Oklahoma City Thunder 2025-26 season preview: Can the champs snap the repeat curse?

The 2025-26 NBA season is here! We roll out our previews – examining the biggest questions, best and worst case scenarios, and win projections for all 30 franchises – from teams still rebuilding to real title contenders.

End of 2024-25

• Save: 68-14 (first in the West, NBA champion)

Off-season movements

• Subtractions:Dillon Jones

The big question: Can the Thunder end the repeat curse?

The Thunder became the seventh team to win 68 games last season, outscoring their opponents by 12.8 points per 100 possessions, second only to Michael Jordan’s 72 wins in the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. They were one of the greatest teams of all time, even though they needed two wins in Game 7 to win the championship.

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They also happen to be one of the youngest teams to win the title, essentially bringing back their entire roster for another attempt 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 the Boston Celtics last season.

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It’s really hard to repeat as a champion, especially in the salary cap era, where the dreaded second apron is designed to demolish potential dynasties. Injuries happen. Desire diminishes. Egos clash. Challengers arise. There is more parity in the NBA than in any other period except the 1970s. As a result, none of the last seven champions have repeated, another phenomenon that has not happened in about 50 years.

But man, these Thunder are built differently.

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They are led 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 way necessary. He will often make mistakes too. He was the league’s MVP last season, enjoying the best campaign by a guard since Jordan.

He is partnered with 23-year-old Chet Holmgren and 24-year-old Jalen Williams. They are both two-way dynamos – Holmgren at center and Williams at the wing – and both still have room to improve. We only found out after the fact that Williams was dealing with a wrist injury throughout the playoffs, something you wouldn’t have known from watching him. To think both could be better this season is scary.

And this trio of stars 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 it, are stacked.

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Oh, and Mark Daigneault has established himself as one of the best coaches in the league. He built an elite offense and one of the best defenses in the last 25 years, if ever. This team is hell to play against.

So what’s stopping them? Of course, health is always an issue. No team was healthier in the postseason, even given Williams’ injury. There is no plan for poor health. Other than that, though, it’s hard to imagine the Thunder’s desire diminishing or their egos clashing. It’s a motivated and friendly team. Everyone makes sense in their role – from Gilgeous-Alexander to Williams and Holmgren to the end of the rotation.

What stops them might be the improvement of the teams around them, notably the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets. The Nuggets reorganized around Nikola Jokić, the best player in the game, and the Rockets added Kevin Durant, one of the greatest scorers of all time. But all it would take to keep some distance between Oklahoma City and the court is continued development of the Thunder’s young core.

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The Thunder stay healthy and go through the regular season again, becoming even more formidable in the playoffs. They’re headed for a second straight title, and it’s hard to imagine them any other way three-peating, all this 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 collapses

It’s simple: the Thunder don’t repeat themselves. The second apron is also coming for Oklahoma City, and the new extensions for Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Williams reduce some of that depth. They aren’t as formidable a trio without all those reinforcements, and the Thunder become just another contender.

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Calendar 2025-26

• Opening of the season: October 21 against Houston

Seventy wins are within the realm of possibility, if the Thunder keep their foot on the accelerator. And why not? They are young, loaded and ready to prove that the repeated curse does not apply. Pass.

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