How does OKC Thunder compare to 2012 version? Jason Kidd sees 'some similarities'

OKC's young core will be in uncharted territory when it faces Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals.

The last time the Thunder reached the second round of the NBA playoffs was in 2011-12. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was only 13 at the time, dreaming of an NBA career from his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. Chet Holmgren was 10, and he hadn't yet hit his growth spurt.

But one person who was around to witness OKC's 2012 run to the NBA Finals was Dallas head coach Jason Kidd. He played for the Mavericks, who got swept by the Thunder in the first round of that year's playoffs.

And while this year's OKC team is different than the 2012 version, which was led by Kevin Durant and coached by Scott Brooks, Kidd does see some similarities.

“That group was young in (2012),” Kidd said of OKC in a recent interview with Mavs.com. “They were good, too. And they were well-coached with Scottie (Brooks). Again, there are some similarities when you look at that."

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Kidd was in his penultimate season in the NBA during the 2012 playoff series between OKC and Dallas.

The veteran guard was 38 years old, and he had just helped Dallas win a championship the previous season. But the Mavericks couldn't keep up with the young Thunder, which boasted an up-and-coming Big Three of Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Kidd became Dallas' head coach in 2021. He signed a multi-year extension on Monday.

And with Game 1 set for 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in OKC, Kidd is tasked with creating a game plan for the Thunder's new young trio of Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Jalen Williams.

“You look at Shai, MVP candidate," Kidd said. "He could easily win MVP. ... They play hard. They play extremely well at home. On paper they’re young. But they had the best record in the West. It’s not about age. It’s about being able to execute, and hopefully we can do that on the road.”

This OKC team also has someone different at the helm.

Mark Daigneault was an assistant at Florida back in 2012. But he became OKC's head coach in 2020, and he won the NBA's Coach of the Year award this season for leading his team to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

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OKC is the youngest No. 1 seed in NBA history for either conference.

“They’re young on paper, but they have the Coach of the Year (in Daigneault),” Kidd said. “Mark’s done an incredible job with that group."

Kidd fell short as a player against OKC in 2012, but he's now the coach of a Dallas team that's playing its best basketball.

The Mavericks revamped their roster at the trade deadline by acquiring Washington's Daniel Gafford and Charlotte's P.J. Washington. They won 12 of their last 15 regular-season games to secure the No. 5 seed, and they earned a 4-2 series win over the No. 4 Los Angeles Clippers in the first round.

And even though OKC won the regular-season series against Dallas, 3-1, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving only played together once on Feb. 10. The Mavericks earned a 146-111 home win over the Thunder in that game, and Doncic and Irving combined for 57 points.

That's an encouraging sign for Dallas, which hopes to have a different outcome in a rematch of the 2012 series.

“The playoffs are a little bit different," Kidd said. "(But) having everyone right after the trade deadline with making (the trades), and having Kai and Luka play for the first time against OKC, we can look at some of the things that we had success with. And hopefully we can do that again on Tuesday.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Dallas Mavericks' Jason Kidd recounts playing against 2012 OKC Thunder