Would OKC Still Win the West If Dallas Had Not Traded Doncic?
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 27 Jun 2025
I know this is already well in the realm of "what could have been," but this question keeps popping up in my mind and in the minds of many other NBA fans, particularly after the Oklahoma City Thunder won the 2024-25 NBA Championship over an again-overachieving Indiana Pacers in a Finals series that went the full route.
Recall that in the 2023-24 season, Oklahoma, then the West's top seed (as in the recently concluded season), fell by the wayside, a 4-2 semifinals victim of the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas, then seeded just fifth, toppled another higher seed, #2 Minnesota Timberwolves, 4-1, to advance to the NBA Finals.
Very instrumental in Dallas then lording over the Western Conference was Luka Dončić, who was joined by the then-fairly newly acquired Kyrie Irving, both of whom were surrounded by a well-motivated support cast such as P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford, to mention some.
Indiana, on the other hand, finished sixth in the Eastern Conference regular season. The Pacers were paired against #3 Milwaukee in the first round, whom they upended 4-2. They then faced New York in the semifinals, whom they defeated in seven games, 4-3, gaining the right to meet the then-streaking Boston Celtics. Unfortunately, the Pacers were whitewashed by the Celtics 4-0.
Boston went on to win the Finals, defeating Dallas 4-2.
Despite losing to Boston, the Mavericks were fancied to repeat their good showing in the 2024-25 season, especially after getting Klay Thompson from Golden State. With the coming of Thompson, Dallas was expected to complete its deadly "triangle of fire" with Dončić and Irving, making them a more formidable team.
But then came the decision of the Mavericks front office to trade Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for star big man Anthony Davis, which affected the high expectations of Dallas fans.
With Dončić out and Davis unable to see action immediately as he was still recuperating from injuries, Dallas saw its win-loss slate and its once-lofty standing in the West plummet. This was aggravated further with injuries hitting other key team members just as Davis had started to show his All-Star qualities actually playing for Dallas.
Dallas still had mathematical chances of at least making it to the play-in in the postseason. But tragedy struck with Davis and later Irving going out with season-ending recurrent injuries.
On the other hand, Dončić flourished with the Lakers, playing very well, particularly with LeBron James. In fact, the Lakers finished third in the Western Conference standings and were paired with #6 Minnesota Timberwolves.
The brilliance of Dončić and LeBron could not compensate for the absence of a big man approximating the quality of Davis. Hence, the Lakers were eliminated in the very first round by Minnesota. The Timberwolves somehow got a measure of revenge at Dončić, who the previous season powered his former team, Dallas, to a 4-1 victory in the Western Conference Finals.
With Dallas, sans Dončić, emasculated and the Los Angeles Lakers (with Dončić) summarily eliminated, Oklahoma's pathway to winning the Western Conference (and eventually the NBA championship) seemed assured. This is, of course, not to undervalue the struggle it had to go through against Jokić and the Denver Nuggets (4-3) in the West semifinals and somehow against Edwards and the Timberwolves (4-2) in the West finals.
But really now, what could have been had Dallas not parted with Dončić, and the Mavericks automatically qualified in the Western playoffs due to a better record and standing?
Would Oklahoma have revenged its 2023-24 Western semifinals defeat against a Mavericks featuring old nemeses Luka Dončić, P.J. Washington, and Dereck Lively II, plus new recruits Irving and Klay Thompson?
How would Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, and the twin towers of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein have fared against Dončić, Irving, and company?
What do you think?
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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