Thunder Receive High Offseason Grade After Making 3 Key Decisions originally appeared on Athlon Sports. It has been a relatively quiet offseason for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which was to be expected as almost their entire core from last season are set to return next season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are no longer a team of promise but a team of purpose after winning the championship last season.

It’s not too early to start your power rankings for the 2026 championship race. The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the season as the title favorite again, but there’s a strong group of contenders behind them who loaded up this summer.

After being the youngest first seed in NBA history, the Oklahoma City Thunder pivoted to win-now moves in the 2024 offseason. The rebuild was over as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren established themselves as one of the best trios.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the reigning NBA champions, but they could look to bolster their roster significantly by targeting a pool of players that includes a superstar, former MVP, and living legend.

There hasn’t been much of an “offseason” for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Such is life for the NBA champs. Still cleaning up the confetti from its championship parade, the draft, free agency and summer league have followed in quick succession.

The Lakers lost Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency, and haven’t replaced him on the wing. Finney-Smith played with Luka Doncic in Dallas, and is the exact type of 3-and-D wing who can succeed off Luka and LeBron James. So that’s a big hole on the roster.

Without question and rightfully so, the Oklahoma City Thunder are heavy favorites to repeat as NBA champions in 2025-26. They return all their key players, including regular-season and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Both are big forwards who are elite marksmen. Porter is a slightly better pure shooter, but Johnson — far from a lockdown defender — is much better defensively than Porter. Why does this move affect the Thunder? Because the Nuggets, as they proved in taking the Thunder to seven games, remain OKC’s biggest threat in the West.