The Oklahoma City Thunder’s defense continues to be one of the most impressive units in the NBA.<\/p>\n
After helping the team to a 68-win regular season and an NBA title in 2024-25, the group doesn’t seem to have missed a beat again to start the 2025-26 campaign. OKC is 17-1 and leads the league in a number of defensive categories, including defensive rating.<\/p>\n
The Thunder boast a 102.8 defensive rating, while the Detroit Pistons hold the No. 2 spot at 110. That has helped Oklahoma City also boast the NBA’s top NET Rating at 16.9, while the Houston Rockets claim the runner-up position with a 10.4 NET Rating.<\/p>\n
Of course, OKC’s team defense is impressive, but the group is also buoyed by multiple stars on that end of the floor. <\/p>\n
In addition to All-Defense honorees Lu Dort and Jalen Williams, as well as Cason Wallace, another stout defender, Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso are the icing on top of a remarkable defensive roster.<\/p>\n
According to Synergy Player Impact, Holmgren and Caruso are among the NBA’s most impactful defensive players. <\/p>\n
The Synergy Player Impact metric is measured by, ” Regularized Adjusted Plus-Minus (RAPM) model with a Statistical Plus-Minus (SPM) Bayesian prior,” and takes into consideration box scores, extended box scores, per-possession stats, Synergy play type stats, Synergy shot type stats and Synergy Shot Quality, according to Synergy’s website.<\/p>\n
Todd Whitehead of Synergy, who posted the compiled data on social media, sorted the players into different categories based on age and position. According to the list, Caruso is the NBA’s most impactful perimeter defender older than 25, while Holmgren is the second-best interior defender under the age of 25.<\/p>\n
Defensive leaders in Synergy Player Impact (which looks at data from this season and past seasons), grouped by age and position. pic.twitter.com\/Buzci8wH7l<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Caruso’s defensive Synergy Player Impact score was +6.1, beating out runner-up Herb Jones, who holds a mark of +4. Caruso is the second most impactful defender in the NBA above the age of 25 regardless of postion, according to Synergy’s metrics, as Rudy Gobert boasted a +6.2 score.<\/p>\n Holmgren holds a +4.9 defensive Synergy Player Impact rating, good enough for second amongst all players under 25. Victor Wembanyama sits atop the list at +6.8.<\/p>\n While it’s no surprisde that two of the most impactful defenders in the NBA play for the Thunder, Synergy’s data is a good measuring stick of where the team’s individual players rank amongst the league’s top defenders.<\/p>\n Of course, this is only one data point, as many observers would likely argue that Dort and Williams also deserve consideration amongst the league’s best defenders. <\/p>\n Want to join the discussion? Like\u00a0Thunder on SI<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook and\u00a0follow us on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also\u00a0meet the team<\/a>\u00a0behind the coverage.<\/p>\n