For the first time in the franchise's 47 year existence, the Denver Nuggets became NBA champions last season.
Led by homegrown talent of star duo Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Denver went on a tear in the playoffs, eventually defeating the Miami Heat in five games. The Nuggets grew their core through the draft and stuck with it, eventually paying off into the NBA's biggest prize.
For a young team in one of the NBA's smallest markets, looking at how Denver built its championship-winning team could be beneficial for the Oklahoma City Thunder's future.
Thunder GM Sam Presti held a press conference Wednesday, where the reigning champions were brought up. Presti had praise for the Nuggets franchise process and value of its players and coaches.
“What I see there is a result of commitment," Thunder GM Sam Presti said on the Nuggets. "Murray and Jokic are committed to winning with the Nuggets. The organization is committed to winning with those guys.”
Even though it took four years for the Jokic-led Nuggets to make the playoffs, and Denver could have certainly packaged some of its talent including Murray for a superstar player, the Nuggets trusted their players' potential.
In an NBA landscape with so many players moving from team to team, the trust of players in their respective franchises is at its all-time low. What could set the Thunder apart from other franchises is making the same commitments to its players that Denver did, keeping the core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren together long term.
If the franchise makes the commitment to its players, the players are more likely to make that same commitment to its franchise.
With the amount of draft picks the Thunder have allocated, with plenty of quality players as-is, it could get difficult to keep everyone around. However, at least retaining the core four players can keep the franchise's chemistry strong for the next decade -- and potentially lead to Oklahoma City's first NBA championship.
More must-reads: