Considering they rose from Play-In Tournament participant to NBA Champions in a span of only three seasons, many may see this OKC Thunder team as having come out of nowhere.
However, for the franchise's faithful followers, it's well understood that this ascension was a long time coming.
During a recent edition of The Ringer's new Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul, Paul echoed this very sentiment, noting that even before taking home the 2025 Larry O'Brien Trophy, Oklahoma City had already established itself as a championship franchise.
"The Oklahoma City Thunder, prior to winning a championship, if you were to ask me, 'Is this a championship organization?' I would say, 'Yes. The only problem they have is they haven't won yet,'" Paul said. "The culture, you have to have depth in the front office... meaning, the front office is layered. You have to have scouting, you have to have advanced scouting, you have your international aspect of it, you have your pro scouting, you have your college scouting. You're looking at it from a place of how are we building this team. You're managing assets, you're stockpiling draft capital and things of that nature... all while doing that, you're establishing a culture."
Rich Paul perfectly sums up why Thunder have best front office
Interestingly enough, these comments from the acclaimed sports agent came just days before it was announced that the Thunder were ranked as having the league's top front office, earning 31 first-place votes in a survey conducted by The Athletic that polled 36 anonymous NBA executives.
Led by General Manager Sam Presti, Oklahoma City has consistently found itself in the conversation as one of the league's most dominant clubs over his 18 years at the helm.
From the early-to-mid 2010s that saw several deep postseason runs led by the likes of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, and their masterfully executed early 2020s rebuild that saw them acquire a boatload of young, promising prospects and future draft assets -- many of which have still yet to be cashed in on -- to, now, this reigning champion version led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, the Thunder have clearly had long-lasting success.
One voter in the Athletic's survey went on record noting that OKC has proven to be the "best-ever" at attaining future-focused assets while simultaneously dominating in the present.
“Usually, those two are a little exclusive when you’re talking about championship-level teams," said the anonymous executive.
It's because of this front office mastery that, even with a new CBA in place devoted to promoting parity in title runs, the Thunder have everyone convinced they are on the brink of becoming the league's next great dynasty.
Simply put, Presti's behind-the-scenes genius has trickled down to the hardwood.
As a result, directly after winning their franchise's first title of the Sooner State era, OKC is off to a truly historic start to 2025-26 with a record of 23-1 and is on pace to not only win their second-straight championship, but have a realistic opportunity to set the all-time record for most wins in a single season along the way.
With how they're set up, this truly seems like only the beginning of a long and prosperous run for the Thunder, and it's all thanks to their league-best front office.