Will OKC Thunder Have Standard Starting Five Next Season?

Oklahoma City’s starting five changed constantly last season, but that could change in 2025-26.

The Thunder are coming off an NBA championship, and they are set to run it back with the same core next season. Already set as the clear favorite to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy again next June, there are still some key questions facing the Thunder.

While tipoff is still over two months away, the Thunder will need to figure out how to integrate Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber into the lineup. With those additions, the Thunder are set to have 14 players who could play a significant role next season, and maybe 15 if Ousmane Dieng can crack the rotation early.

With so many pieces to work with, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault has an abundance of lineup options. Of course, that also means an abundance of starting lineup options, but he may be wise to stay away from switching up the starting five too much.

Consistency in the Starting Five?

Last season, the Thunder used 30 different starting lineups across 82 games. However, in the playoffs, the Thunder used the starting five of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein in all but three games.

Going into next season, it appears that five-man group could be the standard moving forward. The biggest question will be the Thunder’s commitment to the double-big lineup. Considering the team also has Jaylin Williams and Sorber off the bench, there is no depth problem for the Thunder inside anymore.

After Holmgren returned from his injury in February, the Thunder opted to use the pairing of Holmgren and Hartenstein in the starting five all but three times when both were healthy. While that lineup was used consistently, the three times Hartenstein came off the bench still shows that the team could be interested in using him as a reserve again in certain matchups next season.

Who’s left out?