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When Will The Oklahoma City Thunder Breakthrough and Win the NBA Title?

By James Simpson II

Nov 10, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook (0) and small forward Kevin Durant (35) stand by during a break in action against the Washington Wizards during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 10, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook (0) and small forward Kevin Durant (35) stand by during a break in action against the Washington Wizards during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Can the Oklahoma City Thunder still win the NBA title?

The clock is ticking and they know it.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, one of the favorites to win the NBA title entering the 2014-2015 season have stumbled out of the gate with a disturbing 5-13 record. Now they have a legitimate excuse for their poor start because they were hit by a slew of injuries to key players like Jeremy Lamb, Anthony Morrow, Perry Jones, and star performers Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. So, their slow start is excusable. However, that doesn’t help OKC’s cause playing out West in a savage of a conference that could leave them possibly missing the playoffs altogether. Right now as we speak, OKC is tied for 11th in the Western Conference and are about 6 ½ games out of the eight seed.

So yeah, there in some trouble, but by no means necessary are they out of the playoff picture. Not with 64 games left to play on their schedule. OKC is too good to miss the playoffs when their roster is at full strength, especially when you have – in my opinion – two of the top six players in basketball on your side. They will get in. That should be the least of their worries.

What the Oklahoma City Thunder organization, fans, and team should fret about is the heavy likelihood that superstar Kevin Durant might bolt the team during free agency in the summer of 2016. To be clear, losing Kevin Durant would be a devastating blow to the franchise but losing him without capturing a championship would be even worse.

Translation: The Thunder need to win a championship in either this year (2015) or in 2016 because if they don’t, KD might be out the door and seeking greener pastures and a bigger market to play in.

And if you think it’s too early to mention Durant’s impending free agency then you couldn’t be more wrong. I’m sure it’s on the organization’s mind at this moment. That gets back to my original question of “When Will the OKC Thunder Breakthrough and Win an NBA Title?”

Dec 2, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (right) and guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Thunder 112-104. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 2, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (right) and guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Thunder 112-104. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

It better be in these next two years because with a small-market franchise like the Thunder, you would think these opportunities of chasing a championship are slim. And they are. Drafting Durant and Westbrook to build their franchise around was a bonus, but the chances of them luring big-name free agent stars to Oklahoma City in the near future are very unlikely, so they need to capitalize on the championship window they have with Durant, Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, and head coach Scott Brooks now before the two All-NBA Performers end up leaving. (Westbrook is a free agent in 2017.)

With the two stars recently returning from injury this week, the Thunder should get going and I’ll say in about two weeks they should be hitting their stride and should get back into playoff contention. From there, who knows what might happen. The Thunder could end up being the most dangerous 8th or 7th seed in NBA history come playoff time, a la the 2003 Lakers when they were a 5th seed and had come off of winning three straight titles. If it came to that then the Thunder would be putting themselves in a dangerous position of having to win every playoff series without home-court advantage and that could doom there 2015 title hopes. 2016 is a whole other story.

The Thunder have been close in the last couple of years in the playoffs:

2011: Loss in the Conference Finals to the Dallas Mavericks (4-1)
2012: Loss in the NBA Finals to the Miami Heat (4-1)
2013: Loss in the Conference Semifinals to the Memphis Grizzlies (4-1)
2014: Loss in the Conference Finals to the San Antonio Spurs (4-2)

These next two years are mega for the Thunder and there are too big incentives in play right now.

1.) The players and coaches want to win a title just for the sake of winning a title

and

2.) The organization wants to win a title because that would give Durant more reason to stay in Oklahoma City long-term

So, there’s plenty at stake for all parties involved for the Thunder. Let’s just hope they win a title before the 2016 Summer Free Agency comes upon us or there might be some unpleasant exits underway in Oklahoma City.

Next: Is Kevin Durant one of the NBA's 25 greatest scorers ever?

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