Like Thanos once described himself as, this OKC Thunder team has been deemed "inevitable."
That's the word Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley opted to go with in his recent exercise of using one-term descriptors for every team in the league this year. Frankly, it's rather hard to argue with his reasoning.
To Buckley, the inevitability of Oklahoma City relates to their chances of taking home the 2026 Larry O'Brien Trophy, as they are the undisputed favorites to become the first repeat champion since the 2018 Golden State Warriors.
The scariest part is, many believed last season's version would be the best seen from this Thunder club.
Through 22 games played in their title defense tour, however, it appears they have found a way to get even better.
OKC Thunder title repeat seen as 'inevitable' by Bleacher Report
It's simply astonishing just how good this Thunder team is playing through just under two months of action.
After setting the record for greatest point-differential in league history at plus-12.9 and recording the fourth-most regular season wins in a single season at 68, Oklahoma City is shockingly on pace to surpass both, as they are currently boasting a plus-15.3 point differential (3.9 higher than the second-ranked Houston Rockets) and, with a record of 21-1, are en route to a whopping 78-wins.
Should this latter pace ultimately come to fruition, they would take over the current all-time best record of 73-9 from the 2015-16 Warriors and claim the top spot for themselves.
What's perhaps the craziest part of all this is the fact that they've managed to produce at these kinds of levels with their superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ranking outside of the top 200 in fourth-quarter minutes played and his co-star, Jalen Williams, having played in only three games thus far.
Fortunately, head coach Mark Daigneault has made up for this lack of on-court action from his top two stars by regularly running 12-man deep rotations filled with plug-and-play talents who have proven capable of balling out when given the opportunity.
This league-leading Thunder team has yet to even see their general starting lineup of Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Isaiah Hartenstein log a single minute together, and, still, are seen as far and away the best team the game has to offer.
Imagining what they will be once at full strength is truly frightening, which has Buckley actively re-thinking his rule of "never pencil in a champion during early December."