Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale put together “Power Ranking Every NBA Team’s 3-Year Window,” and he placed the Thunder on the throne of contenders. While the Boston Celtics are the defending champions and deserve to be labeled the favorites entering the 2024 season, OKC’s youth and emerging talent edge them ahead of the 18-time world champions.
Earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and stringing together an offseason for the ages, the Oklahoma City Thunder have shattered open their championship window. Led by a 26-year-old superstar playmaker in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the franchise harbors one of the top five players in the NBA and multiple soon-to-be All-Stars by his side.
Quickly evolving into the league’s gold standard, the Thunder can reshape how the NBA landscape is defined if they can get to and win the NBA Finals next season.
“Affording everyone long-term could get finicky. Holmgren and Williams won't start their "fun maxes" until 2027–28. Relative to the rising salary cap, OKC should have no trouble bankrolling their next deals and SGA's inevitable supermax, which will also begin in 2027–28. If things get tight, the Thunder are the epitome of maneuverability. They have a team option on Isaiah Hartenstein in 2027–28, zero bad contracts on the books, and all the draft picks ever to either keep replenishing the rotation with cost-controlled contracts or to use as trade chips that address whatever needs or can't-miss opportunities arise,” writes Favale.
Thunder ranked No. 1 in another category
Let’s just say now, and recent history are the start of something special. Oklahoma City is already being discussed like it has a championship under its belt; can we imagine the spotlight the team will be under if and when they do hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy?
“3-year window” is a vogue phrase for contextualizing a team’s immediate future. For the Thunder, considering the immense energy they have generated among many in the NBA world this summer, they ought to be assessed on a stricter scale — something closer to year-by-year.
No championships over the next three seasons would be an incredible failure for the franchise. Over the next two seasons, the expectation now has to be at least one title, certainly a couple of finals appearances. Or, it can be one title and one finals appearance over 2025 and 2026. However, the bottom line is that the franchise must capture its first title in the modern era.
Boiling it down to next season, here’s how the Thunder’s season can be objectively assessed based on the final outcome.
No playoffs a loss in the first or second round
Even a second-round exit would mean stagnation from the previous season. Especially after all that’s transpired since OKC’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 playoffs, a semifinals exit is a big no-no.
Loss in the Western Conference Finals
Disappointing but not a total failure. It is a step up from the previous season, but well short of lofty expectations. If the series went down to the wire in a win-or-go-home Game 7, while a loss in that scenario would be crushing, Thunder fans can at least reflect on the season, knowing that their team was a few different bounces away from going to the championship round.
NBA Finals Loss
The future is bright, and the NBA has taken complete notice. Unless the Bricktown boys get trounced in four or five games, the Thunder would be the clear-cut favorites entering the 2025–26 season to return to the finals.
NBA Championship Win
An unprecedented achievement. Winning would establish Oklahoma City as the youngest team to win a championship since the inception of the league’s 3-point line. Gilgeous Alexander would unseat his competition and stand one-of-one as certainly the best point guard in basketball and arguably the new face of the sport. The team’s core trio would also earn the stripes as the most devastating in the league.
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