Every team in the NBA is in the same cycle. They’re just in different stages of it. Some teams are contending. Others are rebuilding. Every summer, some teams will make the transition from one phase of the cycle into another. For example, the Toronto Raptors have been trying to contend for several seasons. This year, it became obvious that they were far from the mark.
As the offseason action is still off in the distance, the Raptors appear suited to transition into rebuilding mode. The team already fired coach Nick Nurse, and it’s been made clear that more changes are going to be on the way.
“I think changes are going to be made on all fronts,” Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri said at his exit presser. “We saw how different players on our team would rise and do well, but we never saw it collectively…”
On the other hand, the Oklahoma City Thunder may try to make the opposite transition. This looked like a team on the rise in 2022-23. They are gearing up to climb ‘the second mountain’ as Thunder general manager Sam Presti described the team at his exit interview.
“I talked about the mountain, the second mountain,” Presti said. “We’re staring that sucker down. We’re seeing it, and we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to find a way to the top of that.”
One way for the Thunder to continue that ‘climb’ would be to make an aggressive trade in the offseason to add more talent around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Chet Holmgren will return from the season-ending injury that robbed him of his rookie campaign. Why not make a splash to add another piece?
Could the Thunder finish their ascension by acquiring Pascal Siakam from the Raptors?
