OKC Thunder Have Steep Expectation After First Title Victory originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were a dominant team throughout last season. They finished with the league’s best record with a 68-14 record and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA Playoffs. That meant they had secured home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Thunder breezed through their first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies, sweeping them 4-0. They faced a tough test in their second-round series against the Denver Nuggets. Most Valuable Player Award winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander faced off against Nikola Jokic, who came in second in the voting. The Nuggets pushed them to the brink of elimination, but the Thunder prevailed to advance to their second-ever appearance in the NBA Finals.
Oklahoma City Thunder have steep expectation after first title victory
The Thunder entered the finals as significant favorites, so it was rather shocking when the Indiana Pacers took two of the first three games. However, the Thunder stayed true to themselves and kept doing what got them there. Through their depth and tenacious defense, they took a 3-2 series lead.
The Pacers managed to force a Game 7 and Tyrese Haliburton suited up for the winner-take-all contest, despite dealing with a calf strain. Disaster struck when Haliburton tore his Achilles. Despite a late run, the Thunder and Gilgeous-Alexander proved to be too much and won their first NBA Championship.
Now, the Thunder go into next season with virtually all of their crucial players back and have lofty expectations.
“The Oklahoma City Thunder, as currently constituted, should win at least three championships before this is all done,” said David Dennis Jr. on First Take. “This is the dynasty of the NBA that we’re going to see for the foreseeable future.
“What we saw this year is the worst version of the Oklahoma City Thunder that we’re going to see. Everybody else on this team is going to get better. SGA is going to be better. Chet Holmgren is going to be better defensively and offensively. [Jalen Williams] was getting better throughout the course of the playoffs.”
“The Oklahoma City Thunder, as currently constituted, should win at least three championships before this is all done.”
—@DavidDTSS 👀 pic.twitter.com/qm66R9OLvd
— First Take (@FirstTake) July 11, 2025
The hardest part of winning a title isn’t winning it, it’s defending it. Now, the Thunder will have to hope a bit of luck is on their side regarding injuries. The Boston Celtics were labeled as a dynasty after breezing their way to a title last season, but a second title is never promised.
The Thunder are currently the favorites to win the title next season at +260. That implied a probability of 27.78%, well ahead of the next team on the odds board, the Houston Rockets, of +700, 12.5% implied probability.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 11, 2025, where it first appeared.