A Bounce-Back Season?

September 2026

Oklahoma City still has plenty to prove, but it also has a championship banner most cities never get: the Thunder won the 2025 NBA Finals, the franchise’s first title since relocating to Oklahoma City. Following that up was never going to be simple.

A Historic Season, A Painful Ending

The 2025-26 Thunder were, by the numbers, one of the best regular-season teams in franchise history, finishing 64-18 for the NBA’s best record. But the road back to the Finals ended in the Western Conference Finals, where Oklahoma City fell to the San Antonio Spurs in a seven-game series—the first Western Conference Finals since 1998 to pit two 62-plus-win teams against each other. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama neutralized reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander across the series, and the Thunder lost Game 7 at home, 111-103, with forward Jalen Williams limited to just 33 games all season by injury.

Retooling for Another Run

The offseason that followed was a mix of subtraction and reinforcement. Longtime rotation pieces Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and Branden Carlson all moved on, while Oklahoma City brought in center Aday Mara and guards Otega Oweh and Bennett Stirtz. The core stays intact: Gilgeous-Alexander, an All-NBA Chet Holmgren, and—health permitting—a fully recovered Jalen Williams give the Thunder as strong a foundation as any team in the West.

Whether 2026-27 truly becomes a bounce-back season will come down to health and depth as much as talent. But with a healthy roster and a locker room full of hard-earned playoff experience, Oklahoma City enters the season squarely in the conversation to get back to the NBA Finals.