ESPN Reveals Jaw-Dropping Number For OKC Thunder to Take Top Spot

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the heavy favorites to repeat as NBA Champions and once again have the best roster in the NBA with the chance to stake their claim to their third straight No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

From the pundits' projections, to the betting market, and now advanced stats that will make your eyes widen seeing just how far the margin is for the Thunder.

After hoisting their first Larry O'Brien trophy in franchise history, Oklahoma City retained 99% of that title team littered with young players expected to make internal improvements. There is reason for not just optimism around Bricktown, but the ability to toss out the D word (Dynasty) around this team.

To achieve that lofty goal, however, the Thunder will need to buck the current trend of parity in the NBA. For the first time in the League's history, there has yet to be a team emerge in this decade as a dominant one. The last repeat winner dates back to 2018 with the Golden State Warriors, while the past six champions have failed to even make it out of the second round.

As preview season is in full swing, with the league tipping off in the Paycom Center on Tuesay, Oct. 21 as these Oklahoma City Thunder host the Houston Rockets on a historic date - one that sees the Thunder drop their banner and dish out their rings - ESPN ran their simulations to see how the 2025-26 campaign will play out according to their Basketball Power Index (BPI).

"OKC has a 98% chance of earning a top-four seed. For perspective, that's like having an eight-point lead with two minutes left in a game," Oliver Writes. "I'm not sure whether people realize how deep OKC is. Last season, the net points metric we use to evaluate players was positive for everyone in the Thunder's rotation and a couple of guys outside of their rotation -- 12 team members in total. In contrast, the Thunder's Finals' opponents, the Pacers, had just five players positive in the regular season."

The Oklahoma City Thunder are projected to be the No. 1 team in the Western Conference and the NBA according to ESPN's BPI metric. The Denver Nuggets finish No. 2 in the West and behind the Thunder and Cavs in the entire NBA. The Houston Rockets, L.A. Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors round out No. 3-6 for the Western Conference.

To round out the postseason projection, ESPN's BPI has the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs as Seeds No. 7-10 putting together the most competitive play-in field the Thunder would be awaiting as the team has swept their past two first round matchups in the New Orleans Pelicans (2024) and Memphis Grizzlies (2025).

For complete coverage of this season for the OKC Thunder, stay tuned to Thunder on SI.