2024-25 was a truly remarkable season for the OKC Thunder.
On top of the fact that they won the franchise's first title of the Sooner State era, and were spearheaded by superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who became just the fourth player to win the NBA scoring title, regular-season MVP, and NBA Finals MVP all in the same season, Oklahoma City rattled off the fourth-best record in league history at 68-14.
What makes these accomplishments all the more impressive is the fact that the Thunder were able to flourish despite being absolutely ravaged by widespread injuries all throughout the campaign.
Now, heading into their follow-up season in 2025-26, the expectation is clearly that they will be the favorites to run it back as champions -- their +225 odds of doing so clearly show how confident the odds-makers are in their chances of repeating.
However, with health hopefully more on their side than it was last year, there's an overwhelmingly realistic chance that the Thunder could enter an elite, all-time territory that only two other clubs since the NBA's inception have ever ventured into.
OKC Thunder could easily become third team to win 70+ games
As noted, the Thunder were bombarded by injury woes all throughout their championship-winning season last year. Nine of the team's core players missed 10 or more games, while five were sidelined for north of 20.
Two focal point starters in Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein were shelved for 50 and 25 games, respectively, and suited up for a mere 17 regular season games together, 37 if you include playoffs.
Still, despite all this, coach Mark Daigneault was able to will this team to a 68-win season, a mark that just seven other squads have either met or surprassed.
With this in mind, it should be assumed that, if health stays on their side, 69 and, perhaps, 70-plus wins is well within reach.
The only teams to have topped the latter win total are the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (72) and the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (73), both of whom are teams that this Thunder club is regularly found linked to as they pursue their coveted dynasty status.
As ESPN's Tim MacMahon said earlier this summer, ""it ain't like they went all-in to get to 68 last year."
If they can keep their core largely intact and sustain their regular starting five of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Isaiah Hartenstein -- you know, the one that ranked in the 97 percentile in point differential, the 98 percentile in points per 100 possessions, and the 100 percentile in effective field goal percentage --, a 70-win campaign could be well within reach.