On Sunday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship and became one of the youngest title-winning teams of all time. No doubt many fans of other young teams like the Detroit Pistons looked on enviously wishing their teams could achieve similar success.
But it is important to note that the Thunder’s rise to the top of the NBA hasn’t been immediate and they too needed to gain their licks of playoff failure first.
For Pistons fans, the team’s playoff appearance was a mixed bag. Fans were certainly elated about making the playoffs for the first time in six seasons and having an incredible turnaround after a historically bad season in 2023-24. However, the first round series against the Knicks also left fans frustrated when it felt like the Pistons gave up some very winnable games and came up short in the clutch.
Looking at the Thunder’s recent playoff history offers some solace for Pistons fans. OKC was a regular season juggernaut this year and had the grit to get through multiple seven-game series in the playoffs, but this could not have happened without the experience of prior playoff failures.
The Detroit Pistons will grow from failure
In 2023, the Thunder returned to the postseason with a berth in the play-in tournament after two years of tanking. After a victory in the 9 vs 10 game, the Thunder would ultimately fall short against the Timberwolves with a chance to enter the playoffs proper. The next season, the Thunder took a huge leap and finished as the #1 seed in the Western Conference. However, they had a disappointing end to their season and lost to the Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs.
Through the adversity of postseason struggles in the last two seasons, the Thunder were able to identify ways to improve their team. They made external moves and got free agents with experience (including 2020 NBA champion Alex Caruso) who shored up their weaknesses. Their young players also used those experiences to improve their composure in the clutch and be better prepared for the playoffs.
The Pistons’ young core had a mixed bag of a postseason debut but fret not Pistons fans, every young team needs to take its lumps before climbing the mountain. Hopefully, with the right improvements and front office moves, we can be in the same position as the Thunder before we know it.
The next step is a deeper run into the playoffs and then the Pistons can start looking for the final pieces as the Thunder did this last offseason with Caruso and Hartenstein.