No guarantee OKC Thunder will get back to NBA Finals

If only the NBA worked that way.

The Thunder fell short in its inaugural Finals appearance, losing in five games to the Miami Heat. But with a stable of young talent, the widespread belief is Oklahoma City will be back … and soon.

History, however, warns that franchises on the losing end of the Finals face a difficult time getting back.

Since the league expanded to 29 franchises in 1995, only two teams that lost in the Finals have gotten back the next year and won it all — the Heat this year and the Los Angeles Lakers, who won back-to-back titles immediately after losing the 2008 Finals.

Over that same span, nine franchises — Boston, Utah, New York, Indiana, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Detroit, Cleveland and Orlando — are still seeking a return trip to the Finals after season-ending losses in the championship round. Seattle, which made it to the Finals in 1996, never saw another Finals trip as the Sonics.

It took two teams, the 2004 Lakers and the 2006 Dallas Mavericks, four and five years, respectively, to return to the Finals after losses in the last round. Two other teams, the 1997 Utah Jazz and the 2002 New Jersey Nets, returned to the Finals the following year and lost again.

It's now the Thunder's turn to test the strength of its sustainability.

“Everyone within the walls of our organization understands and respects that every season is unique,” said Thunder general manager Sam Presti. “There's so many variables that impact a team and organization that are uncontrollable, forces that are simply part of the cycles of professional sports. No matter how a season ends, be it high or low, there will be a need to recommit to the process again, from square one, with a builder's mentality.

“There's nothing promised, and we aren't entitled to anything other than the same number of days to improve as the other 29 teams.”

Since the 1996 Finals, three reigning conference champions — Indiana in 2000, Philadelphia in 2001 and Dallas in 2006 — came back and lost in the first round. Five others lost in the second round.