Bleacher Report’s latest star-trio ranking has put the Thunder right in the middle of a familiar NBA problem: people remember what happened most recently and act like it’s the whole story.
In a recent breakdown of the league’s top trios after the 2025-26 campaign, Oklahoma City’s core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren landed third. The Spurs’ group of Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper checked in first, while the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby came in second.
That is a sharp drop from last year, when the same Thunder trio was ranked No. 1 by the publication.
New York and San Antonio both earned their praise, especially after helping carry their teams to the 2026 NBA Finals. But the Thunder’s slide feels like a classic case of recency bias, because when Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren are all healthy and on the floor together, Oklahoma City has looked nearly impossible to deal with.
The numbers back that up. During the Thunder’s title-winning 2024-25 season, the trio ranked in the 93 percentile in points per 100 possessions at 122.4, the 96 percentile in effective field goal percentage at 58.9, and the 97 percentile in point differential at plus-14.3.
Even last season, with Williams dealing with injuries, the group still produced elite results on both ends. They were in the 95 percentile in opponent points per 100 possessions at 107.2, the 96 percentile in their own points per 100 possessions at 123.9, the 97 percentile in effective field goal percentage at 59.2, and the 99 percentile in point differential at plus-16.7.
Since they joined forces, the Thunder have never finished lower than the No. 1 seed in the West. They have also reached two straight conference finals despite health issues slowing them down.
Their first run ended with a championship even though Holmgren was dealing with a right iliac wing fracture and Williams played through a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist before offseason surgery. The next postseason ended one win short of a return to the Finals, with Williams largely sidelined by a nagging hamstring strain.
Compared with the trios ranked ahead of them, Oklahoma City’s core has already checked plenty of boxes: All-Star status, All-NBA recognition and, in Gilgeous-Alexander’s case, an MVP. They are still in their mid-20s and have already delivered a title.
That is why the Thunder’s drop to third looks less like a true verdict and more like a reaction to the most recent season. The source of the debate may have changed, but the argument around Oklahoma City hasn’t: when this group is whole, it remains one of the league’s most dangerous combinations.
Bleacher Report appears to have moved on quickly from that reality. The Thunder now have the 2026-27 season ahead of them to remind everyone.
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Brad Botkin pointed to the Spurs rising young core as a reason for the shuffle, while also noting that Oklahoma City is still sorting through what it will get from rookies Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz. For the Thunder, the bigger question remains how the front line and the rest of the rotation settle in once the games count, because in a Western Conference that keeps getting deeper, even a small preseason slight can feel like a reminder that the margin for error is thin. [Read more 🡒]
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Bennett Stirtz led the Thunder with 22 points, and five Oklahoma City guards reached double figures, yet the shot-making never quite held up long enough to turn that depth into a win. The Thunder hit only 27% from three and made eight threes, while Denver kept getting timely answers from Trevon Brazile, who finished with 32 points and repeatedly stalled OKCs pushes. [Read more 🡒]