OKC Thunder’s Team Continuity Can Propel the Back-to-Back Quest

Oklahoma City accomplished what many thought was impossible this last season. Winning an NBA championship in the smallest market possible seemed unthinkable in the modern NBA, but the Thunder found a way to pull it off.

What would be even more improbable than a championship in a market like Oklahoma City’s, though, is two championships. Small markets sometimes struggle to have sustained success, especially once that peak has been reached, and this Thunder team will attempt to defy even more narratives. 

They will also be the first to tread these uncharted waters in the new CBA, one that makes it harder to have dynasties and years of lasting success. Oklahoma City is well positioned, though, and will have a rock solid chance to go for the back-to-back this upcoming season.

One of the biggest reasons that this Thunder team has a chance to go back-to-back is the retention of the roster. Most times after a championship victory, the roster becomes expensive and the team has to make budget cuts. While the Thunder’s roster will certainly be expensive in the future, it won’t really see much of a spike during the upcoming season.

In ESPN’s latest story, they detailed the swing stat that describes every NBA team — and Oklahoma City’s was 99.2%. That percentage represents the amount of playoff minutes that this team returns next season — a striking number. Outside of rookie Dillon Jones, the Thunder returns nearly every impact player.

“The best team in the NBA is running it back,” Zach Kram wrote. “Dillon Jones is the only Thunder player who received any playing time this past postseason who's gone now, and all 46 of his playoff minutes came in garbage time. Put another way, the 2024-25 champions are returning players who accounted for 99.2% of their playoff minutes in 2025-26.

“That continuity should only help the Thunder as they attempt to mount the NBA's first repeat campaign in eight years: They know how to play together, their young players have another year of high-stakes experience and they're still deep, tough and balanced. The Thunder set the NBA record for point differential this past season, and it's possible they'll be even better this year.”

It's incredibly rare for the reigning champions to have the luxury of running back an identical roster the next season. Oklahoma City boasts a team full of talent and chemistry, and with the young guns on the roster, internal improvement could make this team even better.