The recently-acquired center likes to think of himself as just another building block, not the final piece to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s championship puzzle.
"I’m just trying to bring what I know to these young guys," said Perkins, who won it all with Boston in 2008. "We’ve got a good group of young guys that work hard, stay humble and are talented. I’m just trying to do what I can to come in and fit in."
NBA analysts gushed over Oklahoma City as a title contender before the paperwork could be filed on the four-player deal with Boston that brought Perkins to town on Feb. 24. But the history of league champions suggests Perkins’ arrival simply sparks a waiting game in Oklahoma City rather than a speedier trip to a title.
The NBA is the ultimate lunch line when it comes to championship winners, and, at best, the Thunder merely has taken its number with Perkins aboard. Over the past 31 years only eight franchises have been crowned as league champions. The Los Angeles Lakers have won 10 times over that span, Chicago has captured six titles, San Antonio and Boston each secured four championships, Detroit won it three times, Houston has two titles and Philadelphia and Miami each won one.
As the Thunder and Heat square off tonight inside American Airlines [AMR] Arena, they’ll represent the most likely franchises that figure to be next in line.
"There’s no easy path to that level. You have to earn it by working every day," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks, a member of the championship-winning 1994 Rockets. "We’re getting pieces to having a good team. Perk is another good piece to getting where we want to get to."
Perkins joins a stable of young talent that is led by soon-to-be back-to-back scoring champ Kevin Durant and fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook. Together, despite both being just 22, they form the league’s third highest scoring duo. And they’re flanked by what appears to be the right blend of role players, a mix of veteran glue guys (Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha) and other young, untapped potential (James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Eric Maynor and Cole Aldrich).
"But it takes a lot of work, effort and good players," Brooks said. "Not just one or two, it takes a team full of good players. And it takes some good fortune. We’re building our team with some good players. We want to keep working and keep improving. I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but we think like champions. We do everything like a champion."
Despite all the hype following last month’s trade, the Thunder still looks to be a year away from true contention. The Lakers, Spurs and Celtics [team stats] are the clear favorites for now. But as each of those teams continues to age, it’s the Thunder’s spry young nucleus that threatens to take over.
Growth is the name of the game at this point.
"You’ll know when they’re mature when they win a playoff series," said Washington coach Flip Saunders, who reached the Conference Finals in four out of five seasons as coach of Minnesota and Detroit between 2004 and 2008. "That’s their next step. And you hope that you can do that by winning your division and having home court advantage."
The Thunder is on track, currently sitting in fourth place in the West standings with a 3 1/2-game lead over Denver for the Northwest Division title and home court advantage. Oklahoma City also is on pace to win 53 games, three more than last year’s total.
"Players we have are growing," said Durant. "It’s just a matter of us bringing that all together."
Brooks is coaching with one eye on today’s development and the other on lessons for tomorrow. A buzz phrase around the Thunder is ’build good habits.’ Brooks explains good habits as fundamentals such as making the extra pass, setting solid screens, rebounding and boxing out.
"Those little things add up to big things," Brooks said. "And players and teams can do it occasionally but to do it consistently, that’s what makes real pros and makes good teams. And we want to be able to put the good habits together every night."
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