The 2025-26 season left Oklahoma City with a top seed, a league-leading defense and scoring spread across three players. The open items now are roster age and how many future draft picks are already tied up in swaps before the group chases a second straight title.
Scoring Spreads Across Three Players
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points across 68 games last season, the clearest marker of why the offense runs through him. Chet Holmgren matched Jalen Williams at 17.1 points per game in the same stretch, though Williams played only 33 games to Holmgren's 69. Further down the rotation, Cason Wallace averaged 8.6 points across 77 games and Ajay Mitchell 13.6 across 57. The scoring floor at Oklahoma City clearly extends well past the top of the box score.
A Defense Built to Lead the League
Oklahoma City's defensive rating sat at 106.5 last season, a mark that ranked first in the league, while the offense finished at 117.6, seventh among the teams it was measured against. The gap between those two ranks is the story: the defense carried more of the load than the offense did. Isaiah Hartenstein anchored that unit over 47 games before turning the heavier minutes over to Chet Holmgren and the rest of the frontcourt. Pace sat at 100.4 last season, meaning neither rating came from an unusually fast or slow tempo.
A Roster Getting Older, Picks Already Spoken For
The 21-man roster last season carried an average age of 24.3, still a young mark for a team that went 64-18 and reached the top seed in the West for a third straight year. Draft capital is the other side of that equation: the 2027 and 2028 first-round picks are tied up in swaps, and 2029 is the first that is fully Oklahoma City's own. Age buys patience on the roster; the swapped picks do not buy it in the draft room. That math starts mattering again once the regular season opens on October 20.
What was Oklahoma City's defensive rating last season?
The Thunder finished at 106.5, which ranked first in the league last season.
How many of Oklahoma City's future first-round picks are unaffected by trades?
The 2027 and 2028 first-round picks are tied up in swaps; 2029 is the first that is fully Oklahoma City's own.
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