The Oklahoma City Thunder made it all the way to the NBA Cup Championship a year ago, falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in Vegas.

Oklahoma City ended with the biggest prize of them all, hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy in June for the first time in team history.

On Wednesday, the NBA continued to trickle out the 2025-26 NBA schedule with the NBA Cup Group play games. The Thunder find themselves in Western Conference Group A, taking on the likes of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz.

This is by far the easiest group stage in the NBA Cup format, with the Jazz and Suns being toothless, the Kings lacking true contention status and a Divisional showdown against the Timberwolves in a Western Conference Finals rematch.

The NBA Cup Group A schedule set up nicely for the Oklahoma City Thunder to once again survive pool play and head to the knockout round in hopes of securing a spot in the Final Four in Vegas.

The NBA Cup Group A pool was announced ahead of the NBA Summer League a month ago and on paper, represented the weakest pod of teams. On Wednesday, when those games were listed out, it is clear what a break this is for OKC.

The Thunder’s toughest game of the pool play stage comes at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, with their two road tests being a lifeless Jazz squad and a Kings team that no one considers a threat. However, it is always tricky to get a win in Sacramento’s barn.

Oklahoma City should be able to navigate this four-game pool play stage to make it back to Vegas after the quarterfinal knockout stage.

Through two seasons, the NBA Cup has been an exciting addition to the mundane 82-game slate. With every game but the NBA Cup Championship doubling as a regular-season contest in the standings race.

The players have bought into this new experiment –– literally –– with the cash prize representing a big win for the end-of-the-bench players, including the two-way members who get into NBA Cup clashes.

Thunder NBA Cup Group A matchups pic.twitter.com/bo0NkU8lgc

— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) August 13, 2025