With the 2026-27 regular season right around the corner, the Oklahoma City Thunder enter the year as a popular title pick. Even after their summer of cost-cutting moves, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams remain one of the most successful and decorated trios in the league.
The Thunder went a league-best 64-18 this past regular season. But fell short of their back-to-back ambitions in the 2026 Western Conference Finals. Injuries played a large part in that. But that's in the past. Can't change anything about it now.
Now that the offseason is behind us and we're looking ahead to another nine-month marathon, let's rewind on OKC's biggest moves and preview what most folks believe the Thunder will do this upcoming year.
To get
ready for the upcoming season, next season, Thunder Wire conducted a 16-question fan survey. A total of 1,145 Thunder fans participated in it. Not every question was answered, though. The response totals for each question can be seen at the top left corner of the pie charts. Let's look at the results:
The Thunder had a cost-cutting summer. To avoid the second apron and expensive tax penalties, they said goodbye to a handful of longtime role players. Dort, Joe and Wiggins were all moved out East. But saving OKC's ownership money isn't really exciting for the fanbase. Justifiably so, too.
Besides that, pretty boring offseason. They added a few notable guys from the 2026 NBA draft. The Thunder are banking on internal development, per usual. They're also hoping for better health luck from Williams and others. If that happens, OKC should overcome its weaker depth.
Most still believe the Thunder are going to be a regular-season win machine. They've been the first seed for the last three years. In the last two seasons, they went 68-14 and 64-18. The expectation remains a 61-65-win team. That should keep them in contention to be the first seed for a fourth consecutive year. Obviously, that'd be historic territory.
I've always been a believer that if Gilgeous-Alexander is healthy, he's a walking 60-win machine by himself. I think my theory has been proven correct over the last two years. Despite juggling constant injuries, OKC has had the league-best record. He's been the one constant.
It's still title or bust. And by a pretty wide margin. Most Thunder fans expect a second NBA championship in three years. And honestly, that's reasonable. We're amid OKC's golden years. Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren have proven to be a good-enough trio to win an NBA championship. Heck, they almost won it last year without one of those pillars.
The Thunder enter the 2026-27 season as co-title favorites — alongside the San Antonio Spurs. Should be a year where it'll come down to those two. Seldom can you enter a year with title expectations and not be totally delusional. Right now, OKC is in that prestigious zone with this group.
Kinda similar to an earlier question, but most Thunder fans were fine with Presti's summer. As nauseating as it is, an NBA GM's job at times is to save ownership's pockets. That's what happened this offseason. Not many GMs can walk the fine line of doing that and building a contender. He's hoping to pull off that act.
The one piece of unfinished business left is Wallace. He's eligible for a contract extension. But only a little over a month remains for that to happen. If not, OKC is staring down the barrel of a rare restricted free agency situation next summer. But I think it'd be best for both sides to get something done before that.
This shouldn't be a surprise. Daigneault is viewed as one of the best head coaches in the NBA. He's somehow mastered both player development and contending for titles. Usually, it's one or the other in that profession. But he's the sharpest mind in franchise history. As long as he's interested, he'll stick to this job.
The Thunder hope Daigneault can work his magic. He'll have a few developmental projects to work on at the end of OKC's bench. It will also be interesting to see if they remain the league-best defense. That side of the ball has helped them win one NBA championship and almost another.
A pretty decent reception for OKC's 2026 NBA draft class. They took Mara with the No. 16 pick; Stirtz with the No. 16 pick; and Oweh with the No. 41 pick. Of course, the thought exercise of grading a whole draft class before a single minute has been logged is a little silly, but doesn't mean you can't have some sorta opinion on the prospects.
Mara and Stirtz are the two biggest variables. The Thunder hope Mara can be a frontcourt member for the foreseeable future. His 7-foot-3 size offers a unique build. And then Stirtz's unique journey from a DII player to an NBA player makes you think his offense can translate over to the highest level.
The Thunder had to say goodbye to three longtime role players. All three were also developmental success stories that played a role in their 2025 NBA championship. Such is the life of the NBA's salary cap world. You can't keep the same group of guys together forever. The writing was on the wall that Dort, Joe and Wiggins would get moved this summer. They were outside of the rotation and had movable contracts.
It looks like Thunder fans believe Dort will be missed the most. Makes sense. He was tied for the longest-tenured player in OKC with seven seasons. He was a key starter in OKC's ascension from a rebuild to an NBA champion. And even though his defense took a step back last year, they're going to miss his physical style against the league's top perimeter scorers.
Deadlines make deals. We're about to see if that saying exists within the Thunder walls. It will be interesting to see if they can sign Wallace to a contract extension before Opening Night. Only Victor Wembanyama and Amen Thompson are the 2023 NBA draft first-round picks to get a second deal done. This feels like an old-school contract negotiation where both sides have reasonable prices.
The Thunder could table talks until next summer to see if Wallace can have a breakout Year 4. But if it were up to OKC fans, most would want something done right now. I will say, it would be a little awkward to have this hang over OKC for an entire season. Could make for some interesting dynamics with that cloud. Also, there's zero excuse not to pay up to keep him, either. He's one of the best league defenders already.
Seguing to the next question. Everybody knows four of OKC's five starters. It'll be Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, Holmgren and Hartenstein. But the fifth? Most think it'll be Wallace. That makes the most sense. Like John Stewart with Hal Jordan, he's learned under Dort for three years. And as the pseudo-sixth starter, it'd be the most seamless promotion.
You want your best perimeter defender to start games. That's how you match minutes with the opposition's best scorers. Starting Wallace gives OKC that option. He's also fine as an off-ball player. He should get funneled plenty of catch-and-shoot looks from the outside.
Now, this is an interesting result. One of the more underrated storylines is who among OKC's five — eh, really quartet — of young players can help out. Topic, Sorber, Mara, Stirtz and Oweh have a combined 10 NBA games. Topic missed his whole first year with a torn ACL and most of his second year with a testicular cancer diagnosis. Sorber missed his whole first year with a torn ACL. And the rest are rookies.
Nearly half of voters believe in Sorber. They think he'll help out the most this upcoming season. That's a little surprising. Especially with how stacked OKC's frontcourt room is. I think Stirtz has the clearest path to real minutes. But Sorber could soak up minutes in the regular season.
This was OKC's biggest additive move of the offseason. Going from a luxury to a necessity, the Thunder figured out a way to keep Hartenstein around for at least one more year. Both sides ripped up his 2026-27 $28.5 million team option and instead secured a three-year deal — with a mutual option in the third season. This is a great deal for both sides.
The Thunder kept one of their starters and Hartenstein secured another bag. Sure, he's making a little less. But he was willing to meet OKC in the middle to stick around. That's how badly he wants to contend for another ring. By the end of the NBA playoffs, they obviously had to find a way to keep him. Credit to the front office. They wasted little time doing so.
This is another no-brainer. The Spurs knocked the Thunder out in an epic 2026 Western Conference Finals. It went the distance with a thrilling Game 7. Until proven otherwise, San Antonio is the team to beat in the West. Alongside OKC, both of those teams belong in their own tier together. And most predictions reflect that. Should be another year where they steamroll past the rest of the competition.
The Thunder or Spurs should head to the 2027 NBA Finals. The talent gap between them and the rest of the West is too wide to ignore. Gilgeous-Alexander and Wembanyama are two of the three best players in the league. And arguably, the top two.
One of the era-defining NBA superstars of the 2010s, Westbrook announced his retirement this offseason. The 37-year-old played a legendary 18 seasons. He's a sure-fire first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. Of course, his best years were on the Thunder. He spent his first 11 seasons there. In that time, he was an NBA superstar and co-starred in a title contender.
It's more a question of when, not if, Westbrook gets his No. 0 jersey retired on the Thunder. And most OKC fans want it to happen this upcoming season — which is totally feasible. I think it should happen this upcoming year. Strike while the iron is hot as the polarizing triple-double machine is universally loved for the first time in his NBA days.
This is probably the most important question. At least in terms of OKC's long-term outlook. All four of these players will be eligible for new contracts next summer. I just don't know how you can keep all four. Barring other roster moves. So if you can only prioritize one, who'd it be? Most either picked Wallace or Mitchell. With the former getting a good chunk of votes.
That's a little surprising, but I get it. Wallace has a long track record of being a championship-caliber starter. The 22-year-old has had flickers of offensive brilliance. With Mitchell, the potential is tantalizing, but his durability is a real concern. If he can have a healthy third year, perhaps the results of this question are different. Either way, those two should be the top priorities.
Gilgeous-Alexander has never had a stronger case than he does right now as the best player in the NBA. He's a two-time MVP winner. Has had four consecutive superb-efficient 30-plus point campaigns. The advanced metrics paint him as a basketball pantheon. Anytime he breaks a record, he shares the same sentence with guys like Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.
Right now, we're seeing Gilgeous-Alexander continue the lineage of era-defining guards. Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry also shared the same privilege at the peak of their respective powers. He's one of the greatest scorers ever and has a stacked trophy case to back it up.
Oh wow. This is surprising. Not for the answers, but for how one-sided it is. Most believe Williams is OKC's second-best player. Since he and Holmgren arrived in 2022, they've taken turns being Gilgeous-Alexander's Robin. But I guess Holmgren's Western Conference Finals stinker left a sour note that has hindered him all summer.
Still, Williams struggled to stay healthy. That must change. The Thunder are at their best when all three of their franchise pillars are hooping. The two-time MVP winner and both All-NBA members hope for better health luck after two years of bad luck.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: 2026 OKC Thunder fan survey results: Most expect another NBA championship
