According to ESPN’s summer forecast panel, the Oklahoma City Thunder will not be back-to-back NBA champions. In a vote of 15 to 11, the panelists did not believe that a repeat champion will occur during the 2025-26 season.
It’s certainly too early to tell if this is accurate or not, given that no new NBA squads have stepped foot on a court for the season. That being said the offseason moves that the Thunder made (or didn’t make) may prove those panelists wrong.
For starters, the Thunder brought back all of their returning production and re-signed their three key players who took them as far as they made it. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams were both All-Stars last season and posted the best seasons of their careers; they are now both locked up on contract for the foreseeable future.
Chet Holmgren is also back and assuming he stays healthy, the 2025-26 season could be the year he truly breaks out. He’s dealt with injuries for his entire time in the league so far, but locking him up for the next few years should be a move that pays off.
Jun 19, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) shoots the ball againstIndiana Pacers center Tony Bradley (13) during the first half of game six of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Outside of that, everything stayed about the same. OKC drafted Thomas Sorber with the No. 15 pick of the draft and made some other minor two-way and Exhibit 10 moves, but not much else changed.
The biggest OKC move of the offseason was shipping away former first-round rookie Dillon Jones to the Washington Wizards in return for draft compensation. The roster is completely the same outside of that.
For that reason, there’s no reason OKC can’t win a second consecutive NBA title. They have the same players, same coaching staff and now, the confidence and proof to believe that they can do it again. They should be the favorites entering the season to do so, with a target on their backs
The Thunder have all the pieces to do exactly what they did last season in the same fashion. Other teams around them have improved, but it’s unclear if they’ll be on the same level as OKC is. It’s also possible that opposing teams from both conferences will now know what to do to stop the Thunder, which should cause head coach Mark Daigneault to evolve his game plan.
Regardless, Oklahoma City will be the entering favorites to win once again. It will be up to Daigneault and his team to prove the people who think otherwise wrong.