The NBA tips off tonight, and this final preview looks at last season’s best regular-season squad and reigning champion—even if that doesn’t always match up: the Oklahoma City Thunder. We’ll explore their stats, last season’s results, a look at the roster and season goals, the player to watch, and a forecast for the franchise.
Oklahoma City Thunder 2025-26
How They Approach the Season
With no changes beyond the selection of Thomas Sorber in the Draft and Nikola Topic’s return. If it works, why change it? All summer, the Oklahoma City Thunder have heard that they’re the best-positioned team since the Golden State Warriors to build a dynasty. But in this modern era—launched by the Toronto Raptors in 2019—that’s produced seven champions in seven seasons for the first time in history, repeating as champs is a tough task.
Last year, their regular-season dominance was historic. They surpassed the Lakers’ 1972 mark for point-differential greatness and joined the ranks of one of the best defenses of the century compared to league average (7 points better than the average defensive rating) and in forcing turnovers.
Jalen Williams will miss tonight’s season opener and might sit out a few more games after his wrist surgery. It’s nothing too alarming for a team that, let’s remember, survived last year’s injuries to Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren without much trouble.
Ideas like staying hungry or fearing stagnation shouldn’t apply to such a young championship squad. Their challenges will come on other fronts.
The Dangers of a Radical Style
Nothing lasts forever in sports or in life. Yesterday’s certainty becomes today’s relic. The NBA is in the midst of a stylistic shift. Full-court pressure is in style, some teams are growing wary of the pick-and-roll, and defense is hot again. OKC personifies that in a season where offensive efficiency dipped—the first drop since 2021—quite rare after the offensive boom we saw in 2015.
What’s striking is how they’ve done it. In an era defined by perimeter play, many top defenses of recent years have banked on conceding that preventing advantages created outside was impossible, focusing instead on defending near the rim. Then Mark Daigneault’s squad showed it’s doable to build a dam.
The Thunder built a historic defense propped up by two towering interior defenders in Holmgren and Hartenstein. But the real muscle came from lining up multiple standouts on the perimeter. Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander push every ballhandler to the brink, creating fear with each pass that could turn into a steal and breakaway.
It’s easy to imagine that defensive impact cooling off. Offenses will be better prepared to take on that huge challenge, and the level of physicality they lean on might get scrutinized by the league. Still, these Thunder might spark a trend and usher in an era of contact and defense—but in the modern, three-happy iteration.
Either way, OKC will keep carving out top-tier defense. The only question is how dominant they’ll look through the regular season and under the postseason lights.
“Continuity” in Quotes
Despite a quiet offseason, everyone expects this organization to keep evolving from within. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams have both extended their deals, and it’s logical to anticipate a tangible leap in their games—though this roster can survive even if they remain the same players they were.
Jalen Williams’s next step will be about relieving Shai’s playmaking duties to the point where he even becomes the de facto point guard for stretches. The guard/wing already possesses a wide offensive toolkit and excels defensively in any scenario, having played center last year when the frontcourt was thin. After shrinking at times in the 2024 playoffs, he showed previously unseen poise and leadership on the way to the title. Once the shell cracked, the sky became his limit.
It’s easier to see a big jump in Chet Holmgren, who’s still too streaky on offense. The young center has weathered major swings in confidence with his shot and overall scoring. On paper, he’s the ultimate piece that unlocks five-out basketball for Oklahoma City.
But his growth must revolve around holding his own under the rim and showing presence in the paint, given how tough it may be to keep Hartenstein’s contract in the long run. Even modest gains in his shooting consistency would boost OKC’s offensive flexibility. He’s far more than just a stretch five, and the dream is to see him as a full-time high-post facilitator one day.
Elsewhere, Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins look poised for their own steps forward, with Nikola Topic also joining the mix whenever he’s fully healthy.
The Player to Watch: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
After being named MVP, leading the league in scoring, winning the championship, and taking Finals MVP, Shai’s approach this season will dictate a lot about these Thunder. As Jaylen Brown says in the new season of “Starting 5,” “the game is very easy for him right now.” What sets Shai apart is how routine his brilliance has become. Night after night, he shows up, finds his sweet spots, draws 10 free throws, and walks away with 30 points.
That potential was unmatched last year, but if the Thunder want to grow as a unit, maybe that means we need to see him step aside at times instead of just splitting possessions with Jalen Williams. SGA isn’t Trae Young—he’s already shown he can be effective off the ball. Improving there enough to diversify an offense that was sometimes the champs’ biggest question mark might be the clearest path for Williams, Holmgren, and the rest.
Beyond that, like every player who reaches the exclusive circle Shai’s been in for two years, he’ll face legacy chatter until he calls it a career. Getting to the top is thrilling, but it’s also compelling to see how the greats remain there, refining already incredible talent. The challenge: to shift from Jokic’s era to an era of Shai.
nbamaniacs’ Prediction
Only the Denver Nuggets look capable of challenging these Oklahoma City Thunder in the West. But this roster is better set up to handle key injuries, so they hold a slight edge in the regular season.
We should speak frankly about the possibility of building a dynasty, which is why this preview covers the potential pitfalls and growth paths of a team seemingly best positioned to chase the title every year for the next five seasons. Expect them to top 58 wins and reach the conference finals at minimum. You can envision their ceiling yourselves.
(Fotografía de portada de Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images)
