ESPN's countdown of the top 100 players heading into the 2026-27 NBA season continues, with their list from 100 through 11 recently being revealed. To no surprise, several members of the OKC Thunder have already shown up.
With the publication's next reveal set to come in the days ahead, one should expect to see reigning two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's name crack somewhere into the top three-to-five range, which, in turn, would give Oklahoma City seven players mentioned in total.
Of course, these projections are far from being set in stone, as the upcoming 82-game regular season slate could find any one of these ballers moving up or down ESPN's talent totem pole.
Excitingly enough, Jalen Williams, in particular, is someone NBA insider Anthony Slater is expecting to slide up the list come the conclusion of this year's campaign, as the forward is someone he believes is "more than capable" of becoming a fringe top-10 player.
Frankly, this recognition for J-Dub shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. After all, coming into last season, he was ranked 11 on this very list by ESPN, though, unfortunately, he was unable to live up to this lofty rank as a result of myriad injury woes.
Even with his drop of 14 places, the Thunder will find themselves with an enviable three players within the top-25 in Williams (25), Chet Holmgren (24), and, presumably, Gilgeous-Alexander (?).
Of course, should Slater's expectations become a reality, they could realistically have two comfortably in the top 15.
Thunder may make biggest talent addition with a healthy Jalen Williams
As noted, Williams was riddled with injuries last season, as he appeared in just 33 games due to both residual effects of summer wrist surgery and nagging hamstring strains.
Despite his constant DNPs throughout both the regular season and playoffs, the Thunder were still able to rattle off 64 wins, claim their third-straight number one seed in the conference standings, and take the Spurs all the way to seven games in the West Finals.
Heading into 2026-27, the hope is that this same team will now be bringing a healthy J-Dub into the mix, which, considering the levels he was able to produce at the last time he was regularly available on the hardwood, could prove to be the most impactful talent addition made by any team from last year to this one.
During the season before last, Williams established himself as an All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive player who dropped a whopping 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game on 48.4 percent shooting from the floor and 36.5 percent shooting from deep. He would also serve as the second option for Oklahoma City throughout their title-winning postseason run.
If he can rediscover this form and remain healthy, there's no question that this Thunder squad will benefit exponentially.
They took the eventual conference champions to Game 7 without him. Just imagine how dangerous they'd be with him anywhere close to his 2024-25 self.
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