The regular season opened for Oklahoma City on October 20, and the Thunder are 2-0. They won 116-104 at the Spurs, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 32 and Jared McCain 20. Two days later they beat the Nuggets 96-84 at home. Jalen Williams scored 21 and Gilgeous-Alexander 17. The preseason mark of 1-4 no longer matters.
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The standings show a team still finding its place. Oklahoma City was first in the West after the opener on October 21 and fourth after the Nuggets game. It was sixth on October 23, second on October 24 and fifth on October 25, all with an unbeaten record. The power rankings moved too. They had the Thunder falling from first to eighth in a week, then seventh on October 24.
The biggest news was the Cason Wallace deal. Wallace had reappeared on the injury report on October 15, day-to-day with an undisclosed issue. On October 18, a report said he and the Thunder agreed to a five-year, $139MM extension. He was cleared on October 19. A report on October 23 listed "financial decisions" among the topics in Thunder notes, along with Gilgeous-Alexander, Presti and Nikola Topic.
The preseason injury questions were mostly settled. Chet Holmgren was cleared October 19. His quadriceps issue had gone without an update since October 10. Wallace was cleared the same day. Jaylin Williams is harder to read. He appeared on October 19 as both cleared and day-to-day.
Two injuries are still open. Thomas Sorber went out with a right knee issue on October 19. On October 21 his status went from out to day-to-day and back to out. Topic went out with a back issue on October 19. On October 21 he went to out and then back to day-to-day. He is listed day-to-day now.
The roster work kept going. Christoph Tilly, who had been on the Exhibit 10 deal signed September 14, left the team on October 18. So did Lamar Wilkerson, Nate Johnson, Dariq Whitehead and Buddy Boeheim, all of whom had arrived October 16 or 17. On October 23, a report said the Thunder and Micah Peavy agreed to a two-way deal. On October 24, a report said the Thunder waived Otega Oweh. Oweh had been ruled out for the season with a right Achilles rupture on October 14.
Next up is a longer test. The Thunder have two wins, a full-strength core and two players still hurt.
Open storylines
as of Sun, Oct 25Thomas Sorber is out with a right knee issue, and his status flipped between out and day-to-day on October 21.
Nikola Topic went out October 19 and is back to day-to-day with a back issue after October 21.
He was listed both cleared and day-to-day on October 19, so his availability is unclear.
A report on October 23 said Micah Peavy agreed to a two-way deal, and the roster has not yet shown his role.
The Thunder are 2-0 but moved between first and sixth in the West in five days, and the power rankings had them seventh.
The projection
all 30 teams →The season depends most on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (16.6 wins without him), Chet Holmgren (11.2 wins without him), Ajay Mitchell (6.0 wins without him), Alex Caruso (5.3 wins without him) and Isaiah Hartenstein (3.9 wins without him): on/off from 2026-27, details under Injuries. Computed Sun, Oct 25; the method is on the methods page.
The race
Western Conference · 80 games leftNext 5: vs Clippers50%vs Suns50%at Mavericks33%at Rockets100%at Cavaliers50%opponents win 57% of their games on average
Standings and games back are from the official table; the pace is the current record carried over 82 games, nothing more.
Day by day
27 days on the recordEarlier on the record23 more days · back to Mon, Sep 14
The franchise
Every season since the start →Public record →Nowupdated 2026-10-19
Mark Daigneault enters his sixth season as head coach, defending the franchise's first NBA championship since moving to Oklahoma City. The core was built by Sam Presti around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP who averaged 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists last season, alongside draft products Chet Holmgren (17.1 points, 8.9 rebounds) and Jalen Williams (17.1 points, 5.5 assists in 33 games), plus Cason Wallace, Ajay Mitchell, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jaylin Williams and Alex Caruso. Last season the Thunder went 64-18, the NBA's best record, ranking first in net rating, seventh in offense and first in defense. Payroll sits at $216.2 million across 15 contracts, above the first apron of $209.0 million, with Holmgren and Jalen Williams each earning $41.5 million, Gilgeous-Alexander $40.8 million and Hartenstein $23.1 million. The Thunder hold their own first- and second-round picks in 2029 and 2030, with swap rights in 2027 and 2028. This summer brought a five-year, $139 million extension for Wallace, agreed October 19, plus churn at the roster's edges: Buddy Boeheim, Lamar Wilkerson, Nate Johnson signed on, while Dariq Whitehead, Andrew Holifield and training-camp invitees were waived. The Thunder are 1-4 in preseason, with the regular-season record still 0-0.
Identity and rivalries108 words
Oklahoma City plays fast and defends relentlessly, the style that carried last season's number-one defense and a championship. The roster is young, averaging 24.4 years old across 17 players, built through the draft rather than star trades. The fiercest recent rivalry runs through the Dallas Mavericks, who eliminated the Thunder in the 2024 conference finals before Oklahoma City climbed past them to a title two years later. The Houston Rockets carry history too, having ended the Russell Westbrook era by beating him in the 2017 first round. Every new Thunder player visits the Oklahoma City National Memorial, a Sam Presti tradition tying the roster to the city's fans.
Home, owners and numbers86 words
The Thunder play at Paycom Center, an 18,203-seat downtown arena that opened in 2002 as the Ford Center and was renamed in 2021 under a 15-year naming-rights deal. A new downtown arena, Continental Coliseum, is planned to open in 2028 after Oklahoma City voters approved public funding in a December 2023 referendum. Majority owner Clay Bennett has led the franchise since its move from Seattle. The Thunder have retired one number, Nick Collison's 4, honored on March 20, 2019, for his tenure from 2003 to 2018.
What they are chasing94 words
Oklahoma City is chasing a second straight championship after breaking through last season, with the roster largely intact and the extension locking up Wallace through the next five years. The open questions circle health: Chet Holmgren's quadriceta issue has shown no clearance update since October 10, Nikola Topic appeared on the injury list October 16 with a back issue, and Cason Wallace reappeared day-to-day with an undisclosed issue on October 15. Fans also argue about Christoph Tilly's path onto the regular roster off his Exhibit 10 deal, with no word yet on a spot.
The long view499 words
The Oklahoma City Thunder began life as the Seattle SuperSonics, an expansion team that entered the NBA for the 1967-68 season. The Thunder now play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference, with home games at Paycom Center. The franchise owns its G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, and is the only major professional sports team based in Oklahoma. Before the Thunder arrived, Oklahoma City hosted the New Orleans Hornets for two seasons after Hurricane Katrina.
In 41 seasons in Seattle, the SuperSonics went 1,745-1,585 (.524) in the regular season and 107-110 (.493) in the playoffs, reaching the NBA Finals three times (1978, 1979, 1996) and winning the 1979 NBA championship. In their final season in Seattle, the franchise drafted Kevin Durant, setting up the team for what came next.
In 2006, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sold the SuperSonics and the WNBA's Seattle Storm for $350 million to Professional Basketball Club LLC, an ownership group led by Clay Bennett. NBA owners approved the sale that October, and in 2007 Bennett said the team would relocate to Oklahoma City once its lease at KeyArena expired. Seattle sued in June 2008; a settlement about a month later paid the city $45 million to exit the lease. The SuperSonics name, logo, colors, banners, trophies and records stayed in Seattle for any future franchise, though Oklahoma City kept ownership of those assets. On September 3, 2008, the new identity was unveiled: the Thunder, a name drawn from Oklahoma's place in Tornado Alley and from the Army's 45th Infantry Division, the Thunderbirds. Seattle's final draft pick was point guard Russell Westbrook, taken fourth overall out of UCLA, who became the team's franchise player.
The first Oklahoma City season, 2008-09, opened at the Ford Center with a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks; Earl Watson scored the club's first points. After a 10-game losing streak, the Thunder fired head coach P.J. Carlesimo and assistant Paul Westhead, handing the job to Scott Brooks on an interim basis. A four-game skid afterward tied the franchise's 14-game losing streak from Seattle before the team recovered to finish 23-59. Brooks was later named permanent head coach.
The Thunder drafted James Harden third overall in 2009, and Durant, at 30.1 points per game across all 82 games, became the youngest scoring champion in league history. Oklahoma City went 50-32 to reach the 2009-10 playoffs, then 55-27 in 2010-11 to win its first division title since the move. In 2011-12 the Thunder beat Dallas, the Lakers and San Antonio in the playoffs to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1996, losing to the Miami Heat 4-1.
In October 2012, with an extension for Harden unresolved, Oklahoma City traded him, Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to the Houston Rockets for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and first-round picks from Toronto and Dallas. The Thunder returned to the Finals in 2025 and beat the Indiana Pacers in seven games for the franchise's first championship since leaving Seattle.