Last Updated on June 10, 2026 4:17 pm by Mike Passador | Published: June 10, 2026

After winning the 2025 NBA title, the Thunder solidified themselves as the team to beat and a potential dynasty at the beginning of the 2025-26 regular season. Then, they met their kryptonite — the San Antonio Spurs — in December, who seemed to have the secret sauce with an unmovable object (Victor Wembanyama) to stifle the unstoppable force in Oklahoma City. Injuries caused the Thunder to slow down through the remainder of the regular season, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his second consecutive MVP award, Chet Holmgren was named to the All-NBA Third Team while being the runner up for Defensive Player of the Year and we got a Western Conference Finals for the ages.

The unmovable Spurs showed that the regular season was no fluke, putting a pause on the potential Thunder dynasty — perhaps beckoning a dynasty of their own. We might be witnessing the beginning of a Western Conference rivalry that should hopefully produce more classic games and series in the coming years.

Only time will tell.

How’d It Go?

After being crowned the 2025 NBA Champions, the Thunder “ran it back” for the most part. Thomas Sorber, the Thunder’s No. 15 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, suffered a right ACL tear at the beginning of September, delaying his rookie season by a year. Jalen Williams underwent right wrist surgery in the 2025 offseason after playing through ligament damage en route to the 2025 title, and that delayed his 2025-26 regular season debut until November 28. Unfortunately, Williams’ issues did not end there, as he missed most of the second half of the season due to a chronic right hamstring strain. In the NBA playoffs, he also missed 10 of the Thunder’s 15 games with a left hamstring strain during their run to the Western Conference Finals.

The Thunder began the 2025-26 regular season in dominant fashion — on December 12, they were 24-1. At the time, there were conversations about whether the Thunder could chase down the Warriors’ 73-9 record. On Christmas, they concluded a stretch of four losses in six games which pretty much ended those talks. Three of those losses came at the hands of the Spurs, while the Wolves also claimed a win. The Thunder would finally “get one” against the Spurs on January 13 with a 119-98 blowout, but they (OKC) did not have any of their regular starters for the February 4 matchup due to injuries and the second leg of a back-to-back. At the end of the regular season, that gave the Thunder a 1-4 record vs. the Spurs.

Isaiah Hartenstein was in and out of the lineup due to a persistent calf strain from late November to around late January. Ajay Mitchell had emerged as a real secondary offensive option, but he faced his own injury issues from January onward. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also missed a chunk of February. The Thunder persevered and Gilgeous-Alexander returned as they maintained the No. 1 overall seed despite the Spurs breathing down their necks.

For their efforts in the regular season:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his second consecutive MVP and was named to the All-NBA First Team
• Chet Holmgren was the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, while being named to the All-Defensive First Team and All-NBA Third Team
• Cason Wallace was named to the All-Defensive Second Team

In the playoffs, the Thunder “handled business” as expected through the first two rounds, sweeping the Suns and the Lakers. In the Western Conference Finals, they faced a familiar foe in the Spurs.

In Game 1, Victor Wembanyama put on a show in a double-overtime victory. The Thunder fought back to take a 2-1 lead heading into Game 4, but the injury bug was doing its work again as Jalen Williams (injured in Game 2) and Ajay Mitchell were sidelined. Wemby and the Spurs took Game 4 emphatically, but the Thunder put themselves a win away from the Finals with a 127-113 triumph in Game 5. The Game 6 loss to the Spurs was not close, as the Thunder never led through four quarters. Williams tried to play in Game 6, but was ineffective in 10 minutes and sat out again in Game 7 with Mitchell still sidelined as well. Then, in Game 7, the Spurs came into Oklahoma City and stole their hearts behind some tremendous 3-point shooting, out-executing the defending champs on the biggest stage behind the play of Wemby and company.

After 12 total games against the Spurs, the Thunder only managed four wins across the entire season. Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti has typically been one to make key moves on the margins rather than big splashes — like the Jared McCain acquisition from the Sixers at the deadline, which almost got them over the edge vs. the Spurs. We will see if that continues, with a couple of minor tweaks to the roster, or if the Thunder use their battalion of assets to make a Giannis Antetokounmpo-sized splash in the market. Trey Murphy III has also been linked to the Thunder in the wake of their defeat, but Murphy has been in rumors for almost every top team in need of secondary scoring and elite shooting.

With max extensions kicking in for Holmgren and Williams next season, the Thunder team is suddenly going to get very expensive. They also have team options on Hartenstein and Lu Dort, as well as Kenrich Williams, so there could certainly be a different look about their roster in 2026-27.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a fascinating offseason ahead of them.

Expect several changes to mitigate their luxury tax bill and perhaps get under the second apron. pic.twitter.com/Ve8NZyQEtJ

— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) May 31, 2026

Coaching

Mark Daigneault has become underappreciated by the NBA community since the Thunder established themselves as juggernauts. However, that isn’t wholly surprising. Coach of the Year plaudits typically go to those who exceed expectations, not to those who maintain lofty standards. Daigneault was able to do that once again, as the Thunder finished with a 64-18 record as the No. 1 seed in the league. All that happened while the Thunder faced a ton of injuries, including a nine-game stretch in February with limited ball-handling, during which the team went 5-4, using the bigs in a lot of dribble-handoff actions, while Cason Wallace also got more on-ball looks.

Via NBA.com, the team’s general stats across the regular season:

• No. 7 Offensive Rating: 117.6
• No. 1 Defensive Rating: 106.5
• No. 1 Net Rating: Plus-11.1
• No. 16 Pace: 100.37
• No. 1 Turnover Percentage/Ratio: 12.4

Per-game team stats on offense:

• No. 1 in points off turnovers: 22.0
• No. 21 in Fast-Break Points: 14.0
• No. 23 in Second-Chance Points: 13.7
• No. 19 in Points in the Paint: 49.3

Per-game team stats on defense:

• Second-Fewest Opponent Points Off Turnovers: 14.7
• Fewest-Overall Opponent Fast-Break Points: 12.0
• Ninth-Fewest Opponent Second-Chance Points: 14.3
• Second-Fewest Opponent Points in the Paint: 41.6

Not much is really surprising here. The Thunder have a crew of elite point-of-attack defenders and equally impressive help defense that stymies dribble penetration. Their aggressive playstyle and active hands lead to a lot of turnovers, and in turn, they take care of the ball offensively. Gilgeous-Alexander is a very clean high-volume ball-handler when it comes to turnovers.

In the NBA playoffs, there were some more turnover issues as SGA faced hard double-teams throughout most games, but the Thunder also showed some flowing offense to take advantage of 4-on-3 situations. The Spurs employed a similar strategy initially, but after adjusting to a slightly different structure in Game 4 — flooding the strong side (usually with Victor Wembanyama), aggressive stunting focused on recovering, and late doubles instead of early ones — the Thunder never fully found an answer. There was some criticism of Daigneault for not utilizing more weakside actions to punish the strongside flooding, but there was likely some reason for that not being the case that we may never know.

Daigneault is at the point in his coaching career where the critique is going to be nitpicky, because he does so many things well. You can fully expect the Thunder to remain a formidable unit under his guidance, even if the roster is reshaped a little.

The Players

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

PG, Oklahoma City Thunder

ADP: 4.7/2.8 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 2/2 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 3/3 (8/9-cat)

2025-26 Kia NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander posted the highest FG% ever by a guard averaging 30+ PPG in a season, shooting 55.3% while averaging 31.4 PPG.

The previous best mark belonged to Michael Jordan in 1990-91 (53.9 FG%, 31.5 PPG). pic.twitter.com/ERFCP8VcEh

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 17, 2026

Gilgeous-Alexander’s career-high 55.3 percent shooting from the field was historic, as he recorded the most efficient 30-plus PPG season by a guard in NBA history. Somehow, SGA will still sometimes be passed up at No. 3 in drafts despite his otherworldly consistency without any serious weaknesses. He played 68 games after playing 75-plus in the prior two seasons, but an abdominal strain was responsible for nine of those absences. His 38.6 percent clip from deep was the second-best of his career, and naturally, his 60.2 percent conversion rate on twos was a career-high. He also continued a trend with a new career-high in assists per game for the third consecutive season. One notable accomplishment this season was surpassing Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 126 consecutive games with 20-plus points in the regular season, and that streak is still going to this day (the sub-20 playoff games don’t count against the streak). On the list of most efficient 30-plus PPG seasons, the only names above him were Adrian Dantley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Giannis Antetokounmpo — all players whose games are less perimeter oriented, not that SGA doesn’t excel at slashing, which is why he is up there. The next guard on the list is Michael Jordan’s 31.5 PPG in 1990-91 season at 53.9 percent from the field, so SGA is contending with all-time greats at this point. The playoff games against the Spurs did “expose” a weakness in his game when his driving is contained, so there is a reality where SGA becomes even better in the offseason as he attempts to find ways to counter Victor Wembanyama’s defense.

Chet Holmgren

C, Oklahoma City Thunder

ADP: 26.4/38.9 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 22/17 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 27/19 (8/9-cat)

Holmgren bounced back in terms of health, playing 69 games in 2025-26, while posting career-high marks in points, rebounds and FG%. Holmgren did not miss more than three games in a row at any point this season, meaning he was never sidelined for an extended stretch. That made him a second-round fantasy player by totals, while his per-game finishes were in that ballpark as well.

As an interesting note, in Holmgren’s 27 games without Isaiah Hartenstein this season, he averaged 2.3 blocks, 9.4 rebounds and shot 57.6 percent from the field, while in the 42 games with Hartenstein, Holmgren averaged 1.7 blocks, 8.6 rebounds and shot 54.5 percent from the field. Hartenstein was unable to stay healthy for chunks of the season, so this could be worth noting since Holmgren’s numbers change based on whether or not he is the sole big on the floor. That isn’t surprising, but the concrete difference in blocks is especially notable. Of course, the Thunder also have a team option on Hartenstein this offseason, and while they will want to retain him, there is an outcome where Holmgren becomes the solitary starting big. Holmgren also had some weaknesses “exposed” in the Spurs series, so he is another player who could reassess some things and improve further ahead of 2026-27.

Jalen Williams

SF, Oklahoma City Thunder

ADP: 25.8/21.9 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 251/254 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 81/89 (8/9-cat)

Williams played a career-low 33 games in the 2025-26 regular season as injuries hampered him from start to finish. That continued on into the playoffs, where Williams only managed to suit up in five of the team’s 15 postseason battles due to a left hamstring strain. His 28.3 MPG were also the fewest of his career, as well as a 29.9 percent mark from three and 0.3 blocks. However, 5.5 dimes per contest were a new personal best. Williams missed the first 19 games of the season due to an offseason right wrist surgery he had in June, which may explain the 3-point percentage, but Williams actually knocked down a career-best 83.7 percent of his free throws, which is a positive signal that he hasn’t lost his shooting touch.

A right hamstring strain in mid-January cost him 10 games, then after a brief return, an aggravation cost him 16 more games — limiting him to just two appearances in a 28-game stretch. The absences added up to a lost year in pretty much every way. However, the underlying indicators hint that a bounce-back season should be in the works, so long as J-Dub enters 2026-27 healthy.

Isaiah Hartenstein

C, Oklahoma City Thunder

ADP: 77.8/106.0 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 179/181 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 106/111 (8/9-cat)

This is just a sneak peek of the Season Wrap. The entire roster is covered, as well as the Fantasy Star, Letdown, One to Watch and One Burning Question for this team. You’ll need to have an Ethos 360, All-Sport or NBA FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up! Premium Access Required

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• About the Author
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Keston Paul

Keston majored in Biology and minored in Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (U.W.I.), St. Augustine. Hailing from Trinidad & Tobago, Kes grew up loving cricket, then football (soccer, not NFL) & never missed a Barça game in the 2010s. Later on, he grew obsessed with basketball/fantasy basketball & unfortunately claims to be a Sixers fan for some reason.

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