The Oklahoma City Thunder enter the offseason in a very different spot than they were in a year ago. They’re no longer protecting a championship, and the roster has already been reshuffled as OKC works to avoid financial troubles.
That leaves the same big question hanging over next season: can the Thunder get back to the top? Their run ended with a seven-game series against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, and they pushed that series even without Ajay Mitchell and Jalen Williams. Still, one recent early look at next season says Oklahoma City has some catching up to do.
Brad Botkin of CBS Sports released a power ranking for next season after some of the offseason’s major moves, and the Thunder landed at No. 3. The Spurs checked in at No. 1, while the defending NBA Champion New York Knicks were slotted second.
Botkin’s case for putting Oklahoma City behind those teams goes beyond simple results. He points to the departures of Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins as significant losses, and he notes that the potential impact of rookies Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz remains unclear. He also sees San Antonio’s young group of Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper as a core that should keep improving.
Even so, Botkin identifies one Thunder player who could change the conversation in a series with the Spurs: Chet Holmgren. His view is that if Holmgren can close the gap between himself and Wembanyama, that might be enough to push OKC past San Antonio and back into the West spot in the NBA Finals.
The Knicks would still be waiting in that scenario, but Oklahoma City appears to match up better with New York than it does with San Antonio. That’s why it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Thunder handle business in the Finals again if they get there.
So while the Thunder may not be the clear favorites this time around, they’re not out of the picture either. The ranking is only a prediction, and Oklahoma City will get its shot to answer it on the floor.
In Other News...
Former Thunder Teammate Gets Brutally Honest About Durants 2016 Exit
Kevin Durants 2016 departure still sits in a strange place in Thunder history, because it was both shocking in the moment and impossible to separate from everything that came after. He left Oklahoma City for Golden State in a move that ended the franchises most promising run with him as the centerpiece, then explained in his essay, My Next Chapter, that he needed to get out of his comfort zone to keep growing as a person. From the Thunders perspective, it was the kind of decision that changed the shape of the league and left a long wait for the next real breakthrough.
Anthony Morrow, who spent time with Durant in Oklahoma City, recently added another layer to that memory by sharing how he handled the conversation once the news became public. Morrow also described Durant as a brother for life, which fits the complicated way former teammates often talk about a moment that was personal and seismic at the same time. For Thunder fans, the sting lasted well beyond that summer, through years of near-misses, until the franchise finally got back to the top in 2025. [Read more 🡒]
Shai Just Hit Another Milestone In His Thunder Legacy
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander keeps collecting the kind of recognition that turns a great Thunder era into something bigger. Bleacher Reports latest draft exercise put him atop the 11th-overall pick conversation for the century, a nod to how far he has moved the standard for that slot and how quickly he has become the face of Oklahoma Citys rise.
The comparison naturally runs through names like Klay Thompson, but the case for Gilgeous-Alexander is built on more than reputation. His scoring has stayed elite and efficient, and the broader argument is starting to sound less like a debate about one draft position and more like a historical check-in on where his legacy belongs once the leagues all-time 11th picks are sorted out. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Rotation Battle Just Got Real For Mark Daigneault
Oklahoma Citys offseason has been busy enough to leave Mark Daigneault with a familiar kind of problem: plenty of pieces, not quite enough obvious answers. The Thunder drafted three players, traded two, re-signed Isaiah Hartenstein and Kenrich Williams, and picked up Luguentz Dorts option, all while trying to preserve the core of a team that should look a lot like last season at the top of the rotation.
The real intrigue is in the middle of the roster, where health and performance will sort out who gets trusted once the games start mattering. A few players are already on the bubble or fighting to carve out a role, and the frontcourt picture is especially unsettled as Oklahoma City weighs size, availability and fit for those last minutes. Daigneault has options, which is usually a good problem, but it also means the competition for rotation spots is about to get very real. [Read more 🡒]