This Thunder Team Will Be The Worst Thunder Team We See For Years To Come. Here’s Why:

The 2025 NBA Finals have been nothing short of absolutely electric so far for both the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the home-court advantage restored for the Thunder, they remain the heavy favorites to win the series and hoist their first championship banner. Even if they do hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy, this Thunder team could be the worst they’ve looked for the foreseeable future.

How Did They Get Here?

The Thunder have come a long way since moving to OKC from Seattle, and already have a distinguished pedigree as a franchise despite lacking a finals win. The Kevin Durant-led iteration of the team won the Western Conference title in just their fourth year in OKC, but the franchise had not been back to the NBA Finals until this year. 

Along their journey, the Thunder jersey has been donned by a boatload of A-List talent long before the star-studded 2025 roster led by reigning league MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, ever came to be. All-time greats like Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, and many more have spent time with the organization. It was what the Thunder got in return for these names that built this championship roster and will build the ones to come. 

In July of 2019, the Thunder traded star player George to the Los Angeles Clippers for SGA, Danilo Gallinari, and five first-round picks. In the 2022 NBA Draft, the Thunder used one of these picks to select Jalen Williams and another pick of their own to select Chet Holmgren. The George trade alone allowed OKC to bring together this young three-man core they have in their starting lineup. 

Assets, Assets, and more Assets.

Even if the Thunder win the NBA Finals this season, this year’s team may very well be held in a lower regard than future iterations. The Thunder have between nine and fifteen first-round draft picks over the next seven years. This includes three first-round picks in this summer’s 2025 NBA Draft that could add three more young stars to a roster already proven to be championship-ready. 

What makes the future of the Thunder that much more daunting to their Western Conference foes and the rest of the league is that it is completely under the control of general manager Sam Presti. Presti is held in extremely high regard around the league, and the Thunder front office as a whole is often at the top of the ranks when it comes to acquiring talent. 

Presti is now responsible for drafting three future league MVPs (Durant, Westbrook, and Harden) and trading for another (Gilgeous-Alexander). If nothing else, he has a keen eye for talent. An eye that no doubt will be at work this offseason to better the already conference-best Thunder into the league’s next multi-championship dynasty. 

End Of My Thunder Rant

The Thunder hold three first-round draft picks at an opportune time with the 2025 NBA Draft class generating much more buzz beyond the first pick, unlike in years past. Outside of the top three picks this year, the rest of the draft order could shake out in a number of different ways. They could look to add yet another skilled defender to the roster, like Washington State’s Cedric Coward, or another major scoring threat like Wisconsin’s John Tonje. Alternatively, Presti may decide to spend his treasure trove of draft picks on a premier talent, like Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

With the assets Oklahoma City owns and with Presti as the one who controls them, there is a very real possibility that they could become a Warriors-like dynasty with Gilgeous-Alexander as the face of it all. If that were to happen, this year’s team could be regarded as not only the one that started it all, but could actually be the worst seen from the Thunder from a roster standpoint for a very long time.