How to build a title team: Lessons for the 2026 Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic are not so far from what the Oklahoma City Thunder have created. It starts with stars and finding the right players that fit around them.

The confetti has fallen, and the celebrations have begun for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

They were the runaway favorites before the playoffs but had to go through their own trials to get to the top of the mountain. They had to fight off the Denver Nuggets in a seven-game series and then fight off the upstart Indiana Pacers in seven games.

But Oklahoma City is lifting the trophy. And now everyone around the league is going to mine Sam Presti and his roster for how they did this.

This is a copycat league, after all. And everyone is trying to learn what they can from the successful teams.

Nobody will probably be able to build exactly how the Thunder have built with their cache of draft picks -- they still have Nikola Topic sitting on the bench with a torn ACL from last year's draft!

But the contours of what made them successful are still there. And the Orlando Magic, who made their transformational trade a year after the Thunder acquired Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, are still following a lot of the same path.

Everything starts with getting a star playing at an All-NBA and MVP level.