The Thunder may have a familiar fight on their hands next season, and ESPN sees it coming in the standings.
In its 2026-27 prediction, ESPN has Oklahoma City finishing second in the West at 60-22, two games behind San Antonio at 62-20. The Nuggets are projected to land third at 51-31, a number that feels questionable, but that’s a different conversation.
If you’re expecting the Thunder to claim the conference’s top spot for a third straight year, that’s still very much in the mix. But ESPN’s forecast points to a West that could again belong to Oklahoma City and San Antonio, assuming bad luck doesn’t wreck either team’s outlook.
That setup also gives the league a heavyweight matchup worth circling. The Thunder and Spurs already had some buzz before the 2025-26 season, with Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren at the center of it. After Holmgren’s playoff showing, that particular angle doesn’t carry quite the same heat anymore, but the bigger picture got even more interesting.
San Antonio arrived faster than plenty of people expected, and the Spurs backed it up by beating the Thunder in Game 7 of the conference finals. That’s the kind of series that can shape the next stretch of the Western Conference, and it could be the way things look again for the next few years.
ESPN’s ranking likely reflects the fact that San Antonio has the edge right now. Still, the loss may have given Oklahoma City even more motivation. The Thunder also won’t be carrying the burden of defending a title, which is a decent place to be.
And San Antonio has its own edge to chase after losing 4-1 to the Knicks in the NBA Finals. That kind of ending tends to sharpen a team’s focus, and it should make the OKC-San Antonio meetings even more compelling.
The first one is close, too. Oklahoma City opens the season on the road in San Antonio on Oct. 20.
Of course, the West won’t be decided by those two teams alone. Over an 82-game season, plenty can change. But if ESPN’s prediction holds up, the real race may be for the top two spots, and for now the Thunder and Spurs look like the teams built to own them.
In Other News...
Thunder May Have A New Offensive Answer Behind Shai
Isaiah Hartenstein already gave the Thunder a glimpse of what he can do as more than just a bruising interior presence. He scored efficiently, cleaned the glass and even helped as a playmaker, the kind of all-around center work that can steady an offense when possessions get messy. For Oklahoma City, that matters because any reliable source of production behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gives the rest of the attack a little more balance and a lot less pressure.
With the roster changed around him, there is a real chance for the Thunder to lean into that versatility and see how far it can go. More touches for Hartenstein would not just be about feeding a big man in the post, it would be about testing whether Oklahoma City can find another offensive lane that complements its star guard and makes the whole system harder to guard. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Mavericks Rivalry Just Became A Bigger Stage For OKC
The 2026-27 NBA schedule has already given the Thunder another reason to circle their meetings with Dallas. What was already shaping up as a compelling Western Conference rivalry now comes with a brighter spotlight, as Oklahoma City and the Mavericks are both projected to spend the season in the playoff mix. For the Thunder, the stage is especially fitting with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams expected to anchor a team built to contend again.
The added juice comes from how often these games will be in front of a national audience, a sign the league sees this as more than a routine division-style showdown. Dallas brings its own draw with Kyrie Irving back in the fold and rookie Cooper Flagg entering the picture, and the matchup now feels like one of those regular-season series that could carry real postseason weight. For Oklahoma City, it is the kind of test that can measure where this group stands early, and how much the rivalry might matter once spring arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Face A Tough Nikola Topic Call Sooner Than Anyone Wanted
The Thunder are already staring at one of those roster decisions that can shape the next few seasons, and it arrives much sooner than most of these things do. Nikola Topic, a 2024 first-round pick who has flashed real promise, is on a timeline that forces Oklahoma City to weigh projection against certainty, all while the team keeps an eye on its bigger salary-picture issues and the extensions that are coming due for other core pieces.
Topics limited NBA runway has only made the call tougher. Oklahoma City has seen enough to be intrigued, but not enough to remove the questions that naturally come with a young guard who has barely been on the floor, and the organization now has to balance patience with the practical side of team-building before the deadline hits. [Read more 🡒]