The 2025-26 NBA season is here! We’re rolling out our previews — examining the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and win projections for all 30 franchises — from the still-rebuilding teams to the true title contenders.
2024-25 finish
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Record: 68-14 (first in West, NBA champions)
Offseason moves
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Subtractions: Dillon Jones
(Stefan Milic/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
The Big Question: Can the Thunder snap the repeat curse?
The Thunder became the seventh team ever to win 68 games last season, outscoring opponents by 12.8 points per 100 possessions, second only to Michael Jordan’s 72-win 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. They were one of the greatest teams ever, even if it took them a pair of Game 7 victories to capture the championship.
They also happen to be one of the youngest teams ever to win the title, essentially bringing back their entire roster for another go at the crown. No team since the Golden State Warriors of last decade has been better positioned to repeat. Of course, we said the same thing about last season’s Boston Celtics.
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It is freaking hard to repeat as champions, especially in this salary cap era, when the dreaded second apron is designed to tear down potential dynasties. Injuries occur. Desire wanes. Egos clash. Challengers arise. There is more parity in the NBA than at any other period but the 1970s. As a result, none of the past seven champions has repeated, another occurrence that has not happened for roughly 50 years.
But, man, these Thunder are built different.
They are helmed by 27-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a surgical knife of a player, slicing and dicing his way into the lane, where he can finish in any manner necessary. He will often draw fouls while at it, too. He was the league’s MVP last season, enjoying the best campaign by a guard since Jordan.
He is paired with 23-year-old Chet Holmgren and 24-year-old Jalen Williams. They are both two-way dynamos — Holmgren as a center and Williams on the wing — and both have room to improve. We only found out after the fact that Williams was dealing with a wrist injury throughout the playoffs, which you would not have known by watching him. To think both of them could be better this season is frightening.
And that star trio is surrounded by the deepest rotation in the league. Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, Lu Dort and Cason Wallace are all among the best role players in the entire NBA, not to mention Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams, among others. The Thunder, any way you slice them, are stacked.
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Oh, and Mark Daigneault has established himself as one of the league’s best coaches. He has built an elite offense and one of the best defenses of the past 25 years, if not ever. This team is hell to play.
So, what stops them? Health, of course, is always an issue. No team was healthier in the playoffs, even given Williams’ injury. There is no plan against poor health. Other than that, though, it is hard to imagine the Thunder’s desire waning or their egos clashing. This is a driven team, and a likable one. Everyone makes sense in his role — from Gilgeous-Alexander to Williams and Holmgren to the end of the rotation.
What stops them might be the improvement of teams around them, especially the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. The Nuggets retooled around Nikola Jokić, the best player in the game, and the Rockets added Kevin Durant, one of the greatest scorers ever. But all it might take to keep some distance between Oklahoma City and the field is the further development of the Thunder’s young core.
Best-case scenario
The Thunder remain healthy and roll through the regular season once again, becoming even more formidable in the playoffs. They cruise to a second straight title, and it is hard to imagine them not three-peating, all as Gilgeous-Alexander establishes himself as one of the greatest players in history. His ceiling knows no bounds, nor does Oklahoma City’s. The league belongs to OKC for the foreseeable future.
If everything falls apart
Simple: The Thunder do not repeat. The second apron comes for Oklahoma City, too, and the new extensions for Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Williams squeeze out some of that depth. They are not as formidable a trio without all those reinforcements, and the Thunder become just another contender.
2025-26 schedule
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Season opener: Oct. 21 vs. Houston
Seventy wins is within the realm of possibility, if the Thunder keep their foot on the gas. And why shouldn’t they? They are young, loaded and out to prove the repeat curse does not apply. Go over.
More season previews
East: Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn Nets • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago Bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit Pistons • Indiana Pacers • Miami Heat • Milwaukee Bucks • New York Knicks • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington Wizards
West: Dallas Mavericks • Denver Nuggets • Golden State Warriors • Houston Rockets • LA Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizzlies • Minnesota Timberwolves • New Orleans Pelicans • Oklahoma City Thunder • Phoenix Suns • Portland Trail Blazers • Sacramento Kings • San Antonio Spurs • Utah Jazz
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