Are the Thunder ready to win an NBA title this season or are they too young to pull off such a feat?
Periodically, NBA.com’s writers will weigh in on key storylines or trending topics around the league.
The Thunder have reached 60 wins, the first team to do so this season. What do you make of their dominance in 2024-25?
Steve Aschburner
There’s no denying that this has been a magical season for the Thunder. And there’s no reason it can’t continue in the postseason. (Yes, that includes the first OKC title ever.)
The roster is multi-faceted, enabling coach Mark Daigneault to force or match up with any style. Isaiah Hartenstein was the offseason’s best acquisition, giving OKC the size it craved last season and a formidable partner to Chet Holmgren when they use two bigs.
Everybody plays defense, with no weak links in the rotation. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a tremendous scorer and closer who could remind us of 2006 Finals Dwyane Wade in a series or two (lots of free throws).
Boston and Cleveland have everything they need to snag the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. But any “experience” deficit the young Thunder have will largely be erased by their third or fourth round.
I’m anticipating several flights to Oklahoma this spring.
Brian Martin
We are perhaps just getting started on what could be a run similar to what the Golden State Warriors of the past decade and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2000s enjoyed.
The Thunder entered the season with the youngest roster in the league (24.1 average age) and have been the top team in the deeper conference every day since Nov. 25. They have the leading candidate for Kia MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, and are on pace to set the NBA record for highest average point differential (+12.9).
They are doing this with the sixth-lowest salary and have a treasure trove of Draft assets in the future that they can use to add young talent or trade for established players to fill any holes that arise. The Thunder has been built to win now and in the future, opening a window to compete for championships for many years.
Shaun Powell
Sixty wins is a milestone that can’t be nitpicked apart. It’s rare air, exclusive only to elite teams with a championship gleam. That description fits the Thunder, and it’s safe to say that, at the very least, the Western Conference title is theirs to lose.
It starts with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, then Jalen Williams, then a relentless defense capable of giving any team fits. That balance at both ends is why OKC resides in the West penthouse. They’ve beaten all the top teams at least once and are projected to finish well ahead of the West posse. Oh, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, the bigs, missed chunks of the year and have only been available lately, which means the Thunder still have … a high ceiling? Frightening.
John Schuhmann
The Thunder are, statistically, the best team in NBA history. They’ve outscored their opponents by 12.9 points per game, which would be the best point differential among 1,693 teams across 79 seasons. And yes, they should be the favorite to win the 2025 championship. It’s always hard to believe in the “new” contender, but when a new contender has been anything close to this good, it has almost always forced us to believe in the end.
They will have to answer some questions in the postseason, primarily about their offense when the ball is forced out of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s hands. But the Thunder (14-4, +10.7 per game within the top 8 in the league) will also play games on their terms, making opponents figure out how they’re going to score against a defense that’s allowed 3.3 fewer points per 100 possessions than every other defense in the league.
