The Oklahoma City Thunder are heading into the 2026-27 season with a roster that looks a lot different, but still loaded with options.
This summer brought three new names into the mix through the 2026 NBA Draft: Aday Mara at No. 12, Bennett Stirtz at No. 16 and Otega Oweh at No.
- At the same time, the Thunder lost key pieces in Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins.
And that’s before even getting to the challenge of folding in Thomas Sorber, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, and Nikola Topic, the 2024 lottery pick who played in just 10 games a year ago after beating testicular cancer.
So yes, the look in Bricktown is changing. But Oklahoma City still has one of the league’s clearest strengths: flexibility.
There’s an opening in the starting lineup now that Dort is in Atlanta, and there are plenty of regular-season minutes available after Joe and Wiggins moved on to the East. The biggest question, at least for now, is who grabs the fifth starter spot.
The conversation appears to be centered on two young guards, defensive standout Cason Wallace and rising scorer Ajay Mitchell. Whoever comes off the bench would still have a major role, because this guard group is going to matter a lot in the Thunder’s title push.
Even with the turnover, Oklahoma City can still build all kinds of lineups that work in different ways. That’s the real story here. The Thunder don’t have to be locked into one style.
A team that has long been defined by defense now has the ability to lean more heavily into offense whenever it wants. One of the strongest five-man groups on paper is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Ajay Mitchell, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. That lineup gives OKC four true advantage-creating playmakers in Hartenstein, Williams, Mitchell and Gilgeous-Alexander, three scorers in that same group, and Holmgren as the elite finisher at the rim from last season.
And that’s just one version.
There’s also the shooting upside of Jared McCain after his first healthy offseason, the chance for Cason Wallace to keep improving from deep, the possibility of Bennett Stirtz becoming a useful shooter right away and the pure playmaking of Nikola Topic if he earns real minutes.
Defense still isn’t going anywhere, either. Wallace, Alex Caruso, Jalen Williams and Holmgren remain elite defenders, and several others on the roster grade out as well above average. That gives Mark Daigneault a lot to work with, and a lot of ways to change a game on the fly.
For Oklahoma City, the edge still comes from versatility.
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