For years, the Oklahoma City Thunder were seen as the league’s patient rebuilders—stockpiling picks, developing prospects, and playing the long game. That game just paid off. After winning a nail-biting Game 7 to claim the 2025 NBA Championship, it’s clear the Thunder aren’t just ahead of schedule, but they might be truly building the NBA’s next great dynasty.
Here’s why the Oklahoma City Thunder is the NBA’s most dangerous team for the next decade.
SGA’s Crowning Season
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped a historic year—league scoring champ, regular-season MVP and now Finals MVP—by torching Indiana for 29 points and 12 assists in Game 7. When your best player is only 26 and still getting better, a dynasty’s first building block is in place.
The Youngest Championship Team in Nearly 50 Years
With an average age just under 25½, Oklahoma City is the NBA’s youngest title team since the 1977 Trail Blazers. Their core (SGA, Holmgren, Williams, Wallace, Dieng) is years away from its peak, giving OKC an unusually long runway to stack more rings.
A Versatile, Home-Grown Core
Rookie-scale stars Chet Holmgren (18 pts, 9 reb in Game 7) and Jalen Williams (20 pts) already look like perennial All-Stars alongside SGA, while defensive ace Cason Wallace and do-everything wing Ousmane Dieng round out a position-less lineup built for modern basketball.
13 First-Round Picks Still in the Bank
General manager Sam Presti’s 2019 teardown left a war chest—13 first-rounders and 17 second rounders through 2031—that can fuel blockbuster trades or keep the prospect pipeline flowing, a luxury no other contender enjoys to the same extreme.
Cap Flexibility in a Booming Economy
The NBA salary cap will jump 10 percent to a projected $154.6 million next season and is expected to keep rising with the new media deal. OKC already owns most of its rotation on value contracts, so it can extend its youngsters and shop opportunistically.
GM Sam Presti: The Asset Whisperer
The architect who once drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden turned Paul George’s trade request into SGA plus the league’s deepest pick stash. Presti’s track record suggests he’ll squeeze even more upside out of future deals.
Mark Daigneault’s Modern System
2024 Coach-of-the-Year winner Mark Daigneault has installed a pace-and-space offense that finished top-five in efficiency while ranking third in defensive rating—a two-way identity that travels in the postseason.
OKC Blue: The Secret Laboratory
The Thunder’s G-League affiliate is a first-class development lab that just won its own title; rotation players like Dieng and Jaylin Williams honed their games there before contributing in the Finals.
A $900 Million ‘Thunder Dome’ Locks In Stability
Imagn
Oklahoma City voters overwhelmingly approved a new arena that keeps the franchise in town through 2050—securing revenue streams and a rabid fan base that sells out Paycom Center nightly.
Depth That Wins War-of-Attrition Playoffs
Eleven different Thunder players averaged double-figure minutes this postseason, and five scored at least 10 a game. That fresh-legs mentality overwhelmed a shorthanded Pacers squad down the stretch of Game 7.
Defense First, Always
OKC’s switch-everything scheme held Indiana to 91 points in the clincher and finished the playoffs with the league’s best defensive rating. Championship defenses anchored by rim-protector Holmgren and point-of-attack pest Wallace tend to age well. That’s tough to hear if you aren’t a fan of the Thunder, who already put forth one of the greatest defensive teams in NBA history this year.
Small-Market Chemistry, Big-Market Results
Community buy-in, continuity and a chip-on-the-shoulder culture give the Thunder intangible advantages that free-agent super-teams often lack. Add unprecedented assets, youth and coaching, and Oklahoma City isn’t just a one-year wonder—it’s the NBA’s next dynasty in the making.
They are the favorites to win next season, at +250 odds which comes out to almost a 29% chance.
