Round Table: How Will OKC Thunder Repeat This Season?

Which OKC Thunder Player Will Make the Biggest Leap This Season?

Rylan Stiles, Beat Writer: Chet Holmgren. The unicorn potential is still there for the seven-footer who is already an elite defensive weapon and anchor for this historic unit. This year, expect the Gonzaga product to be a high-level distance shooter who can get down hill, score in the mid-range and flash improved playmaking to lift this team's offense.

Ross Lovelace, Staff Writer: Ajay Mitchell. This is the year the league takes notice on Mitchell, and everyone will be talking about his value contract. He will push for starter-like playing time, and make the Thunder’s front office look smart. After the season’s conclusion, Mitchell would be considered a starter on most teams, but will be a luxury for the Thunder.

Ivan White, Staff Writer: Chet Holmgren. After spending much of last season injured, Holmgren never fully recovered offensively as he had to anchor an elite championship defense. With a healthy offseason and a new year in front of him, an All-Star appearance should be well within reach.

Cody Burton, Staff Writer: Aaron Wiggins. He will utilize the absence of multiple key rotation players for the Thunder at the start of the year to carve his way into a crucial spot in the team once again. Wiggins will continue to improve on defense while polishing his scoring bag to make him one of the best bench players in the league.

What Will Be the Thunder's best five man lineup this season?

Stiles, Beat Writer: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Lu Dort-Cason Wallace-Jalen Williams-Chet Holmgren. The seven-footer has found his most offensive success while playing center and being able to space the floor as well as pick-and-pop for this drive heavy unit. OKC can rely on Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander to trade off bucket-getting duties while Dort, Wallace and Holmgren are high-end play finishers. Defensively, good luck scoring on this lineup.

Lovelace, Staff Writer: SGA-Dort-Caruso-Williams-Holmgren. I don’t expect this to be the starting lineup by any means, but it won’t surprise me if this is the team’s best lineup. Holmgren is best as the team’s center, and Caruso is a true spark plug on both ends of the floor. This feels like the Thunder’s death lineup.

White, Staff Writer: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren. While the double-big lineup has its moments, leaps from Holmgren and Wallace this season should make this the undeniable starting five at some point, with exceptions for certain matchups.

Burton, Staff Writer: SGA-Dort-Caruso-JDub-Holmgren. The double-big starting lineup will continue to grow as the season progresses, but the usual starter with Caruso instead of Isaiah Hartenstein will be the "death lineup" for the Thunder this year.

How Many All-Stars Will the OKC Thunder have this season?

Stiles, Beat Writer: Three. While Jalen Williams will miss the season opener, this shouldn't be a lengthy process to get him back on the court. So long as he returns in time to build his offensive case, with Holmgren's expected breakout and Gilgeous-Alexander's solidified case coupled with the team's projected win total this is an easy answer.

Lovelace, Staff Writer: Two again. It’ll be SGA and Jalen Williams. Chet Holmgren will certainly contend for a spot, but the amount of talent in the Western Conference will make it hard. It’s nothing against Chet or how good he’ll be, but the talent around the league will limit OKC’s All-Star bids.

White, Staff Writer: Two All-Stars will be Oklahoma City’s reality again this season, but it will look a bit different. With Jalen Williams still recovering, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren could emerge as the Thunder’s lethal one-two punch, at least in the early stages of the year.

Burton, Staff Writer: Three. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. The prior two will continue what they did a season before and a healthy Holmgren will make his first all-star game.

How Many Wins Will the OKC Thunder Have this season?

Stiles, Beat Writer: 63 wins with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. This still hits the Thunder's over in many win/loss projections but is a tick down from last year's lofty 68 win mark. Sure that was a number built regardless of injury adversity the Thunder hope to not face again, but those season's come few and far between and 63 victories is nothing to sneeze at. The most important piece being the Thunder stake their claim to the top seed in the competitive Western Conference for the third straight season.

Lovelace, Staff Writer: 70 wins, No. 1 seed. Shooting for the stars here, Oklahoma City was close to this total with a handful of bad injuries last year. They’ll have to come out hot, but continuity should play a big part here.

White, Staff Writer: 65 wins, No. 1 seed in the West and overall. The Thunder are coming off a title and don’t have as much to prove this season, but the team is still young and hungry, so complacency won’t be much of a concern.

Burton, Staff Writer: 60 wins, No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Besides Health, What Would Stop OKC Thunder From Repeating as NBA Champions?

Stiles, Beat Writer: Shooting. A year ago the team finished 13th of a 16 team playoff field from beyond the arc, a mark that just isn't sustainable in the modern NBA and nearly cost them a year ago as their half court offense labored. Their complimentary players must stroke it from distance at a better clip to repeat as champions.

Lovelace, Staff Writer: Not enough creation offensively. Ajay Mitchell and Nikola Topic could be secondary ball-handlers, but they aren’t proven at all. It’s a large task for young guards.

White, Staff Writer: The rest of the league got better. The Thunder rightfully made no big moves this offseason, but many of their foes around the league will present much tougher competition in 2026. Considering the Thunder needed a couple of Game 7s to secure the title last season, a tougher matchup along the way this season could turn the tide just enough to ensure the Thunder don’t repeat.

Burton, Staff Writer: Improvements from Western Conference rivals. Teams such as Houston, Denver and Golden State look to be even better than a season ago. The extremely deep west is not going anywhere, despite the Thunder retaining the bulk of their championship-winning roster.

Who is the Most Important Player not named Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on this OKC Thunder roster?

Stiles, Beat Writer: Jalen Williams. This is the one archetype of player the Thunder can not recreate with their depth. No one on this roster can handle the offensive load that Williams does next to Gilgeous-Alexander while his defense is not just All-defensive category but even on a roster of elite stopper he is the most versatile.

Lovelace, Staff Writer: Chet Holmgren. The Thunder are a different team with him on the court, and his offensive upside is ridiculous. He will have a career-year if healthy.

White, Staff Writer: Jalen Williams. While Chet Holmgren is the Thunder’s interior anchor and Lu Dort always takes on the toughest matchup, Williams effectively does everything for Oklahoma City. Along with being the team’s second scoring option and ball handler, his ability to legitimately guard every position is simply irreplaceable.

Burton, Staff Writer: Jalen Williams. It is easy to say that the other All-NBA player on the team is important, but what Williams does on both sides of the court is a rarity in the NBA. He is a player that can play all five positions at a high level, and the Thunder will feel his absence at the start of the year.

Who is the biggest threat to OKC Thunder?

Stiles, Beat Writer: The Denver Nuggets. They pushed OKC to seven games as both team's were hampered to varying degrees by injuries and got better this offseason. Nikola Jokic is a matchup nightmare that the Bricktown Ballers defended as effectively as possible a year ago but is due to have a better series the next time these two sides meet. While the Thunder are still the favorites, the Nuggets are the only team who could knock off the Thunder in a seven game series.

Lovelace, Staff Writer: Denver. I’m not ready to fully buy into all the Houston hype yet, Denver has arguably the best player on the planet and got a lot better this offseason. They could have a huge year.

White, Staff Writer: While the Nuggets added some key depth and made some moves to bolster their bench, the Cavaliers should be Oklahoma City’s top threat. After holding the league’s best record much of last season and making some intriguing moves in the offseason, such as adding Lonzo Ball, Cleveland should be the clearest threat to a Thunder repeat, assuming health

Burton, Writer: The Denver Nuggets's offseason additions makes them by far the biggest threat for a Thunder repeat.

How Does The OKC Thunder Season End?

Stiles, Beat Writer: An NBA Finals win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland has regressed and suffered from bad luck in recent playoff runs, but this team is poised to finally get over the hump. In what will be a fun seven game series, the Thunder outlast Cleveland to go back-to-back as the first repeat winner since 2018.

Lovelace, Staff Writer: NBA Finals win over New York. The Thunder will make some enemies with the Knicks fanbase if the two meet in the NBA Finals. Whoever makes it out of the West is your 2026 NBA champs, and I think it’ll be the Thunder. The depth across the board and the star power at the top will be too much to handle.

White, Staff Writer: NBA Finals win against the Cavaliers. The Thunder will have some tougher competition in the West, but assuming the young team looks a year older and wiser, they should be right back in the Finals. With Cleveland in a tier of its own out East, a Finals matchup seems quite likely, and the Thunder should have the upper hand in that matchup.

Burton, Staff Writer: A win over the Orlando Magic in the 2026 NBA Finals.

Stay tuned to Thunder on SI for complete coverage of this Oklahoma City Thunder season. The Bricktown Ballers tip-off on Tuesday, Oct. 21 inside the Paycom Center as they play host to the Houston Rockets following their ring ceremony which features a Championship banner dropping.