Stiles Points: OKC Thunder 'Running it Back' Routine Won't be Bland

Keeping the band together after hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy is far from a novel idea. Most teams head into a drunken daze that lasts the entire summer, throw money at their current roster and attempt to run it back with the same core.

After all, you are the incumbent; it feels like everyone is playing catch-up to the champion more often than not in the offseason that follows.

However, the NBA hasn't had a repeat winner since 2018, as the Golden State Warriors knocked off the Cleveland Cavaliers before their three-peat attempt was spoiled by the 2019 Raptors (and injuries).

That thrust the NBA –– what had been known as the most predictable professional sport –– into a parity era with the Oklahoma City Thunder representing the seventh consecutive unique winner.

If anyone has a chance to buck this trend, it's the Oklahoma City Thunder. So, Sam Presti and company are making the common decision of running it back with an uncommon group.

The uncommonality of his core continues to be its strength long after the blue and orange confetti fell inside the Paycom Center following Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

Teams aren't supposed to win this young. Leaning on a rotation primarily made up of third-year-or-younger contributors en route to the organization's first championship.

Your season of running it back isn't supposed to happen with a group that isn't even close to reaching its ceiling. The few times things have lined up this way, the NBA world goes from dubbing that bunch an anomaly to a dynasty.

It's yet to be seen if the Thunder will rattle off more than just the one championship or how consistently they can be contenders. One thing we have seen, though, is the avoidance of the summer spotlight.

While Western Conference foes are producing summer-time blockbusters, the Thunder's transactional reel is only being shown on local daytime television.

No breaking news banners, no hour-long discussions, just passing blips that all end with a swift "good move" quip.

Oklahoma City has re-signed Ajay Mitchell, Jaylin Williams and superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the latter the most attention-grabbing transaction.

This, coupled with trading former first-round pick Dillon Jones to make room for 2025 first-round pick Thomas Sorber and the eventual extensions dished out to franchise cornerstones Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, will put a bow on a silent summer.

In terms of new names to learn, Sorber filling in for Jones and second-round pick Brooks Barnhizer taking the spot of one of the Thunder's three two-way players from a year ago (Adam Flagler, Alex Ducas, or Branden Carlson) will be the extent of the summer reading in Bricktown.

Though the Thunder will be far from the same team during the 2025-26 campaign, despite the program and uniforms having slight alterations.

"To me, we've talked for years about sustainability, and the reason why we're in the position that we were this year was because of sustainability. We put ourselves in position year in and year out. If we boiled everything down and burned the boats for one season and that season was last year, we wouldn't be in this position," Presti explained at his end-of-season interview session. "I feel like we're going to be in a position for the team to continue to grow and get better for a period of years because of the age of the team. I also think the team will be different next year, even if we return the exact roster that we have today, because the players will improve, teams will play us differently, and there's just a natural organic nature to a team's development."

Despite playing with a torn ligament in his hand, All-Star Jalen Williams played his best basketball in the playoffs. The Santa Clara product displayed a different level of force around the rim and an aggressive scoring approach that allowed him to live up to the billing of a No. 2 option on a title team despite his inexperience.

Flipping that switch for a full season and repairing his wrist will allow the All-NBA swingman to give Oklahoma City even more on the court and bolster its title defense case.

His fellow 2022 draftee, Holmgren, will unquestionably improve. The Gonzaga product played in just 32 games during the 2024-25 regular season after splattering on the floor in such a fashion on Nov. 10 that he suffered a hip fracture, which left him bedridden for a large chunk of the season.

After working his way back sooner than expected, Holmgren still provided a massive boost to the Thunder's historically great defense and put together an impressive sizzle-reel of stops that helped Oklahoma City stake its claim to the team's first championship.

However, in the first nine games of the season (before he shattered his hip), Holmgren posted 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three blocks and a steal per game on 52/40/77 shooting splits. All-star, All-defense and All-NBA numbers from the 23-year-old.

As the seven-footer gets his conditioning and legs back, he will return to that unicorn form which made him the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and the lone top-five pick on this title team.

While that is not the end of the internal improvements Oklahoma City can make, it is just the start of the ways the Thunder can put a better team on the hardwood come October.

The new names in Oklahoma City's rotation start with Nikola Topic, the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NBA draft, who was tabbed as a top-five talent in his class before tumbling on draft night due to an ACL tear.

That gave Topic a redshirt season in Oklahoma City, a path Holmgren traveled in 2022-23 before busting onto the scene in his rookie season.

While no one will attempt to convince you that Topic will have the level of impact Holmgren did on the 2023-24 Thunder, who made a 17-win improvement, he does fill a valuable role.

Oklahoma City's half-court offense labored in the second half of the season and nearly came to a standstill in the NBA playoffs. Topic's playmaking to set up his teammates, as well as his ability to turn the corner and get to the rim, should help smooth over the Thunder's offensive unit. Not to mention the type of player he can grow into at a later date.

In October, Brickown will get its first look at rookie Thomas Sorber. A big man from Georgetown who brings a different level of size and physicality than Oklahoma City has become accustomed to.

His paint protection, play-finishing and high-post passing all stand out as ways that Sorber can contribute from Day 1. Filling in the role of the Weber State draft pick who was only good enough to crack 551 minutes for the Thunder a season ago.

Should the injury bug bite Oklahoma City's frontcourt again, Sorber will be more than a passable understudy. He also allows the Thunder to navigate an 82-game marathon on the heels of playing into June to get the likes of Isaiah Hartenstein and Holmgren off their feet in the regular season.

Sure, Mitchell isn't a new addition to the Thunder's roster, though he will still have a new car smell driving to the rim come October. The 2024 second-round pick only logged 36 games during his rookie campaign due to a toe injury suffered in January.

Still, all 597 minutes were impactful for the UC Santa Barbara product. Mitchell was an elite pick-and-roll ball handler en route to producing over a point per possession in that setting. Couple that with his 1.632 points per possession off cuts and 38% shooting on catch-and-shoot chances, and it is easy to see the impact he had on the Thunder's offense with the team's secondary unit.

On a small sample size, Mitchell graded out as an excellent defender, ranking in the 86th percentile on that end of the floor, highlighted by his screen navigation, crisp rotation and ability to jump the passing lanes away from the ball.

As he works his way back into Mark Daigneault's rotation, it provides another organic boost for the Bricktown ballers, even if the Thunder faithful doesn't get to enjoy the dopamine hit of a shocking Shams Charania notification.

Not to mention improvements from third-year guard Cason Wallace, the fact that Gilgeous-Alexander has yet to stop improving, or the comfort of continuity that returners Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso will feel in year two.

Oklahoma City is running it back in 2025-26. With familiar names but plenty of meaningful change.

While the Summer of 2025 will be quiet, the winter will be loud.

Song of the Day: Landslide by Fleetwood Mac