The Oklahoma City Thunder can’t afford to turn this into a one-team mission.
Yes, the San Antonio Spurs are the obvious target after sending OKC home in the Western Conference Finals. Yes, the matchup has taken on real bite after a season in which San Antonio won four of the five regular-season meetings before handling the Thunder again when it mattered most. And yes, the desire for revenge is easy to understand.
But if Oklahoma City is serious about getting back to the NBA Finals and finishing the job this time, the Spurs can’t be the only team on its mind.
That’s the larger warning here: the league isn’t standing still while the Thunder and Spurs stare each other down. Minnesota has loaded up by pairing LaMelo Ball with Anthony Edwards, giving the West another dangerous challenger. The Philadelphia 76ers have also built one of the league’s best starting fives with Jaylen Brown and LeBron James joining the mix.
And the threat level doesn’t stop there. The defending champion New York Knicks are still intact, and the Denver Nuggets - a familiar foe for Oklahoma City - have kept their core together for another push.
San Antonio’s rise is a reminder of what happens when a team loses sight of the bigger picture. The Spurs poured everything into getting past the Thunder last season, and once they did, they weren’t ready for what came next in the Finals.
That’s the trap Oklahoma City has to avoid. There’s nothing wrong with circling the Spurs and wanting that next crack at them. But if the Thunder are going to bring home a championship, they’ll have to be ready for whoever is left standing, not just the team that knocked them out.
In Other News...
Payton Sandfort Gave The Thunder A Development Win To Watch
Payton Sandforts first NBA stop with Oklahoma City was always going to be more about the long view than the box score. The undrafted rookie, who came through double-shoulder surgery before getting a two-way deal, made his debut during the 2025-26 season and split time between the Thunder and the OKC Blue, where he flashed the kind of scoring touch and perimeter range that can keep a developmental player on the radar.
The Thunder moved on from Sandfort in the offseason and filled their two-way openings elsewhere, but his brief run still gave the organization something to track. He stayed in the mix by playing Summer League, and the next chapter appears likely to come in the G League, where Oklahoma City can keep watching whether that shot-making translates into a bigger opportunity down the road. [Read more 🡒]
Alex Caruso Is Suddenly Central To A Huge Thunder Question
Alex Caruso has already shown why the Thunder went out and got him, even with his regular-season workload kept in check to help preserve his health. Since arriving in the trade that sent Josh Giddey elsewhere, he has been the kind of playoff piece Oklahoma City trusts when the games tighten up, giving the lineup a veteran defensive edge and enough shooting to fit cleanly around the stars.
Now the question is less about whether Caruso matters and more about how much the Thunder can ask of him over the course of a full season. With key perimeter defenders gone, his role is set to grow, and that could mean more minutes than he has typically carried in recent years as Oklahoma City tries to hold up against a brutal Western Conference while leaning on his presence on the wing. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Fans Will Love Why Westbrook Is Back In The Spotlight
Russell Westbrook is back in the spotlight for a reason Thunder fans know well: the debate around his career has never really matched the production. On his podcast, Draymond Green took aim at the way NBA fans spent years criticizing Westbrook while he was still on the floor, only to turn around and celebrate him after retirement talk started creeping in. Green pointed back to the stretch when Westbrook was paired with Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City, a run that helped deliver multiple playoff appearances and kept the franchise firmly in the leagues top tier.
For Oklahoma City followers, the larger point lands close to home because Westbrook has long been one of the most polarizing stars to ever wear the uniform. Greens frustration centered on how often Westbrook was underrated in real time, even as his contributions were piling up season after season. The reaction now is less about revisiting old arguments and more about whether the league finally appreciates what Thunder fans watched up close for years. [Read more 🡒]