seeing the Thunder move on from this current iteration and focus on the surrounding depth and pieces.
Isaiah Hartenstein and Lu Dort are both set to hit free agency and while I could see them interested in retaining Hartenstein at center, the writing seems to be on the wall for Dort’s time coming to an end with the Thunder, especially with the emergency of guys like Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace.
Speaking of Cason Wallace, he and Isaiah Joe are going to be extension eligible and with Wallace making an All-Defense second team this season, will OKC be willing to pay a premium to keep him with the team or will they look elsewhere to see if they can extract more value out of every spot on the roster.
I know it’s all not the most exciting speculation compared to a huge blockbuster trade but with Shai, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren all signed through the rest of the decade, it makes more sense to me that the team adjust the depth, allow Williams to recover fully from multiple hamstring injuries this season, and see if they can matchup against the Spurs better next season.
That said, their ego will certainly be bruised considering they lost eight times to one team in a season where they lost a combined 21 total games in the regular season and playoffs. With the Spurs being their biggest threat in the West, maybe Presti decides it’s time to swing for the fences and cash in multiple picks. As uncharacteristic as it would be, I feel like anything is on the table now as we head into the offseason.
– The Larry O’Brien trophy will be on the NBA Finals courts once again
– Nike’s Finals ad for Wemby is incredible
– Early get-in prices for the NBA Finals are insane
– Rumor: Anthony Davis may be looking for trade from Wizards (Sean Deveney)
– Orlando Magic to hire Spurs’ assistant coach Sean Sweeney as new HC
Game 1 – Knicks at Spurs | Wednesday, June 3rd
Game 2 – Knicks at Spurs | Friday, June 5th
Thank you so much for reading, I hope everyone reading this had a great weekend and is ready for what should be an exciting NBA Finals matchup. I’ll be back Wednesday morning with a full preview so be sure to subscribe and so you don’t miss a post. Thank you again. Take care.