NBA and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sometimes envisions the youngest team to win a championship in nearly 50 years as even more youthful.
“Our togetherness on and off the court, how much fun we have, it made it feel like we were just kids playing basketball,” he said.
If a kid with $10 — and parental permission, of course — bet on SGA’s Oklahoma City Thunder to successfully defend their NBA crown next season, he or she would make $24 should the Thunder follow through.
OKC recently netted +240 odds to repeat as champs, and with good reason. All-NBA talent Jalen Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander will be just 24 and 27 next season, the franchise carries two first-round picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, and there’s plenty of roster depth and payroll flexibility.
One could continue, but, you know — kids and patience.
The Thunder will aim to become the first repeat champions in the NBA since the Golden State Warriors in 2018.
Seven franchises have hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the seven ensuing seasons, including Golden State in 2022. It’s part of a run of parity during NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s tenure, which has seen nine teams win titles in his 12 seasons.
An innate ability to grow and learn on the job helped steer the Thunder to the top. It’s exactly what the franchise is counting on to stay there.
Before this season, a core group that includes 7-footer Chet Holmgren had not advanced past the second round of the playoffs. The Thunder looked poised for a run during the 2023-24 postseason, opening with five straight wins before eventual Western Conference champ Dallas won four of the next five to eliminate OKC.
Adversity loomed at times in the first three rounds this spring before the Indiana Pacers stunned the Thunder to win Game 1 of the Finals and thumped visiting OKC in Game 6 to force Sunday’s deciding contest.
The Denver Nuggets defeated the Thunder in the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series and took OKC to seven games.
Through it all, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said, “We’ve tried to lean on the things that we know have made us successful and put us in this position.”
After Indiana rallied from a 15-point, fourth-quarter hole to win Game 1, Oklahoma City responded with a 16-point home victory in Game 2.
Alex Caruso — the elder statesman of the roster at, gulp, 31 — joined Aaron Wiggins, Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Williams as the first quintet of teammates to score at least 15 points in a Finals game since Toronto in 2019.
Lu Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein, Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace also contributed double-figure scoring efforts during the Finals.
“If you followed our team throughout the season,” Daigneault said, “I think you know that flexibility and adaptability is the only constant. We think that’s a strength of our team.”
Youth and salary-cap flexibility are among the other attributes that make the Thunder a solid repeat candidate in 2025-26 — and even a threat to stockpile championships after that.
If you’re into intangibles, those add up, too.
“These guys represent all that’s good at a young age,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. “They prioritize winning, they prioritize sacrifice, and it just kind of unfolded very quickly. Age is a number. Sacrifice and maturity is a characteristic, and these guys have it in spades.”
